VMware Fusion Pro is available for free for personal use

They provide users with the ability to quickly and easily build 'local virtual' environments to install other operating systems, learn about technology, build and test software, complex systems, browsers, applications, games, etc.

For many in the community, Workstation and Fusion were the first VMware products they ever used and were an important tool for understanding Virtualization and the fundamentals of vSphere. In addition, commercial organizations can use VMware Desktop Hypervisor to develop and test applications and systems and interact with vSphere environments.

The developer has been working to make significant changes to its product line to deliver continued, long-term value to customers and the VMware community at large. The goal with these changes is to simplify the way VMware Desktop Hypervisor applications are brought to market, while maintaining support for the broader VMware Workstation and Fusion user community for both the free product and pay the fee. So let's explore this simplification and more importantly what this means for you as a customer.

VMware Fusion Pro is available for free for personal use Picture 1

The Pro app is currently free for personal use and licensed for commercial use

The most interesting thing is that Fusion Pro and Workstation Pro will now have two license models. VMware currently offers free personal use or paid commercial use subscriptions for Pro applications. Users will decide based on their use case whether commercial registration is required.

This means that everyday users who want a virtual lab on a Mac, Windows or Linux computer can do so for free simply by registering and downloading from the new download portal available at support.broadcom.com

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Customers using Fusion and Workstation for work require a paid commercial subscription, which can be purchased through an authorized Broadcom Advantage partner.

VMware Workstation Player + Fusion Player has been discontinued

With full-featured Pro products available for free for personal use and paid for commercial use, the inferior versions of VMware Workstation Player and VMware Fusion Player will be discontinued. At this time, they will no longer be available for purchase. Users of Personal Use Player products can upgrade to the more fully featured Pro version without paying any fees. Workstation Player will continue to be bundled with Workstation Pro as it is today.

Users with a personal use license of Fusion Player can simply update to Fusion 13.5.2 and remove the license key. An update to 13.5.2 is required but removing the existing Player key will unlock the full 'Pro for personal use' license without the need for any additional keys.

As for Workstation Player for Windows and Linux, Workstation Pro requires a new download and installation but is licensed for personal use by default. You will need a customer account at support.broadcom.com to access the downloads.

Fusion Player 13 and Workstation Player 17 customers with commercial licenses will continue to see product functionality and do not need a new license key to continue using these versions. After the support period expires, customers are encouraged to upgrade to the Pro version of these products for ongoing support and updates.

Fusion Player and Workstation Player will continue to be supported for existing customers. All active customer accounts and associated active permissions/licenses have been migrated to the Broadcom customer portal, so current license keys will now be found in there.

Subscription model for commercial use

With the new commercial model, VMware has reduced its product group offering to a single SKU for users who require a commercial use license. This simplification eliminates over 40 additional SKUs and makes quoting and purchasing VMware Desktop Hypervisor, Fusion Pro, and Workstation Pro applications easier than ever.

You can purchase a new Desktop Hypervisor application subscription from any Broadcom Advantage partner. VMware Desktop Hypervisor subscriptions sell for $120/year and can be purchased from the new online store at: https://store.cloudvista.com

What do customers receive when registering?

The new paid subscription provides the right to use Fusion Pro and Workstation Pro for commercial purposes subject to the terms and conditions outlined in the VMware 'Specific Program Documentation'. Subscriptions provide ongoing product updates, both major and minor, throughout the subscription term. When a 'major' version is released that requires a new license key, customers will be able to generate the appropriate new key in their Broadcom customer portal, the same way it worked previously for customers with 'SnS' is active. Consistent with Broadcom practices, commercial customers will also receive support through the partner they purchased from.

Is there any difference between free and paid products?

The text 'This product is licensed for personal use only' in the product user interface does not appear when using a commercial license. Other than that there is no difference in functionality.

The value that Workstation and later Fusion have brought to the VMware community over the past 25 years is immeasurable. Now is the best time to run VMware virtual machines locally!

Samuel Daniel

Update 27 May 2024