Microsoft describes Hyper-V Server 2019, the standalone product, as a free product. Mainstream support for it has ended and extended support ends 2029-01-09. Hyper-V is also built into Windows Server, and Windows Server 2025 lists at USD 6,771 for Datacenter and USD 1,176 for Standard per 16-core pack, suggested MSRP.

Windows Server 2025 was released on 2024-11-01, with mainstream support to 2029-11-13 and extended support to 2034-11-14. For the standalone Hyper-V Server 2019, mainstream support has ended and extended support ends 2029-01-09.

Reference table

VMware Alternatives Compared 2026: Licence, List Price, Free Tier and End of Support

9 VMware alternatives compared as of 2026-10-11. VCF: per core, 16-core minimum per processor. Broadcom's estimated 9.x end of service: 2031-06-17.

Last updated 3 November 2026 Data version 5 Refreshed quarterly 56 sources Cite Download CSV

By Dinesh Kumar. Published by Sysprobs.

Dinesh has worked in IT for about 20 years across virtualisation, networking and Microsoft platforms. He runs Sysprobs.

Nine VMware alternatives are compared as of 2026-10-11. They are Microsoft Hyper-V, Microsoft Azure Local, Nutanix AHV, Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager, Platform9 Private Cloud Director, Proxmox VE, Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization Engine, XCP-ng with Vates and XenServer. Each vendor's own pages document a VMware migration path. ^S11 ^S16 ^S21 ^S25 ^S31 ^S36 ^S44 ^S56 ^S83 ^DERIVED

Broadcom licenses VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) per core as subscription software, with a minimum of 16 cores per processor (Broadcom VCF Specific Program Documentation, June 2026). VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) is also licensed per core, on subscription (Broadcom KB 313548 and VVF 9.1 FAQ). ^S80 ^S01 ^S03

Broadcom's estimated end of service date for the VCF 9.x code line is 2031-06-17 (Broadcom VCF blog, 2025-07-16). Broadcom's KB 314608 lists VCF 9.1.1, released 2026-09-03, as the newest version. ^S05 ^S06

As of 2026-10-11, this table covers 9 alternatives to VMware VCF and VVF ^derived. They are Microsoft Hyper-V, Microsoft Azure Local, Nutanix AHV, Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager, Platform9 Private Cloud Director, Proxmox VE, Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization Engine, XCP-ng with Vates and XenServer. The count follows an inclusion rule: a platform needs at least 3 of the 9 table fields filled from its own vendor’s pages.

Broadcom licenses VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) per core as subscription software (Broadcom VCF Specific Program Documentation, June 2026) ^S80. VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) is licensed per core (Broadcom counting-cores article) ^S01, on subscription (Broadcom VVF 9.1 FAQ) ^S03. Both have a minimum of 16 cores per processor (Broadcom counting-cores article) ^S01. Broadcom’s blog of 2025-07-16 gives an estimated end of service date of 2031-06-17 for the VCF 9.x code line ^S05. Broadcom’s VCF 9.1 FAQ of 2026-09-03 says customers with perpetual licences must switch to subscription licences before upgrading to VCF 9 ^S02.

Every cell below is a sourced value, or says “not published” or “not retrieved”. The page does not rank platforms or recommend one. It does not compare prices across vendors, because they charge per core, per socket, per host and per node. To work out a cost, use the hypervisor licensing calculator. For survey data on who is moving, see VMware migration statistics.

Key findings

Broadcom’s VCF Specific Program Documentation of June 2026 states that VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) is subscription software licensed per core ^S80. Broadcom’s knowledge base article on counting cores says VCF and VVF core licensing counts physical CPU cores, with a minimum of 16 cores per processor ^S01. Broadcom’s VVF 9.1 FAQ says VVF 9.1 licensing is designed for the subscription model ^S03. Broadcom’s TechDocs page on the VCF 9.0 licensing model, last updated 2026-11-02, states the same 16-core rule ^S78.
Broadcom’s KB 314608 lists VCF 9.0 as released on 2025-06-17, VCF 9.1.0 on 2026-05-12 and VCF 9.1.1 on 2026-09-03 ^S06. Broadcom’s VVF 9.1 FAQ dates VVF 9.1 general availability as 2026-05-05 ^S03. VCF and VVF are different products with different documents.
Broadcom’s VCF blog of 2025-07-16 gives an estimated end of service date of 2031-06-17 for the VCF 9.x code line ^S05. Broadcom describes its 6+1 model as a general expectation: six years of support from a major release and, in certain cases, the option to purchase an additional year of Extended Support ^S05.
Broadcom’s KB 399823 describes free ESXi 8.0 Update 3e: up to 2 physical CPUs per host, 8 vCPUs per VM, no vCenter management and no official Broadcom support ^S04. The knowledge base article is undated and does not cover VCF 9.
Proxmox Server Solutions’ pricing page, read on 2026-10-11, lists EUR 120 to EUR 1,100 per CPU socket per year for Proxmox VE across four plans, net of VAT ^S18. Core count does not affect the price ^S18.
Microsoft’s Windows Server 2025 pricing page, read on 2026-10-11, lists USD 6,771 for Datacenter and USD 1,176 for Standard per 16-core pack, as Microsoft’s suggested MSRP ^S07. Microsoft Learn’s Hyper-V overview, dated 2025-07-28, describes Hyper-V as built into Windows Server ^S73.
Microsoft’s Azure Retail Prices API, read on 2026-10-11, bills Azure Local at USD 0.33 per physical core per day ^S13, which is USD 10.04 per core per month ^derived.
Read on 2026-10-19, Vates’ pricing and support page lists the XCP-ng Essential plan at 2,000 per year for up to 3 hosts ^S28. It lists the Pro plan at 1,000 per host per year with a 3-host minimum ^S28. The page shows the same number under USD and EUR.
Nutanix’s software options page says Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) is licensed per physical CPU core ^S24. Its NCI datasheet gives term licences of 6 to 60 months ^S23. The Nutanix pages retrieved show no price ^S23.
Red Hat’s self-managed OpenShift subscription guide licenses OpenShift Virtualization Engine per bare-metal node, regardless of sockets or cores ^S34. Red Hat’s life cycle API lists OpenShift 4.22, the base of that engine, as generally available on 2026-06-09, with maintenance support ending 2027-12-31 ^S54.
XenServer’s lifecycle page says XenServer 9 is supported until 2031-07 and XenServer 8.4 until 2028-11 ^S55.
Oracle’s life cycle page lists Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager release 4.5 on Oracle Linux 9 as August 2026 ^S51. Its licence metric, price, minimums and free tier are not retrieved ^S51.

VMware alternatives compared (data read 2026-10-11 to 2026-11-03)

The four tables list the same 10 platforms in the same order: VMware first as the baseline, then the alternatives in alphabetical order. The order is not a ranking. Each table is one slice of the 9 fields, so each platform stays readable on a narrow screen.

Two phrases carry fixed meanings. “Not published” means the vendor’s own pages show no such figure, for example Nutanix shows no price ^S23. “Not retrieved” means the vendor page exists but this run could not read it, for example Oracle’s licence metric ^S51. A vendor can publish a price later. The Oracle fields marked not retrieved may be stated on pages that refused retrieval in this run.

Licence metric, subscription or perpetual, and public list price

Prices are in each vendor’s own currency and unit.

Platform	Licence metric	Subscription or perpetual	Public list price
VMware VCF and VVF (Broadcom)	Per core (physical cores): VCF ^S80, VVF ^S01	Subscription: VCF ^S80, VVF ^S03. Perpetual licences must switch to subscription before upgrading to VCF 9 ^S02	Not published: no price on the Broadcom pages retrieved ^S78.
Microsoft Azure Local	Per physical processor core, flat rate ^S14	Not published: the billing page does not label it subscription or perpetual ^S14	USD 0.33 per physical core per day ^S13. USD 10.04 per core per month ^derived.
Microsoft Hyper-V (Windows Server 2025)	Per physical core, sold in 2-core packs and 16-core packs ^S07 ^S08	Perpetual (conventional licensing). Pay as you go through Azure Arc is the subscription alternative ^S92	Datacenter USD 6,771 and Standard USD 1,176 per 16-core pack, suggested MSRP ^S07. Pay as you go through Azure Arc: USD 33.58 per core per month ^S07.
Nutanix AHV (NCI)	Per physical CPU core. Licensing must cover all cores of the licensed cluster ^S24 ^S23	Term licence, 6 to 60 months ^S23. The licensing page says 1 through 5-year options ^S24	Not published: no price on the Nutanix pages retrieved ^S23.
Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager	Not retrieved ^S51	Not retrieved ^S51	Not retrieved ^S51.
Platform9 Private Cloud Director	Per core, one SKU ^S61	Not published ^S61	Not published: price by quote only ^S43. Service-provider programme, not the enterprise list price: USD 13.52 per core per month ^S59, charged after the 90-day launch period. The body text and the billing block both showed this rate on 2026-11-03.
Proxmox VE	Per occupied physical CPU socket. Core count does not affect the price ^S18.	Annual subscription for support and Enterprise Repository access, one year from purchase ^S18	EUR, net of VAT, per socket per year: Premium 1,100, Standard 550, Basic 370, Community 120 (listed under non-production use) ^S18.
Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization Engine	Per physical (bare-metal) node, regardless of sockets or cores ^S34	Subscription, bare-metal node ^S34	Not published: no price on the Red Hat pages retrieved ^S34.
XCP-ng with Vates	Per host. Essential tiers are a flat price for up to 3 hosts ^S28	Support subscription, 1, 3 or 5 year terms ^S28. XCP-ng itself: “no limits, no license fees” ^S28.	USD or EUR, same number shown: Essential 2,000 per year, Essential+ 4,000 per year, Pro 1,000 per host per year, Enterprise 1,800 per host per year ^S28.
XenServer (Cloud Software Group)	Per CPU socket ^S41 ^S48	Term subscription, maintenance included ^S48	Not published: price by quote only, sold as an entitlement of a Citrix subscription ^S48 ^S57.

The Azure Local monthly figure is 0.33 USD x 365 / 12 = 10.0375, rounded half-up to 10.04 USD. Billing is daily, so a 31-day month costs more and a 28-day month costs less. Prices are in each vendor’s own currency and unit. Nothing is converted between currencies.

Minimums and free tier

A trial is labelled a trial, not a free tier.

Platform	Minimums	Free tier
VMware VCF and VVF (Broadcom)	16 cores per processor ^S01 ^S78 ^S80	Free ESXi 8.0 Update 3e: up to 2 physical CPUs per host, 8 vCPUs per VM, no vCenter management, no official Broadcom support ^S04. The article is undated, covers ESXi 8.0, not VCF 9, and current availability was not verified.
Microsoft Azure Local	No minimum, no maximum ^S14. Up to 16 nodes in hyperconverged (L1) deployments with local storage ^S14	60-day free trial after registration ^S12. No ongoing free tier is stated.
Microsoft Hyper-V (Windows Server 2025)	8 core licences per physical processor and 16 core licences per server ^S08	Hyper-V Server 2019, the standalone product: Microsoft describes it as a free product ^S94. Its extended support ends 2029-01-09 ^S10.
Nutanix AHV (NCI)	Licensing must cover all cores of the cluster ^S23. Starter edition: up to 12 nodes per cluster ^S23	Nutanix Community Edition: join and download at no cost, for learning on your own hardware ^S26. Limits are not stated on the page retrieved.
Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager	Not retrieved ^S51	Not retrieved ^S51.
Platform9 Private Cloud Director	The vendor states no 16-core minimum ^S61. This is a marketing statement, not a licence term	Community Edition: free, fully featured for one region, no time limit, community support ^S60. Not for production workloads ^S62.
Proxmox VE	One subscription per occupied CPU socket ^S18	Open source under AGPLv3 ^S19. The vendor pages retrieved do not use the word free. The Community plan is EUR 120 per socket per year, with Enterprise Repository access and no enterprise ticket support ^S18.
Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization Engine	Bare-metal node subscription with Standard 8x5 or Premium 24x7 support ^S34. Bare-metal only, no third-party hypervisor allowed ^S34	Not published: no free tier on the pages retrieved ^S33.
XCP-ng with Vates	Pro: 3 hosts minimum. Enterprise: 4 hosts minimum. Essential: 3 hosts maximum ^S28	XCP-ng itself: “no limits, no license fees”. Support plans are paid ^S28.
XenServer (Cloud Software Group)	Not published: no minimum stated on the pages retrieved ^S41	Trial Edition, not a free production tier (XenServer 8.4 documentation): Premium feature set, maximum 3 hosts, up to 90 days ^S41.

Current version, release date and end of support

Dates are as each vendor publishes them.

Platform	Current version	Release date	End of support
VMware VCF and VVF (Broadcom)	VCF 9.1.1, 9.x code line ^S06	VCF 9.1.1: 2026-09-03 ^S06. VCF 9.1.0: 2026-05-12 ^S06. VCF 9.0: 2025-06-17 ^S06. VVF 9.1 general availability: 2026-05-05 ^S03	Estimated 2031-06-17 for the 9.x code line, a Broadcom estimate ^S05.
Microsoft Azure Local	24H2 (12.x), build 12.2610.1004.50 ^S15	2026-11-02 ^S15	Not published: no fixed date. Each release is supported for six months ^S15. Version 23H2 reached end of support in 2026-04 ^S15.
Microsoft Hyper-V (Windows Server 2025)	Windows Server 2025 ^S09	2024-11-01 ^S09	Mainstream 2029-11-13, extended 2034-11-14 ^S09. Standalone Hyper-V Server 2019: mainstream support has ended, extended 2029-01-09 ^S10.
Nutanix AHV (NCI)	Not retrieved: per-release data needs a support portal login ^S27	Not retrieved ^S27	Not retrieved ^S27. Policy: 15 months Maintenance, then 9 months Troubleshooting only, per AOS upgrade family ^S27.
Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager	Release 4.5 on Oracle Linux 9 ^S51	2026-08, month only ^S51	Not published for the current release. Release 4.5 on Oracle Linux 8 is available until 2027-03 ^S51.
Platform9 Private Cloud Director	Private Cloud Director, August 2026 Release ^S96	2026-08, month only, taken from the release name “August 2026 Release”; no day stated ^S96	Not published ^S96.
Proxmox VE	Proxmox VE 9.2 ^S20	x86-64: 2026-05-21. arm64: 2026-08-05 ^S20. Proxmox VE 9 first release: 2025-08 ^S19	Not published: the vendor table shows “tba” for Proxmox VE 9. Proxmox VE 8 ended in 2026-08 ^S19.
Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization Engine	OpenShift 4.22, whose life cycle OVE follows ^S54 ^S35	2026-06-09 ^S54	Maintenance support 2027-12-31. Optional extended update support Term 2 ends 2029-06-30 ^S54.
XCP-ng with Vates	XCP-ng 8.3 LTS ^S30	2024-10-07 ^S30	2028-11-30, a project date ^S30.
XenServer (Cloud Software Group)	XenServer 9 ^S55	Not published ^S55	2031-07, month only. XenServer 8.4: 2028-11 ^S55.

Release and end of support of the current major version, VMware and 9 alternatives (data read 2026-10-11 to 2026-11-03)Vendor lifecycle pages retrieved 2026-10-11 to 2026-11-03. Calendar years on the horizontal axis.

Dates are as each vendor published them on the retrieval date and can change. Month-only dates are plotted at mid-month.
Microsoft's page source gives end times in UTC, the previous evening in US Pacific time; the chart shows the Pacific date.
Azure Local, Proxmox VE 9, Oracle OLVM and Platform9 have no published end date for the current version, so no bar is drawn.
Red Hat's light bar is Extended Update Support to the end of Term 2. Term 1: Premium includes it, Standard may add it.
Row order is VMware first, then alphabetical by platform name, as in the page tables. It is not a ranking.

Embed this chart

The chart draws each platform’s current major version from release to end of support, with the latest check, 2026-11-03, marked. The dashed bar is Broadcom’s estimated end of service date, not a lifecycle matrix entry. Month-only dates are plotted at mid-month. Broadcom states an expectation of 27 months of support for initial minor releases and 45 months for the last minor release, not a commitment ^S05. Lifecycle dates are as published on 2026-10-11, except the Azure Local build, read on 2026-11-03, and can change. Microsoft’s page source gives each end time as 6:59:59 AM UTC, which the source snippets show and which is the previous evening in US Pacific Time. The Windows end dates here are the US Pacific calendar dates, as Microsoft’s page displays them ^S09.

VMware migration tool and hypervisor

Each tool is shown as the vendor describes it.

Platform	VMware migration tool	Hypervisor
VMware VCF and VVF (Broadcom)	Not applicable: VMware is the source platform of the migrations ^S02	ESX (vSphere hypervisor) ^S02.
Microsoft Azure Local	Azure Migrate, VMware VMs to Azure Local ^S16	Hyper-V ^S73.
Microsoft Hyper-V (Windows Server 2025)	VM Conversion extension for Windows Admin Center, no extra cost. In preview on 2026-10-11 ^S11	Hyper-V ^S73.
Nutanix AHV (NCI)	Nutanix Move, with sources including vSphere, Hyper-V and AWS ^S25. The page states no price	Nutanix AHV ^S23.
Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager	virt-v2v, semi-automated when run on its own, with automation through Oracle Linux Automation Manager ^S83	Oracle Linux KVM ^S83. Release 4.5 is based on oVirt community release 4.5.5 ^S50.
Platform9 Private Cloud Director	Project vJailbreak, open source, built by Platform9. Supports vCenter 6.7 or greater ^S44	KVM ^S60.
Proxmox VE	Integrated VM importer (ESXi import wizard, OVA and OVF). Tested from ESXi 6.5 up to 8.0. VMs with disks on VMware vSAN cannot be imported directly ^S21	KVM, with Linux Containers (LXC) ^S22.
Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization Engine	Migration Toolkit for Virtualization, included ^S33. Sources: VMware vSphere, Red Hat Virtualization, OpenStack ^S36	KVM ^S34.
XCP-ng with Vates	XO V2V (VMware to Vates) in Xen Orchestra. Needs HTTP access to the ESXi API, not direct access to VMware storage ^S31	Xen, type-1 ^S28. Began as a XenServer fork and is a Xen Project incubation project hosted by the Linux Foundation ^S32.
XenServer (Cloud Software Group)	XenServer Conversion Manager, a virtual appliance that converts ESXi and vCenter VMs ^S49 ^S56. It cannot convert Windows VMs with four or more disks ^S56	Xen Project hypervisor ^S49.

VMware VCF and VVF licensing

For VCF and VVF, the Broadcom pages retrieved state a minimum of 16 cores per processor ^S01 ^S80. Broadcom’s knowledge base article on counting cores says to license a minimum of 16 physical cores for each CPU, even if a CPU has fewer than 16 cores ^S01. Broadcom’s specific program documentation of June 2026 states the same minimum and a per core licence metric ^S80. The VCF 9.0 licensing model page, last updated 2026-11-02, says most products have a minimum consumption rule of 16 cores per physical CPU ^S78. Broadcom’s FAQ states that Broadcom Software Maintenance Essential Support is included with VCF ^S02.

Proxmox vs VMware

The table sets each Proxmox VE field beside the VMware field. Each cell keeps the vendor’s own unit and currency, so the prices are not comparable and no difference is calculated.

Field	VMware VCF and VVF	Proxmox VE
Licence metric	Per core: VCF ^S80, VVF ^S01	Per occupied physical CPU socket ^S18.
Subscription or perpetual	Subscription: VCF ^S80, VVF ^S03	Annual subscription for support and repository access ^S18. Code licensed under AGPLv3 ^S19.
Public list price	Not published ^S78	EUR 120 to 1,100 per socket per year, net of VAT, by plan ^S18.
Minimums	16 cores per processor ^S01 ^S80	One subscription per occupied CPU socket ^S18.
Free tier	Free ESXi 8.0 Update 3e: 2 physical CPUs per host, 8 vCPUs per VM ^S04	Open source under AGPLv3 ^S19. Community plan EUR 120 per socket per year ^S18.
Current version and release	VCF 9.1.1, 2026-09-03 ^S06	Proxmox VE 9.2, 2026-05-21 ^S20.
End of support	Estimated 2031-06-17 for 9.x ^S05	Not published: “tba” for Proxmox VE 9 ^S19.
VMware migration tool	Not applicable ^S02	Integrated VM importer, tested from ESXi 6.5 up to 8.0 ^S21.
Hypervisor	ESX ^S02	KVM with LXC ^S22.

Hyper-V vs VMware

Microsoft describes Hyper-V as its enterprise-grade hypervisor technology built into Windows Server and Windows ^S73. This table therefore uses the price, minimums and lifecycle of Windows Server 2025, except where a row names Hyper-V Server 2019.

Field	VMware VCF and VVF	Microsoft Hyper-V (Windows Server 2025)
Licence metric	Per core: VCF ^S80, VVF ^S01	Per physical core, in 2-core and 16-core packs ^S07 ^S08.
Subscription or perpetual	Subscription: VCF ^S80, VVF ^S03	Perpetual (conventional licensing). Pay as you go through Azure Arc is the subscription alternative ^S92.
Public list price	Not published ^S78	Datacenter USD 6,771 and Standard USD 1,176 per 16-core pack ^S07. Pay as you go USD 33.58 per core per month ^S07.
Minimums	16 cores per processor ^S01 ^S80	8 core licences per processor and 16 per server ^S08.
Free tier	Free ESXi 8.0 Update 3e: 2 physical CPUs per host, 8 vCPUs per VM ^S04	Hyper-V Server 2019 (standalone): Microsoft describes it as a free product ^S94.
Current version and release	VCF 9.1.1, 2026-09-03 ^S06	Windows Server 2025, 2024-11-01 ^S09.
End of support	Estimated 2031-06-17 for 9.x ^S05	Mainstream 2029-11-13, extended 2034-11-14 ^S09.
VMware migration tool	Not applicable ^S02	VM Conversion extension for Windows Admin Center, in preview ^S11.
Hypervisor	ESX ^S02	Hyper-V ^S73.

Nutanix vs VMware

The table sets each Nutanix AHV field beside the VMware field. Neither vendor shows a price in the pages retrieved. Nutanix shows Move as its VMware migration tool and states no price for it ^S25.

Field	VMware VCF and VVF	Nutanix AHV (NCI)
Licence metric	Per core: VCF ^S80, VVF ^S01	Per physical CPU core ^S24.
Subscription or perpetual	Subscription: VCF ^S80, VVF ^S03	Term licence, 6 to 60 months ^S23.
Public list price	Not published ^S78	Not published ^S23.
Minimums	16 cores per processor ^S01 ^S80	Licensing must cover all cores of the cluster ^S23.
Free tier	Free ESXi 8.0 Update 3e: 2 physical CPUs per host, 8 vCPUs per VM ^S04	Community Edition, at no cost, for learning on your own hardware ^S26.
Current version and release	VCF 9.1.1, 2026-09-03 ^S06	Not retrieved ^S27.
End of support	Estimated 2031-06-17 for 9.x ^S05	Not retrieved ^S27. 15 months Maintenance, then 9 months Troubleshooting only ^S27.
VMware migration tool	Not applicable ^S02	Nutanix Move ^S25.
Hypervisor	ESX ^S02	Nutanix AHV ^S23.

Platforms not yet covered

Three platforms were looked at and have no table row. A platform needs at least 3 of the 9 fields filled from its own vendor’s pages. These three fell short in the pages this run could retrieve. This is a statement about retrieval on 2026-10-11, not about the products. The refresher retries them each quarter.

HPE Morpheus VM Essentials. The vendor site refused automated retrieval. hpe.com, community.hpe.com and the HPE documentation hosts reset the connection or returned HTTP 403 or 404. The support.hpe.com release notes returned an empty script shell. No archive snapshot exists.
Scale Computing HyperCore. The price sits behind a quote tool that needs a form, which was not filled. The licence metric, free tier, version, support dates and migration tool name were not found on the pages retrieved.
VergeIO VergeOS. The price is behind a sales form. The hypervisor, version and support dates are not stated on the pages retrieved.

Methodology

Every value comes from a vendor’s own page, document or API, retrieved on 2026-10-11, except for the later checks described below. The Platform9 programme rate is USD 13.52 per core per month after the 90-day launch period. Its billing block changed from USD 10.40 ^S59 on 2026-10-19 to USD 13.52 ^S59 on 2026-11-03, a change of 30.0 percent: (13.52 - 10.40) / 10.40 = 30.0 percent ^derived. The editor approved the change on 2026-11-03. Each value traces to a row in the clean dataset and an entry in the source ledger. The two VVF licensing statements, per core ^S01 and on subscription ^S03, have their own rows. The dataset has 202 publishable rows. Each of the 10 platforms has all 9 fields filled with a sourced value, a “not published” or “not retrieved” row with its reason, or, for VMware’s migration tool, “not applicable”. Prices quoted by resellers or analysts are not treated as vendor list prices and are not shown.

Prices stay in the vendor’s currency and unit. Nothing is converted across currencies, and no price is normalised across metrics. The only derived price is the Azure Local per-month figure, 10.04 USD per physical core per month. Where a source gives a month and no day, the value stays month-only. Microsoft’s page source gives each end time in UTC, as the source snippets show, and the dates here are the US Pacific calendar dates that Microsoft’s page displays. Where two Broadcom documents give different 9.1 dates, VCF 9.1.0 and VVF 9.1 keep their own dates because they are different products.

On 2026-10-19 every source was checked, and that was the last full check. The Platform9 page ^S59 and the Vates page ^S28 had changed and were collected again then. On 2026-11-03 four sources were checked again, ^S59, ^S15, ^S78 and ^S21. Three had changed and were collected again, ^S59, the Azure Local release page ^S15 and the Broadcom licensing model page ^S78. The Proxmox import page ^S21 was unchanged. A source that was not collected again shows its earlier retrieval date. The cut-off for the label dated is 24 months before the latest check, 2026-11-03, so it is 2024-11-03. It moved from 2024-10-19, and the only source date between the two is the Windows Server 2025 start date, 2024-11-01 ^S09. No figure on this page is labelled dated. Lifecycle dates and the dates of events such as releases are never labelled dated, under the hub rule, because they stay true until the vendor changes them, and the refresher re-checks them. Every other figure was published, or read from a live price or documentation page, after the cut-off. The Proxmox import page ^S21 was last changed on 2026-05-27, so it is not dated, although its text says “At time of writing (November 2024)”. Lifecycle dates are as published on 2026-10-11, except the Azure Local build, read on 2026-11-03. Several sources are vendor marketing pages, and they are used only for what the vendor says about its own product. The refresh cadence is quarterly, plus vendor announcements. Hub-wide rules are on the methodology page.

Download and embed

Download the CSV. It holds the publishable rows, each with its source key and retrieval date, not every row in the working dataset. The citation block below gives ready-made citation HTML. The lifecycle chart has an embed link, and the embed code below carries the attribution link.

Frequently asked questions

Is VMware completely free now?

Not for VCF. Broadcom's specific program documentation of June 2026 states that VCF is subscription software licensed per core ^S80. Broadcom's knowledge base describes a free ESXi 8.0 Update 3e hypervisor limited to 2 physical CPUs per host and 8 vCPUs per VM, with no vCenter management and no official support ^S04. That article is undated and does not cover VCF 9.

Is Hyper-V free?

Microsoft describes Hyper-V Server 2019, the standalone product, as a free product ^S94. Mainstream support for it has ended and extended support ends 2029-01-09 ^S10. Hyper-V is also built into Windows Server ^S73, and Windows Server 2025 lists at USD 6,771 for Datacenter and USD 1,176 for Standard per 16-core pack, suggested MSRP ^S07.

Is Hyper-V obsolete?

Windows Server 2025 was released on 2024-11-01, with mainstream support to 2029-11-13 and extended support to 2034-11-14 ^S09. For the standalone Hyper-V Server 2019, mainstream support has ended and extended support ends 2029-01-09 ^S10.

Is VMware becoming obsolete?

Broadcom's knowledge base article KB 314608 lists VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.1.1 as released on 2026-09-03 ^S06. Broadcom's VCF blog of 2025-07-16 gives an estimated end of service date of 2031-06-17 for the VCF 9.x code line, an estimate and not a lifecycle matrix entry ^S05. Survey data on customers leaving VMware is on the VMware migration statistics page.

Is Proxmox the same as VMware?

No. They are different products from different vendors. Proxmox VE combines the KVM hypervisor with Linux Containers ^S22, and VMware VCF uses the ESX hypervisor ^S02. Proxmox is licensed per occupied CPU socket under an annual subscription ^S18, and VCF per core as subscription software ^S80.

Can Proxmox be used to replace VMware?

Proxmox VE has an integrated VM importer for VMware ESXi, tested from ESXi 6.5 up to 8.0 ^S21. Importing a VM with disks on VMware vSAN does not work directly ^S21. The wiki text carries the phrase "At time of writing (November 2024)" ^S21.

What are the key differences between VMware and Nutanix?

VMware VCF is licensed per core as subscription software, with a minimum of 16 cores per processor ^S80, on the ESX hypervisor ^S02. Nutanix NCI is licensed per physical CPU core ^S24 on term licences of 6 to 60 months, and licensing must cover all cores of the cluster ^S23. Its hypervisor is Nutanix AHV ^S23, and neither vendor shows a price in the pages retrieved ^S78 ^S23.

Sources

Every figure on this page carries a key that links to an entry below. Retrieved is the date the figure was read from the source for this dataset; the methodology section gives the date of the last full check. Sponsor names who paid for the research; a figure with a sponsor is read with that interest in mind. Keys follow the source ledger, so a missing number is a source that was reviewed and not used on this page. Hub-wide rules are on the methodology page.

S01 Broadcom Knowledge Base, Counting Cores for VMware Cloud Foundation and vSphere Foundation and TiBs for vSAN (KB 313548) (knowledge.broadcom.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- VVF is licensed per core: VCF and VVF core licensing counts the physical CPU cores (Broadcom KB 313548)
  Verbatim
  VCF and VVF core licensing is based on the total number of physical CPU cores across all ESXi hosts you intend to license.
- Minimum of 16 cores per processor for VCF and VVF (Broadcom KB 313548)
  Verbatim
  You must license a minimum of 16 physical cores for each CPU (physical processor) in your ESXi hosts, even if a CPU has fewer than 16 cores.
S02 Broadcom, VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1 Frequently Asked Questions (PDF) (vmware.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2026-09-03
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Perpetual licences must switch to subscription licences before upgrading to VCF 9 (Broadcom VCF 9.1 FAQ, 2026-09-03)
  Verbatim
  Customers with perpetual licenses will need to switch to subscription licenses prior to upgrading.
- Broadcom Software Maintenance Essential Support is included with VCF (Broadcom VCF 9.1 FAQ, 2026-09-03)
  Verbatim
  Broadcom Software Maintenance Essential Support is included with VCF.
- VMware VCF hypervisor: ESX (Broadcom VCF 9.1 FAQ, 2026-09-03)
  Verbatim
  VCF 9 licensing applies to VCF including all of its components: vCenter & ESX, vSAN, NSX, HCX
S03 Broadcom, VMware vSphere Foundation 9.1 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), PDF (vmware.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- VVF is licensed on subscription: VVF 9.1 licensing is built for the subscription model (Broadcom VVF 9.1 FAQ)
  Verbatim
  VMware vSphere Foundation 9.1 licensing is designed specifically for the new subscription model.
- VVF 9.1 general availability: 2026-05-05 (Broadcom VVF 9.1 FAQ)
  Verbatim
  A. VMware vSphere Foundation 9.1 is generally available as of May 05, 2026.
S04 Broadcom Knowledge Base, VMware ESXi 8.0 Update 3e now available as a Free Hypervisor (KB 399823) (knowledge.broadcom.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Free ESXi 8.0 Update 3e: up to 2 physical CPUs per host and 8 vCPUs per VM (Broadcom KB 399823, undated)
  Verbatim
  Up to 2 physical CPUs supported per host 8 vCPUs per virtual machine
- Free ESXi 8.0 Update 3e: no vCenter management and no official Broadcom support (Broadcom KB 399823, undated)
  Verbatim
  Cannot be managed by vCenter Server | No official Broadcom support
S05 Broadcom, VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Blog (author shown as VCF Team), VMware Cloud Foundation 9 Ushers In New Support Model and Release Cadence (blogs.vmware.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2025-07-16
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Estimated end of service date for the VCF 9.x code line: 2031-06-17 (Broadcom VCF blog, 2025-07-16)
  Verbatim
  For the VCF 9.x code line, this would represent an estimated End of Service date of 17-June 2031.
- 6+1 support model, a general expectation: six years of support from a major release (Broadcom VCF blog, 2025-07-16)
  Verbatim
  our general expectation going forward will be to provide support for our major releases for six (6) years from that major release
- 6+1 support model: in certain cases, the option to purchase an additional year of Extended Support (Broadcom VCF blog, 2025-07-16)
  Verbatim
  and, in certain cases, with the option to purchase an additional year of Extended Support.
- Support expectation: 27 months for initial minor releases and 45 months for the last minor release (Broadcom VCF blog, 2025-07-16)
  Verbatim
  Our expectation is that initial minor releases will provide 27 months support each, while the last minor release will provide 45 months of support
S06 Broadcom Knowledge Base, Correlating VMware Cloud Foundation version with the versions of its constituent products (KB 314608) (knowledge.broadcom.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- VCF 9.0 release date: 2025-06-17 (Broadcom KB 314608)
  Verbatim
  9.0 17 Jun 2025
- VCF 9.1.0 release date: 2026-05-12 (Broadcom KB 314608)
  Verbatim
  9.1.0 12 May 2026
- VCF 9.1.1 release date: 2026-09-03, the current version (Broadcom KB 314608)
  Verbatim
  9.1.1 03 Sep 2026
S07 Microsoft, Windows Server 2025 Pricing and licensing (microsoft.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Windows Server 2025 Datacenter: USD 6,771 per 16-core pack, suggested MSRP (Microsoft pricing page)
  Verbatim
  Suggested MSRP: $6,771
- Windows Server 2025 Standard: USD 1,176 per 16-core pack, suggested MSRP (Microsoft pricing page)
  Verbatim
  Suggested MSRP: $1,176
- Pack prices are for 16 core licenses (Microsoft pricing page)
  Verbatim
  Datacenter and Standard edition pricing is for 16 core licenses
- Pay as you go through Azure Arc: USD 33.58 per core per month (Microsoft pricing page)
  Verbatim
  $33.58 per CPU core / month; $0.046 / hour
S08 Microsoft (Commercial Licensing), Windows Server 2025 Licensing Guidance (microsoft.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Windows Server 2025: minimum of 8 core licences per processor and 16 per server (Microsoft licensing guidance)
  Verbatim
  subject to a minimum of 8 core licenses per physical processor and a minimum of 16 core licenses per server.
- Core licences are sold in 2-packs and 16-packs (Microsoft licensing guidance)
  Verbatim
  Core licenses are sold in 2-packs and 16-packs.
S09 Microsoft Learn (Microsoft Lifecycle), Windows Server 2025 - Microsoft Lifecycle (learn.microsoft.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2024-11-04
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Windows Server 2025 release date: 2024-11-01 (Microsoft Lifecycle, page dated 2024-11-04)
  Verbatim
  Windows Server 2025 11/1/2024 8:00:00 AM 11/14/2029 6:59:59 AM 11/15/2034 6:59:59 AM
- Windows Server 2025 mainstream support ends 2029-11-13, the US Pacific calendar date of the page's 11/14/2029 6:59:59 AM UTC (Microsoft Lifecycle)
  Verbatim
  Windows Server 2025 11/1/2024 8:00:00 AM 11/14/2029 6:59:59 AM 11/15/2034 6:59:59 AM
- Windows Server 2025 extended support ends 2034-11-14, the US Pacific calendar date of the page's 11/15/2034 6:59:59 AM UTC (Microsoft Lifecycle)
  Verbatim
  Windows Server 2025 11/1/2024 8:00:00 AM 11/14/2029 6:59:59 AM 11/15/2034 6:59:59 AM
S10 Microsoft Learn (Microsoft Lifecycle), Hyper-V Server 2019 - Microsoft Lifecycle (learn.microsoft.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2024-05-20
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Hyper-V Server 2019 extended support ends 2029-01-09, the US Pacific calendar date of the page's 1/10/2029 6:59:59 AM UTC (Microsoft Lifecycle, page dated 2024-05-20)
  Verbatim
  Hyper-V Server 2019 11/13/2018 8:00:00 AM 1/10/2024 6:59:59 AM 1/10/2029 6:59:59 AM
- Hyper-V Server 2019 mainstream support has ended (Microsoft Lifecycle, page dated 2024-05-20)
  Verbatim
  Mainstream support for Hyper-V Server 2019 has ended.
S11 Microsoft Learn, VM Conversion Extension in Windows Admin Center (Preview) (learn.microsoft.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2025-08-13
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Windows Admin Center VM Conversion extension migrates VMware VMs from vCenter to Hyper-V at no extra cost (Microsoft Learn, 2025-08-13)
  Verbatim
  The VM Conversion extension for Windows Admin Center enables you to migrate VMware virtual machines from vCenter to Hyper-V. | The extension is easy to set up and available at no extra cost.
- The VM Conversion extension is in preview (Microsoft Learn, 2025-08-13; status on 2026-10-11)
  Verbatim
  The VM Conversion extension is currently in PREVIEW.
S12 Microsoft, Azure Local pricing overview (azure.microsoft.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Azure Local: 60-day free trial after registration (Microsoft pricing overview)
  Verbatim
  Azure Local offers a free trial for the first 60 days after registration.
S13 Microsoft (Azure Retail Prices API), Azure Retail Prices, serviceName Azure Stack HCI (the Azure Local meters) (prices.azure.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2025-04-01
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Azure Local: USD 0.33 per physical core per day (Azure Retail Prices API, Standard Monthly Service Fee)
  Verbatim
  "retailPrice":0.33,"unitPrice":0.33 | "meterName":"Standard Monthly Service Fee" | "unitOfMeasure":"1/Day"
- Derived: USD 10.04 per physical core per month = 0.33 x 365 / 12 = 10.0375, rounded half-up to cents
  Verbatim
  "retailPrice":0.33,"unitPrice":0.33 | "unitOfMeasure":"1/Day"
S14 Microsoft Learn, Azure Local billing and payment (learn.microsoft.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2026-06-25
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Azure Local is billed at a flat rate per physical processor core (Microsoft Learn, 2026-06-25)
  Verbatim
  Billing is based on a flat rate per physical processor core in an Azure Local instance
- Azure Local: no minimum, no maximum (Microsoft Learn, 2026-06-25)
  Verbatim
  There's no minimum, no maximum
- Azure Local (L1): hyperconverged deployments with local storage, up to 16 nodes (Microsoft Learn, 2026-06-25)
  Verbatim
  Azure Local (L1) applies to hyperconverged deployments that use local storage and support up to 16 nodes.
S15 Microsoft Learn, Azure Local release information (learn.microsoft.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2026-11-02
Retrieved
2026-11-03
- Azure Local current build 12.2610.1004.50, available 2026-11-02 (Microsoft Learn, 2026-11-02)
  Verbatim
  12.2610.1004.50 Availability date: 2026-11-02
- Each Azure Local release is supported for six months (Microsoft Learn, 2026-10-01)
  Retrieved
  2026-10-11
  Verbatim
  Each Azure Local release is supported for six months
- Azure Local version 23H2 reached end of support in 2026-04 (Microsoft Learn, 2026-10-01)
  Retrieved
  2026-10-11
  Verbatim
  23H2 OS (OS version 25398.xxxx) reached end of support in April 2026.
S16 Microsoft Learn, Use Azure Migrate to move VMware VMs to Azure Local (learn.microsoft.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2026-09-24
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Azure Migrate moves VMware VMs to Azure Local (Microsoft Learn, 2026-09-24)
  Verbatim
  This article provides an overview of how to migrate VMware virtual machines (VMs) to your Azure Local instance using Azure Migrate.
S18 Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH, Pricing for Subscriptions Plans - Proxmox Virtual Environment (proxmox.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Proxmox VE Premium plan: EUR 1,100 per socket per year, net of VAT
  Verbatim
  € 1,100 / year per socket
- Proxmox VE Standard plan: EUR 550 per socket per year, net of VAT
  Verbatim
  € 550 / year per socket
- Proxmox VE Basic plan: EUR 370 per socket per year, net of VAT
  Verbatim
  € 370 / year per socket
- Proxmox VE Community plan: EUR 120 per CPU socket per year, net of VAT
  Verbatim
  €120 / year per CPU socket
- Proxmox VE Community plan is listed under non-production use
  Verbatim
  For non-production use
- Prices are net of VAT; subscription term is one year from purchase
  Verbatim
  Prices are net; VAT is added where applicable. Subscription term: one year from purchase.
- One subscription per occupied CPU socket; core count does not affect the price
  Verbatim
  A subscription is required for every occupied physical CPU socket. The number of CPU cores does not affect the price.
- Community plan: Enterprise Repository access, no enterprise ticket support
  Verbatim
  Community includes access to the Enterprise Repository but not ticket support
S19 Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH (Proxmox VE wiki), FAQ - Proxmox VE (pve.proxmox.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2026-05-21
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Proxmox VE code is licensed under AGPLv3 (Proxmox VE wiki FAQ, 2026-05-21)
  Verbatim
  Proxmox VE code is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3.
- Proxmox VE 9: first release 2025-08, end of life shown as tba (Proxmox VE wiki FAQ, 2026-05-21)
  Verbatim
  Proxmox VE 9 Debian 13 (Trixie) 2025-08 tba tba
- Proxmox VE 8: Proxmox end of life 2026-08 (Proxmox VE wiki FAQ, 2026-05-21)
  Verbatim
  Proxmox VE 8 Debian 12 (Bookworm) 2023-06 2026-07 2026-08
S20 Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH (Proxmox VE wiki), Roadmap - Proxmox VE (pve.proxmox.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2026-09-23
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Proxmox VE 9.2 released 2026-05-21 on x86-64 (Proxmox VE wiki roadmap, 2026-09-23)
  Verbatim
  Proxmox VE 9.2 Released 21. May 2026
- Proxmox VE 9.2 for arm64 released 2026-08-05 (Proxmox VE wiki roadmap, 2026-09-23)
  Verbatim
  Proxmox VE 9.2 for 64-bit ARM (arm64) Released 05. August 2026
S21 Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH (Proxmox VE wiki), Migrate to Proxmox VE (pve.proxmox.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2026-05-27
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Proxmox VE has an integrated VM importer for VMware ESXi (Proxmox VE wiki, 2026-05-27)
  Verbatim
  Proxmox VE provides an integrated VM importer using the storage plugin system for native integration into the API and web-based user interface.
- Import was tested from ESXi 6.5 up to 8.0 (Proxmox VE wiki, 2026-05-27)
  Verbatim
  Import was tested from ESXi version 6.5 up to version 8.0.
- A VM with disks on VMware vSAN cannot be imported directly (Proxmox VE wiki, 2026-05-27)
  Verbatim
  Importing a VM with disks backed by a VMware vSAN storage does not work.
- The wiki text carries the phrase "At time of writing (November 2024)" (Proxmox VE wiki, 2026-05-27)
  Verbatim
  At time of writing (November 2024), VMware ESXi and OVAs/OVFs are supported as import source
S22 Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH, Proxmox Virtual Environment - Open-Source Server Virtualization Platform (proxmox.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Proxmox VE combines the KVM hypervisor and Linux Containers (LXC) (Proxmox overview page)
  Verbatim
  It tightly integrates the KVM hypervisor and Linux Containers (LXC), software-defined storage and networking functionality, on a single platform.
S23 Nutanix, Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) datasheet (nutanix.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Nutanix NCI licensing must cover all cores of the cluster (Nutanix NCI datasheet)
  Verbatim
  NCI is priced on a per core basis and licensing must cover the entire number of cores for full capacity of the cluster being licensed.
- Nutanix NCI term licences, 6 to 60 months (Nutanix NCI datasheet)
  Verbatim
  All SKUs deliver term licenses, and are configurable for any duration between 6-60 months.
- Nutanix NCI Starter edition: maximum cluster size of 12 nodes (Nutanix NCI datasheet)
  Verbatim
  maximum cluster size of 12 nodes
- Hypervisor: Nutanix AHV, built into NCI (Nutanix NCI datasheet)
  Verbatim
  Nutanix AHV: lightweight cloud hypervisor built into NCI
- No price is shown on the datasheet (absence, no quote)
S24 Nutanix, Nutanix Licensing and Cloud Platform Software Options (nutanix.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Nutanix NCI is licensed per physical CPU core (Nutanix software options page)
  Verbatim
  NCI licenses are purchased and applied on the number of physical CPU cores capacity in your deployment.
- Nutanix NCI licences are available in 1 through 5-year term options (Nutanix software options page)
  Verbatim
  Licenses are portable across hardware platforms and are available in 1 through 5-year term options.
S25 Nutanix, Nutanix Move (nutanix.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Nutanix Move migrates from sources including vSphere, Hyper-V and AWS; the page states no price
  Verbatim
  Migrate from diverse environments with support for flexible source infrastructures like vSphere, Hyper-V, AWS, and more
S26 Nutanix, Nutanix Community Edition (nutanix.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Nutanix Community Edition: join and download at no cost, for learning on your own hardware
  Verbatim
  Nutanix Community Edition is ideal for learning to manage your infrastructure on your own hardware. | Join and Download at No Cost
S27 Nutanix, Support Policies (End of Support Life policy, Nutanix versioning) (nutanix.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Nutanix policy: 15 months Maintenance, then 9 months Troubleshooting only, per AOS upgrade family
  Verbatim
  At the end of the fifteen (15) month Maintenance period, each Upgrade family is entitled to receive Troubleshooting only for a subsequent nine (9) months.
- Per-release end of life dates need a Nutanix Support Portal login, so they were not retrieved
  Verbatim
  Log in to the Nutanix Support Portal to view End of Life Support Information
S28 Vates SAS (Grenoble, France), Pricing and support (Vates Virtualization Management Stack: XCP-ng and Xen Orchestra) (vates.tech)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-19
- Vates Essential plan: 2,000 per year for up to 3 hosts (page shows the same number under USD and EUR)
  Verbatim
  ESSENTIAL 3 hosts max 2000 2000 /year
- Vates Essential+ plan: 4,000 per year for up to 3 hosts
  Verbatim
  ESSENTIAL + 3 hosts max 4000 4000 /year
- Vates Pro plan: 1,000 per host per year, 3-host minimum
  Verbatim
  PRO 3 hosts min 1000 1000 /host/year
- Vates Enterprise plan: 1,800 per host per year, 4-host minimum
  Verbatim
  ENTERPRISE 4 hosts min 1800 1800 /host/year
- Support terms of 1, 3 or 5 years
  Verbatim
  1 Year Support No savings 3 Years Support Save up to 10% 5 Years Support Save up to 15%
- XCP-ng itself: no limits, no license fees (page re-read 2026-10-19)
  Verbatim
  Type-1 Xen-based hypervisor: no limits, no license fees.
S30 XCP-ng project (Vates), documentation, Releases | XCP-ng Documentation (docs.xcp-ng.org)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- XCP-ng 8.3 LTS released 2024-10-07, supported until 2028-11-30 (XCP-ng documentation)
  Verbatim
  8.3 LTS 2024-10-07 Full support, LTS 2028-11-30
S31 XCP-ng project (Vates), documentation, Migrate to XCP-ng (docs.xcp-ng.org)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- XO V2V in Xen Orchestra migrates VMware VMs to the Vates stack (XCP-ng documentation)
  Verbatim
  Xen Orchestra introduces "V2V", or "VMware to Vates", a streamlined tool for migrating from VMware to the Vates Stack
- The method needs only HTTP access to the ESXi API, not direct access to VMware storage (XCP-ng documentation)
  Verbatim
  This method doesn't require any direct access to the VMware storage, only an HTTP access to the ESXi API.
S32 XCP-ng project, XCP-ng - XenServer Based, Community Powered (xcp-ng.org)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- XCP-ng is a Xen Project incubation project hosted by the Linux Foundation
  Verbatim
  XCP-ng is a Xen Project incubation project hosted by the Linux Foundation
- XCP-ng began as a XenServer fork
  Verbatim
  XCP-ng, which began as a XenServer fork, achieved what many thought to be impossible
S33 Red Hat, Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization Engine (redhat.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization Engine: per-node licensing for bare-metal deployments (Red Hat product page)
  Verbatim
  Get a straightforward, per-node licensing model for bare-metal deployments
- OpenShift Virtualization Engine includes the Migration Toolkit for Virtualization (Red Hat product page)
  Verbatim
  OpenShift Virtualization Engine includes the migration toolkit for virtualization
- No free tier is shown on the product page (absence, no quote)
S34 Red Hat, Self-managed Red Hat OpenShift subscription guide (redhat.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- A Red Hat node is one physical server regardless of sockets or cores; the only option for OpenShift Virtualization Engine (Red Hat subscription guide)
  Verbatim
  A physical node is 1 server regardless of the number of CPU sockets in the server, or cores in the CPUs.
- Bare-metal node subscription is available with Standard 8x5 or Premium 24x7 support (Red Hat subscription guide)
  Verbatim
  Available with Standard 8x5 or Premium 24x7 support SLA.
- OpenShift Virtualization Engine runs on the open source KVM hypervisor, bare metal only (Red Hat subscription guide)
  Verbatim
  A bare metal-only, virtualization infrastructure offering based on Red Hat OpenShift and the open source kernel-based virtual machines (KVM) hypervisor
- No third-party hypervisor is allowed (Red Hat subscription guide)
  Verbatim
  No third-party hypervisor is allowed.
- No price is shown in the guide (absence, no quote)
S35 Red Hat, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform Life Cycle Policy (access.redhat.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- OpenShift life cycle: Extended Update Support Term 1 is included with Premium subscriptions and an optional add-on for Standard subscriptions for OpenShift Virtualization Engine (Red Hat life cycle policy)
  Verbatim
  Extended Update Support - Long Life Add-on - Additional Term 1 is included with all Premium subscriptions and available as an optional add-on to Standard subscriptions for OpenShift Virtualization Engine
S36 Red Hat, Migration Toolkit for Virtualization 2.12 documentation (docs.redhat.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Migration Toolkit for Virtualization 2.12 migrates VMs from VMware vSphere, Red Hat Virtualization or OpenStack (Red Hat documentation)
  Verbatim
  Migrating virtual machines from VMware vSphere, Red Hat Virtualization or OpenStack platforms, or other platforms to Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization by using the Migration Toolkit for Virtualization
S41 XenServer (Cloud Software Group), Licensing overview | XenServer 8.4 (docs.xenserver.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- XenServer 8.4 is licensed per CPU socket (XenServer documentation)
  Verbatim
  XenServer is licensed on a per-socket basis.
- XenServer 8.4 Trial Edition: Premium feature set, maximum three hosts, up to 90 days (XenServer documentation)
  Verbatim
  Trial Edition showcases our Premium Edition feature set on a restricted size pool (maximum three hosts) for up to 90 days.
S43 Platform9 Systems, Contact Us | Platform9 (the /pricing URL redirects here) (platform9.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Platform9 shows no price; the pricing URL leads to a contact page, so price is by quote only
  Verbatim
  Contact Us
S44 Platform9 Systems, Migrate VMs from VMware to PCD (docs.platform9.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- vJailbreak, open source and built by Platform9, migrates VMware VMs to Private Cloud Director
  Verbatim
  Project vJailbreak is an open source tool built by Platform9 to perform at scale migrations of virtual machines from your existing VMware environment to Private Cloud Director
- vJailbreak supports vCenter version 6.7 or greater
  Verbatim
  vJailbreak is tested with and supports vCenter version 6.7 or greater today.
S48 XenServer (Cloud Software Group), XenServer Pricing and License Tiers (xenserver.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- XenServer: no list price, sold as an entitlement of a Citrix subscription; price by quote only (XenServer pricing page)
  Verbatim
  Currently XenServer is only available as an entitlement of a Citrix subscription. For Citrix pricing, please contact your Citrix Sales representative or Citrix channel partner.
- XenServer Premium: CPU socket unit, term subscription, maintenance included (XenServer pricing page)
  Verbatim
  Premium Unit Type * CPU Socket Term Subscription Maintenance Included
S49 XenServer (Cloud Software Group), XenServer Features and Editions | XenServer 9 (xenserver.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- XenServer 9 is available as Premium Edition and the Trial Edition (XenServer editions page)
  Verbatim
  XenServer 9 is available as Premium Edition and the Trial Edition.
- XenServer hypervisor: the Xen Project hypervisor (XenServer editions page)
  Verbatim
  The Xen Project hypervisor upon which all workloads run.
- XenServer Conversion Manager is listed as a feature (XenServer editions page)
  Verbatim
  XenServer Conversion Manager
S50 Oracle, Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager: What's New (Release Notes) (docs.oracle.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager release 4.5 is based on oVirt community release 4.5.5 (Oracle release notes)
  Verbatim
  Release 4.5 of Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager is based on oVirt community release version 4.5.5
S51 Oracle, Oracle Linux Product Life Cycle: Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager (docs.oracle.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager release 4.5 on Oracle Linux 9: August 2026 (Oracle life cycle page)
  Verbatim
  Release 4.5 on Oracle Linux 9 (N) August 2026
- Release 4.5 on Oracle Linux 8 is available until March 2027 (Oracle life cycle page)
  Verbatim
  Release 4.5 on Oracle Linux 8 (N-1) December 2023 Available until March 2027
S54 Red Hat (Product Life Cycles API), Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform life cycle data (API response) (access.redhat.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Red Hat OpenShift 4.22 general availability: 2026-06-09 (Red Hat Product Life Cycles API)
  Verbatim
  "name":"4.22" | {"name":"General availability","start_date":"N/A","end_date":"2026-06-09T00:00:00.000Z"
- OpenShift 4.22 maintenance support ends 2027-12-31 (Red Hat Product Life Cycles API)
  Verbatim
  {"name":"Maintenance support","start_date":"2027-01-01T00:00:00.000Z","end_date":"2027-12-31T00:00:00.000Z"
- OpenShift 4.22 Extended update support Term 2 ends 2029-06-30 (Red Hat Product Life Cycles API)
  Verbatim
  {"name":"Extended update support Term 2","start_date":"2028-07-01T00:00:00.000Z","end_date":"2029-06-30T00:00:00.000Z"
S55 XenServer (Cloud Software Group), XenServer Lifecycle - Simplified Release Stream (xenserver.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- XenServer 9 is supported until 2031-07 and XenServer 8.4 until 2028-11 (XenServer lifecycle page)
  Verbatim
  XenServer 8.4 is supported until November 2028 and XenServer 9 is now supported until July 2031.
S56 XenServer (Cloud Software Group), Conversion Manager | XenServer 9 (docs.xenserver.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- XenServer Conversion Manager converts VMware ESXi and vCenter VMs (XenServer 9 documentation)
  Verbatim
  Transform your VMware ESXi/vCenter VMs to XenServer® quickly and easily with the Conversion Manager virtual appliance.
- Conversion Manager cannot convert Windows VMs with four or more disks (XenServer 9 documentation)
  Verbatim
  Conversion Manager virtual appliance cannot convert VMware ESXi/vCenter Windows VMs with four or more disks into XenServer VMs.
S57 XenServer (Cloud Software Group), What's new | XenServer 9 (docs.xenserver.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2026-10-07
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- XenServer is now an entitlement of Citrix subscriptions (XenServer 9 What's new, 2026-10-07)
  Verbatim
  XenServer is now an entitlement of the Citrix for Private Cloud, Citrix Universal Hybrid Multi-Cloud, Citrix Universal MSP, and Citrix Platform License subscriptions
S59 Platform9 Systems, PCSP Program - Deploy Now (platform9.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-11-03
- Platform9 service-provider programme: USD 13.52 per core per month after 90 days, in the body text (page read 2026-10-19)
  Retrieved
  2026-10-19
  Verbatim
  After 90 days, transition to transparent pricing at $13.52 per core/month
- Platform9 service-provider programme: USD 13.52 per core per month in the billing block, the same rate as the body text (page read 2026-11-03)
  Verbatim
  Transparent pricing at $13.52/core per month
- Platform9 service-provider programme, earlier billing block reading, replaced on 2026-11-03: USD 10.40 per core per month (page read 2026-10-19)
  Retrieved
  2026-10-19
  Verbatim
  Transparent pricing at $10.40/core per month
S60 Platform9 Systems, Enterprise-grade Virtualization & Container Management | PCD (platform9.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Platform9 Private Cloud Director Community Edition: free, fully featured for one region, no time limit, community support
  Verbatim
  Run Private Cloud Director Community Edition in your own environment for free, fully featured for one single region, with no time limits and community support
- Private Cloud Director runs on KVM
  Verbatim
  Deploy, operate, and upgrade an enterprise-grade KVM private cloud from a single bootable ISO.
S61 Platform9 Systems, Your Cloud. Your Rules. (Private Cloud Director landing page) (go.platform9.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Platform9 states per-core pricing with one SKU (vendor marketing page)
  Verbatim
  Per-core pricing. One SKU. Your cost maps directly to the infrastructure you own.
- Platform9 states no 16-core minimums (vendor marketing page, not a licence term)
  Verbatim
  No bundle shock, no 16-core minimums, no forced upgrades at renewal.
S62 Platform9 Systems, Community Edition (Private Cloud Director docs, 2025.10) (docs.platform9.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Platform9 Community Edition is not for production workloads (Private Cloud Director docs 2025.10)
  Verbatim
  Community Edition is not for production workloads.
S73 Microsoft Learn, Hyper-V virtualization in Windows Server and Windows (learn.microsoft.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2025-07-28
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Hyper-V is built into Windows Server and Windows (Microsoft Learn, 2025-07-28)
  Verbatim
  Hyper-V is Microsoft's enterprise-grade hypervisor technology built into Windows Server and Windows.
- Hyper-V is a key component of Azure Local (Microsoft Learn, 2025-07-28)
  Verbatim
  Hyper-V also is a key component of Azure Local
S78 Broadcom TechDocs, VCF 9.0 licensing model (VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0 documentation) (techdocs.broadcom.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2026-11-02
Retrieved
2026-11-03
- Most VCF products have a minimum consumption rule of 16 cores per physical CPU (Broadcom TechDocs, VCF 9.0 licensing model, last updated 2026-11-02)
  Verbatim
  Most products have a minimum consumption rule of 16 cores per physical CPU.
- No price is shown on the page (absence, no quote)
  Retrieved
  2026-10-11
S80 Broadcom, VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Specific Program Documentation (SPD), June 2026 (PDF) (ftpdocs.broadcom.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2026-06
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- VCF is subscription software licensed per core, with a minimum of 16 cores per processor (Broadcom VCF Specific Program Documentation, June 2026)
  Verbatim
  Software is subscription software licensed on a per Core license metric with a minimum licensing requirement of 16 Cores per Processor.
- Core licences equal the cores on the server, subject to the minimum of 16 per processor (Broadcom VCF Specific Program Documentation, June 2026)
  Verbatim
  The required number of Core licenses equals the number of Cores on the Server, subject to the minimum of 16 Core licenses per Processor.
S83 Oracle, Automate Using virt-v2v with Oracle Linux Automation Manager (docs.oracle.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- virt-v2v, with automation through Oracle Linux Automation Manager, migrates VMs from a VMware environment to Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager (Oracle Learn)
  Verbatim
  automate the migration of existing VMs running in a VMware environment to Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager using Oracle Linux Automation Manager. | You can combine the virt-v2v tool with Oracle’s automation solution, Oracle Linux Automation Manager.
- virt-v2v is semi-automated when run on its own (Oracle Learn)
  Verbatim
  The virt-v2v tool is semi-automated when run on its own
- Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager manages an Oracle Linux KVM environment (Oracle Learn)
  Verbatim
  manage an Oracle Linux Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) environment
S92 Microsoft Learn, Configure Windows Server Pay-as-you-go with Azure Arc (applies to Windows Server 2025) (learn.microsoft.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
2025-06-27
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Pay as you go through Azure Arc is an alternative to conventional perpetual licensing for Windows Server 2025 (Microsoft Learn, 2025-06-27)
  Verbatim
  Azure Arc's Pay-as-you-go subscription licensing option is an alternative to the conventional perpetual licensing for Windows Server 2025.
- A traditional perpetual licence is installed by entering a product key (Microsoft Learn, 2025-06-27)
  Verbatim
  You can install a traditional perpetual license by entering a product key.
S94 Microsoft (Evaluation Center), Hyper-V Server 2019 (Evaluation Center) (microsoft.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Microsoft describes Hyper-V Server 2019, the standalone product, as a free product (Microsoft Evaluation Center)
  Verbatim
  Microsoft Hyper-V Server is a free product that delivers enterprise-class virtualization for your datacenter and hybrid cloud.
S96 Platform9 Systems, August 2026 Release | Release Notes (Platform9 Private Cloud Director documentation) (docs.platform9.com)
Sponsor
none stated
Published
not stated
Retrieved
2026-10-11
- Platform9 Private Cloud Director, August 2026 Release (release notes; no day stated)
  Verbatim
  August 2026 Release

Figures marked ^derived are computed from the sourced figures beside them; the formula is stated in the text and rounding is stated once in the methodology.

Cite this page

Data on this page is published under CC BY 4.0. Use any figure, chart or table with a link back to this page.

Plain text: Sysprobs Data (2026). VMware Alternatives Compared 2026: Licence, List Price, Free Tier and End of Support. Edited by Dinesh Kumar. https://sysprobs.com/data/vmware-alternatives-compared/ (updated 3 November 2026, accessed [date accessed]).
HTML: <a href="https://sysprobs.com/data/vmware-alternatives-compared/">VMware Alternatives Compared 2026: Licence, List Price, Free Tier and End of Support</a>, Sysprobs Data, updated 3 November 2026, accessed [date accessed].
APA: Sysprobs Data. (2026, November 3). VMware Alternatives Compared 2026: Licence, List Price, Free Tier and End of Support. Retrieved [date accessed], from https://sysprobs.com/data/vmware-alternatives-compared/

Quoting one figure: name the organisation that produced it, and its sponsor where there is one, then link here. For example: "Nine VMware alternatives are compared as of 2026-10-11. They are Microsoft Hyper-V, Microsoft Azure Local, Nutanix AHV, Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager, Platform9 Private Cloud Director, Proxmox VE, Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization Engine, XCP-ng with Vates and XenServer. Each vendor's own pages document a VMware migration path.", compiled by Sysprobs Data. The source panel above gives the publisher, sponsor, sample and fieldwork for every key.

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Release and end of support of the current major version, VMware and 9 alternatives (data read 2026-10-11 to 2026-11-03)

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Changelog

2026-10-11: First version, data version 2. Platform9's August 2026 release was added. The Windows Server licence model (perpetual, with pay as you go through Azure Arc) and the free Hyper-V Server 2019 were added from Microsoft. Nutanix 1 through 5-year term options were added. Microsoft end-date wording was corrected.
2026-10-19: Data version 3. Platform9's service-provider page now shows two per-core rates, 13.52 and 10.40 USD per month, and both are listed. Four derived per-core figures for Windows Server and Azure Local are no longer in data.csv. VVF licensing now cites Broadcom's VVF documents.
2026-10-21: Published at https://sysprobs.com/data/vmware-alternatives-compared/.
2026-10-22: Data version 4. The first box now lists the nine alternatives the page compares. Every source in the panel now shows each figure taken from it with its own verbatim text, and says whether the source is a price page or a document. The two VVF licensing statements (per core, on subscription) now have rows in data.csv, which holds 201 rows, with two new columns, source_publisher and source_url. Headline figures and key findings now name the product version, publisher and date in the sentence. The answer to Is VMware becoming obsolete? now names its version, date and publisher. The methodology now states the cut-off date for dated figures once. Related Sysprobs guides were added. No number changed. Twelve existing rows in data.csv changed date or wording. The 11 Vates rows now show the 2026-10-19 read, which found the same prices and host limits. One of them, the Vates free tier, now quotes the 2026-10-19 wording, "no limits, no license fees", instead of "no limits, no license". The Oracle virt-v2v row no longer says "open source", which Oracle's page does not state.
2026-11-03: The Proxmox import page (S21) was checked again and is unchanged.
2026-11-03: Data version 5. The Platform9 service-provider page changed its billing block rate from 10.40 to 13.52 USD per core per month, a change of 30.0 percent, (13.52 - 10.40) / 10.40 = 30.0 percent. The editor approved the change on 2026-11-03 and it is published. The page now states USD 13.52 per core per month after the 90-day launch period, the rate the page showed in both places that day. The Azure Local current build is now 12.2610.1004.50, available 2026-11-02. Broadcom's licensing model page now says last updated 2026-11-02, and its 16-core sentence is unchanged. The cut-off for the label dated moved to 2024-11-03. No figure is labelled dated. data.csv holds 202 rows. The 10.40 row is no longer published, and a 13.52 row replaces it.