VMware is making its Workstation and Fusion desktop hypervisors free for everyone

• VMware Fusion and Workstation become free for all users
• Paid Pro versions discontinued along with Pro support
• Broadcom promises to listen to customer feedback

A year after Broadcom acquired VMware and enacted serious changes to the product portfolio, the company is now offering VMware Fusion and Workstation products for free to all users.

The significant change comes as a surprise, given the company’s previous and controversial change to paid subscriptions.

After sharp price rises across the board as a result of the so-called simplification of its lineup, which saw customers forced to buy into bundles that they might not have needed, the announcement of two free products is welcome news.

VMware confirms two free product offerings

Broadcom, which took ownership of VMware in November 2023, is now offering its VMware Fusion Pro and Workstation Pro products to all types of customers, including commercial, educational and personal users.

Head of Product Marketing for VMware Cloud Foundation, Mark Chuang, confirmed in a blog post: “Effective immediately, both VMware Fusion and VMware Workstation will transition away from the paid subscription model, meaning you can now utilize these tools without any cost.”

Existing subscribers with active support contracts will keep their service until their contract ends, however the Pro versions of Fusion and Workstation will be retired, which means support ticketing will no longer be offered. Support will only be available in the form of online resources like “documentation, user guides and community forums,” says Chuang.

Looking ahead, Broadcom is promising to continue investing in new features, usability improvements, and other…