VMware has made its Fusion and Workstation Pro products completely free for both personal and commercial use. This shift comes after VMware initially made the software free for personal use earlier in May 2024, but as of this week, even businesses can access the full-featured VMware Fusion (for macOS) and Workstation (for Windows and Linux) at no cost. This includes both Pro and non-Pro versions, which are no longer available under a paid license, streamlining VMware’s desktop virtualization offerings.

For users, this means access to powerful virtual machine (VM) management tools without needing to pay for licenses, although commercial users with current contracts will still retain support until their contracts end. Afterward, VMware’s official support ticketing will be unavailable, with businesses expected to rely on community support and online resources. The simplified offering is part of Broadcom’s ongoing restructuring of VMware’s portfolio, which began with the $61 billion acquisition in 2022. Since then, Broadcom has trimmed VMware’s extensive range of SKUs, pushing many customers towards subscription products such as Cloud Foundation or vSphere.

This shift to free versions reflects VMware’s interest in making its desktop hypervisor solutions more accessible, but it also comes amid criticism from some long-term customers who have seen rising prices and fewer product options. Broadcom has also ended VMware’s perpetual licensing and discontinued the free vSphere Hypervisor, encouraging enterprise customers to adopt subscription-based services. This has led some business users to express frustration over increased costs and fewer options for self-managed solutions, feeling pressured to adopt Broadcom’s subscription-focused model.

For personal users, this move is generally positive, especially for students and home users who now gain powerful virtualization capabilities without fees. But for organizations, Broadcom’s strategy suggests a strong push toward subscriptions, with potential implications for the future of VMware’s flagship offerings as standalone, self-hosted solutions.