VMware ESXi Free Tier Returns: The Virtualization Community Rejoices and What's Next

A full year after VMware unceremoniously stuffed its most beloved community freebie into a digital sarcophagus, something unexpected is stirring in the world of virtualization: the resurrection of ESXi's free tier. In a move that’s as quietly dramatic as a hypervisor reboot at 3am (when nobody’s watching but everyone’s sweating), VMware—now firmly under the brawny wings of its new corporate parent, Broadcom—has dropped the velvet rope and let the unwashed, unpaid masses back into the club.

From Hero to Zero—And Back to Hero?​

Let's rewind: VMware ESXi is no mere footnote in IT circles. This isn’t just another “thing IT people download at work because their boss read about it in a magazine and went, ‘That’s the future!’” ESXi is the hypervisor you install directly onto a bare metal machine. No Windows, no Linux, just you, your hardware, and the raw power to spawn virtual machines like rabbits on a carrot farm. It’s foundational to how modern enterprises bite, chew, and digest the idea of “many computers, one box."
For years, VMware offered a free version of ESXi. This little nugget of generosity didn’t just win over hobbyists, home labbers, and students; it fueled a whole ecosystem of tinkerers and IT hopefuls, aided many a datacenter experiment, and powered countless dads’ YouTube homelab tours. It was the gateway drug. And then, late last year, Broadcom—freshly minted as VMware’s new owner—axed it.

The Free Version That Was... Then Wasn’t​

ESXi’s free tier wasn’t just a quirky offering, it was a building block in IT culture. Yet, with the flick of an acquisition, the powers that be decided it needed to go. Citing a new vision leaning into subscriptions and enterprise licensing, Broadcom shuttered the free download, sparking a chaotic diaspora of disappointed users.
Forums filled with howls. Reddit’s #homelab section simmered. DIYers and students everywhere scrambled to alternatives. Some found Proxmox—its download numbers must have looked like Bitcoin’s price chart during lockdown. Others stared mournfully at expensive perpetual licenses or pondered questionable licensing schemes that sounded like legal catnip.

Community Outcry: When Virtualization Gets Emotional​

To outsiders, a virtualization platform might seem about as emotionally loaded as an Excel macro. But for the actual community? The free ESXi sunset felt like being told “No more Mario, but trust us, you’ll love this off-brand plumber with a mustache and a promise.” People invest in skills, routines, and, yes, affection for the platforms that define their work and play.
The real sting wasn’t just about cost (though, let’s face it, “free” is a price literally everyone can afford) but the trust and goodwill that collapsed overnight. Users didn’t just run virtual machines—they ran classes, labs, experiments, sometimes whole small businesses on that “free for personal use” download. Pulling it yanked out not only VMs, but the spirit of exploration that powers innovation, skill-building, and late-night tinkering.

The Sudden U-Turn: ESXi Free (Kinda) Rides Again​

Now, with little fanfare—unless you count a few sly headlines and some spontaneous applause in IT Slack channels—VMware has reversed course. ESXi's free version is back as of version 8.0 Update 3e. There are conditions: you need a Broadcom account to nab it, and naturally, you'll be logging into the Broadcom portal (because nothing says “freedom” like a cloud login, right?).
But it’s back. For the sprawling audience of hobbyists, home labbers, students, and those testing-the-waters enterprises, this is like reopening the gates to a beloved amusement park.

The Why Behind the Flip-Flop​

Corporate U-turns aren’t always elegant. They’re rarely straightforward. But in this case, several threads probably helped Broadcom see the light:

• Community Backlash: The negative buzz following the paywall gambit was instant, loud, and persistent. Bad PR in tech travels faster than a botnet.
• Proxmox’s Rise: With so much open source competition ready to poach disgruntled users, VMware’s grip on the virtualization mindshare was slipping.
• Long-Term Strategy: Even if Broadcom targets the enterprise, keeping a vibrant grassroots community is good for the pipeline. Today’s home labber? Tomorrow’s CTO.
• Market Ecosystem Pressure: Partners, consultants, and VARs—many quietly rely on ESXi for training and prototyping—likely lobbied hard behind the scenes.

A Step Back to Move Forward​

The return of ESXi Free, even in its slightly more “account-gated” incarnation, is a rare restoration in a tech sector usually allergic to reversing course on business strategy. Some critics are quick to mutter, “it’s just for the optics!” or “they’ll rip the rug again soon!” Perhaps. But for now, the free ESXi release restores crucial goodwill.
It also recognizes something uniquely true about developer, sysadmin, and hobbyist communities: their loyalty can’t simply be bought. It has to be nurtured, allowed room to play, and respected—even when the bean counters are pressing for more “value extraction.”

What’s Actually Back: The Details​

If you just want the facts, here they are: ESXi 8.0 Update 3e is available for free again, provided you set up a Broadcom account and access it via Broadcom’s software portal. The exact functionality mirrors what made ESXi Free great before: install on bare metal, spin up VMs, manage via vSphere—or vCenter (if you license that separately; it’s not free). No guest OS license? Not VMware’s business. Want to run ten toy Linux servers, a BSD experiment, a Windows VM just to see if you can still activate it? Go for it.
A few caveats remain. The free ESXi isn’t intended for production enterprise workloads. You’ll miss out on some advanced features, like high availability, vMotion (live migration), and certain storage integrations. But for learning, labs, R&D, or kitchen table consulting side-hustles, the essentials are all present and accounted for.

How to Get It​

The process is refreshingly simple:

• Head to the Broadcom customer portal.
• Register for a free Broadcom account (you can use whatever email address won’t suffer a spam-induced meltdown).
• Dig through the available downloads for “VMware ESXi 8.0 Update 3e Community Version” or similarly-worded listing.
• Download, burn to USB, and install on your hardware.
• Activate your license, as you always did, with a free key delivered to your Broadcom profile.

In less time than it takes to brew an extra-large coffee, your home lab can be humming again with VMs.

The Shadow of Broadcom—Should We Trust This?​

Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware sent ripples through the IT market for good reason. Companies that acquire, consolidate, and “refocus” can be tough on loyalty. Less than a year ago, plenty of blogs and analysts (sometimes in ALL CAPS) forecasted doom for VMware’s community engagement, innovation, and pricing.
So, is this ESXi free tier here to stay? The answer might depend on which side of the bed Broadcom’s executives get up on next quarter. Their track record with legacy products in other sectors is mixed; sometimes they double down, sometimes they prune and abandon. But right now, the resurrection of this freebie? That’s a positive, and an olive branch.

What Changes This Time for Users?​

The reintroduction comes bundled with a subtle message: Broadcom wants goodwill back, but on measurable, registered terms. With account-restricted downloads, they’ll get more data on who’s using ESXi, for what, and how. Don’t be surprised if the “free” tier gets reimagined again—and again—as the new corporate overlords seek the best balance between community and revenues.
But for now, those who simply want to learn, experiment, or keep their home lab running on familiar ground, can do so without creative licensing gymnastics or a sudden switch to rival platforms.

Lessons From the Community Response​

For tech companies, the ESXi episode is a cautionary tale in ignoring the value of your most passionate users. When Broadcom slammed the gates, people didn’t just slap their foreheads and move on. They posted migration guides, organized group buys for commercial alternatives, evangelized Proxmox, XCP-ng, and KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine). The conversation turned fast—and the competitors gained more credibility by the hour.
Ironically, the ESXi free tier’s return has sparked renewed discussion, bringing even more users into the virtualization fold. Many will stick with new platforms, having sunk time and energy into migration. But equally, a tidal wave of curious former VMware fans will return, eager to see what (if anything) has changed.

The Contenders: Who Won During the Hiatus?​

During ESXi Free’s absence, Proxmox saw adoption skyrocket. For the uninitiated, Proxmox VE is a potent, open source virtualization environment—offering both container and VM management, a lively UI, high-availability clustering, and an enthusiastic community. It isn’t as buttoned-down as VMware’s offerings, but that’s often a feature, not a bug.
Meanwhile, XCP-ng carved out a niche for those with more Citrix-shaped leanings—focusing on enterprise features with open source flexibility. Other projects, from Red Hat's KVM/libvirt ecosystem to Oracle’s free VirtualBox (for lighter use), each grabbed slices of the pie. The space between “open source” and “enterprise” has never been so lively, or so competitive.
With ESXi back in play, VMware inherits a more fractured landscape. The genie is out of the bottle, and alternatives have fresh advocates. How VMware (or really, Broadcom) entices users back may shape the virtualization space for years.

The Business Implications: More Than Just Goodwill​

To the spreadsheet crowd, a free ESXi tier might sound like a cost—giving away software that could otherwise be captured as revenue. But IT strategy is more chess than checkers. The free ESXi acts as a potent funnel, converting tinkerers to pros, and students to sysadmins who champion VMware in their first, second, and third jobs.
Losing that funnel, even for a year, forced a hard reset. Competitors like Proxmox and XCP-ng now have a permanent beachhead in environments that used to be VMware strongholds by default. Restoring the free tier helps, but it won’t erase a year of migration, experimentation, and (sometimes) resentment.

What’s Next? Looking for the Cloud in the Silver Lining​

Here’s the inescapable truth: virtualization isn’t standing still. With containers, Kubernetes, hybrid clouds, and edge computing reshaping IT, the next frontier may not be about pure hypervisor wars, but about orchestration and automation above the virtualization layer. VMware’s flagship enterprise offerings already reflect this, emphasizing Tanzu, NSX, and vSAN integration—none of which have free community components.
Still, accessible “core” hypervisors matter. They create a foundation for learning, prototyping, and sideways innovation. VMware would be wise not to forget that their next generation of customers will come from today’s free-tier users. Make ESXi free again, keep it open, and the community responds with enthusiasm, feedback, evangelism—and, in time, dollars.

One Last Take: Is It Worth Coming Back?​

If you’re wondering if it’s worth giving ESXi another shot, the answer is... maybe. Maybe yes, because the old reliability, excellent hardware compatibility, and sheer documentation volume haven’t gone anywhere. Maybe no, because you’ve now tasted the open source waters and like living in a world where “feature” and “paywall” aren’t synonyms.
But the beauty of tech is that it’s never about one tool forever. It’s about choice, flexibility—and, increasingly, a willingness on the vendor’s part to admit when they’ve made a mistake. If VMware has learned anything from this saga, it’s that communities matter. Give them the freedom to explore, and they’ll stick with you through thick, thin, and the occasional strategic blunder.
Long live the free tier. Until the next corporate plot twist, at least.

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Source: Windows Central VMware has quietly brought back the free version of ESXi over a year after killing it off

 

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When VMware quietly pulled the plug on its free ESXi hypervisor earlier this year, it felt like the end of an era. Veteran sysadmins exchanged knowing glances, home lab hobbyists clutched their coffee mugs with trembling hands, and social media buzzed with equal parts panic and nostalgia. But just a few months later, in a twist worthy of a cliffhanger soap opera, the free ESXi hypervisor is back from the digital grave—rekindling hope, stoking debate, and giving VMware’s recently acquired community a reason to smile (even if cautiously).

The Lazarus Moment: Free ESXi Walks Again​

It all went down with surprisingly little fanfare—certainly none of the fireworks or press releases that generally accompany major corporate reversals. Hidden in the release notes for ESXi version 8.0 Update 3e, VMware (under its new overlord Broadcom) simply announced: The free ESXi hypervisor has returned, available for download once again on the Broadcom Support Portal. No fuss, no drama; just a line or two nodding to a tool beloved by thousands.
For context: ESXi allows users—from enterprise IT pros to ambitious tinkerers in their basements—to run multiple virtual machines (VMs) on a single physical server. It’s the backbone of many efficiency-minded IT operations, maximizing hardware usage while keeping budgets under some semblance of control. With rock-solid support for PCI, SATA, and USB passthrough, users can allocate hardware resources, like GPUs and storage devices, directly to VMs—a flexibility that made ESXi a star among virtualization enthusiasts.

February Farewell: When Free ESXi Disappeared​

To truly appreciate its return, let's rewind to February 2024, when Broadcom, fresh off a $61 billion VMware acquisition, made a wave of changes that rattled the virtualization world. In a move critics described as penny-pinching at best and hostile at worst, Broadcom axed the perpetually licensed versions of VMware’s products—including the free ESXi variant—and pivoted the entire VMware portfolio to a subscription-based model. Home users and smaller organizations who relied on ESXi’s no-cost tier for learning or low-budget operations were abruptly left in the lurch.
The blow didn’t stop there. Broadcom also gutted existing partner programs, slashing contracts and forcing everyone onto an invite-only “Advantage Partner Program.” Longtime partners found themselves suddenly on the outside, while customers searching for support or renewals discovered that their trusted vendors were in the same boat.

The Community Reacts: Outrage, Alternatives, And a Hint of Schadenfreude​

Predictably, the backlash was swift and loud—especially online where IT professionals gather to grumble and meme in equal measure. Subreddits lit up; Twitter (now X, but let’s not) crackled with threads chronicling migrations to alternative platforms. For many, the termination of ESXi’s free tier wasn’t just an inconvenience—it was a betrayal of virtualization’s spirit of accessibility. Several turned to open-source platforms like Proxmox Virtual Environment, which, in a bit of serendipitous timing, had just rolled out an “integrated import wizard” explicitly designed to help ESXi refugees migrate their VMs, data and all.
Redundantly billing a minimum 72 CPU cores per license (increased from the previous 16) was perhaps the most outrageous nail in the coffin, making the new licensing model prohibitively expensive for any setup smaller than a football field’s worth of servers. For small and medium businesses (SMBs), this was a textbook case of the cure being worse than the disease.

The Reinstatement: A Surprising About-Face​

So why did Broadcom backtrack? The official line is, essentially, “Here you go”—no detailed explanation, no elaborate corporate contrition. But if you read between the lines (and listen to the rumor mill), it looks suspiciously like an attempt to stem the exodus of loyal VMware users and start patching some of the reputational potholes left in the wake of their acquisition drive. Trust is a fragile currency in IT; once it’s withdrawn, getting people to line up again is an uphill climb.
With the ESXi free version live once more, VMware’s ecosystem has stabilized—at least for now. Whether this signals a lasting return to user-friendly practices or a one-off concession to quiet the mobs remains to be seen.

What’s Actually New in ESXi 8.0 Update 3e?​

The re-release isn’t a simple case of reissuing an old build. ESXi 8.0 Update 3e ships with a raft of critical bug fixes and security patches. Notably, vulnerabilities identified in previous releases have been addressed—an essential move given the recent uptick in targeting of virtualization infrastructure in ransomware campaigns. For admins, this means the free ESXi now stacks up respectably alongside its paid counterparts in terms of baseline security.
And of course, passthrough features remain intact: PCI, SATA, and USB resources can still be allocated directly to a guest OS—a major boon for anyone running resource-intensive workloads or experimenting with hardware.

Proxmox: The Challenger Looms Large​

While VMware’s ESXi was off the free market, Proxmox’s star was on the rise. The open-source virtualization suite made hay while the sun shone—garnering kudos for its community-first attitude, transparent roadmap, and a slick new migration wizard that made hopping off of ESXi as painless as possible. Enterprise features (live migration, clustering, backups, and more) come built-in; meanwhile, licensing headaches are kept to a minimum, the way nature intended.
It’s not just home labs gravitating toward Proxmox. Organizations too, wary of vendor lock-in and the erratic moods of mega-corp management, have started viewing open source as more than a hobbyist corner—it’s now a serious contender in production environments. This calculus won’t be upended overnight, even with ESXi’s return to the free-for-all club.

The Broader Context: Broadcom’s VMware Gamble​

The return of free ESXi is only the latest in a series of headline-grabbing moves as Broadcom attempts to reshape VMware to its own image. The end of perpetual licenses and the push to subscriptions are a recurring motif across the software industry, but the shock was particularly acute here given VMware’s legacy. Companies that thought they “owned” their virtualization stack suddenly had to renew their vows, wallet in hand, at intervals dictated by Broadcom.
Underpinning all these changes is Broadcom’s new vision for VMware: make the franchise more profitable, focus on high-margin enterprise customers, and shed the cuddly image VMware once cultivated. Layoffs in the thousands, abrupt shifts in partner management, and jarring licensing hikes have all, in theory, streamlined VMware’s business model—but at the cost of trust and goodwill.

Technological Implications: What Free ESXi Means in 2024​

With the new-old free hypervisor available again, the most immediate winners are the students, home users, testing labs, and SMBs who can now get hands-on experience with one of the world’s most respected virtualization platforms without getting whiplash from the price tag. For the enterprise, it’s a gesture—useful as an entry point or for rapid prototyping before going all-in on licensed features.
The updated ESXi isn’t neutered, either. Core features—such as direct hardware passthrough and robust VM management—remain. While some advanced data center integration and automation features are naturally walled off for paying customers, the free edition provides more than enough for learning, tinkering, or even running low-impact production workloads with careful planning.

Security, Stability, and the Cloud-ification Quandary​

Of course, being free doesn’t mean being risk-free. Virtualization platforms are prime targets for cybercriminals, and shoddy patching habits can leave critical infrastructure exposed. The fact that ESXi 8.0 Update 3e landed with security fixes signals VMware still recognizes its wider user base, even as its business model pivots upmarket. For prudent admins, the take-home message is clear: assess your patch management and backup strategies, especially when running in boundary-pushing or unsupported configurations.
Another side effect? With Broadcom nudging organizations toward subscription cloud services, the reinstatement of free ESXi might be a subtle acknowledgment that not everyone is ready or willing to leap into the public cloud with both feet. Private clouds, edge deployments, and hybrid setups still need reliable, low-cost virtualization—something an on-prem ESXi server delivers without the latency, unpredictability, or regulatory curveballs that public clouds can bring.

The Licensing Labyrinth: Lessons in Customer Relations​

As the dust settles, one nagging truth becomes clear: licensing and customer support are no longer afterthoughts. Modern IT operations risk becoming tangled in red tape, shifting SKUs, and “gotcha” clauses hidden in the fine print. Broadcom’s whirlwind of licensing changes—core minimums multiplied, perpetuals axed, partner programs retooled—brought these headaches right to the surface. The message resonated: even if a platform is technically perfect, bad licensing can send customers packing.
The free ESXi reinstatement is an olive branch, yes, but with caveats written in corporate lawyer-ese. If recent months are any guide, watching the support and licensing landscape will be as important as tracking technical capabilities.

The Community Effect: Forums, Tutorials, and the “Lab Culture” Revival​

One of the less quantifiable (but no less important) aspects of the free ESXi comeback is its impact on the wider IT community. For years, ESXi’s “free tier” fueled a vibrant global subculture—home labs, classroom whiteboard sessions, YouTube tutorials, and epic threads on Spiceworks and Reddit, all rooted in having a common, no-cost way to run real-world virtualization setups. When ESXi vanished, those resources threatened to splinter, with guides rendered obsolete and support communities scattered.
Its return, then, is more than a business play—it’s a reboot for a rich knowledge-sharing ecosystem. Newcomers and veterans alike can once again share tips, swap scripts, and debate the finer points of VM migration—all on familiar ground.

Strategic Lessons for the Future​

If there’s a lesson to be learned from months of whiplash, it might just be this: never underestimate the power of a passionate user base, especially when they’re armed with sysadmin skills and a steady supply of coffee. The uproar over ESXi’s disappearance (and the adulation on its return) is a case study in user-driven product direction. In a market increasingly dominated by paywalls and lock-ins, sometimes the only winning move is remembering your roots.
Broadcom’s calculus may be financial, but the numbers don’t always tell the whole story. Goodwill is hard to win and easy to lose. Even in tech, where logic allegedly rules, emotion in the form of trust, habit, and community makes the difference between diehard loyalty and a mass migration at the first sign of trouble.

Looking Ahead: Will VMware Keep Its Word?​

The future is, as ever, a moving target. Will the free ESXi hypervisor remain a steadfast option, or is this a temporary stopgap until the next strategic overhaul? Will Proxmox (and other open alternatives) capitalize further, or will VMware succeed in wooing back the fence-sitters with promises and patches?
One thing is certain: the virtualization world is more animated—and unpredictable—than ever. If you’re a current or aspiring virtualization admin, you now have more tools, more choice, and (for the moment) the stability of knowing the hypervisor at the heart of your home lab won’t vanish overnight. For VMware, the path forward will be watched not only by accountants and market analysts, but also by the community that, in no uncertain terms, made the house what it is.

In the End, A Win for “Free”​

So here we are: ESXi’s free tier, welcome back. May your servers hum, your VMs boot on the first try, and your coffee runneth over. Whether you’re running a critical sandbox, a hobbyist cluster, or a skunkworks project the finance team can’t find, VMware’s most beloved freebie is back in the game—and if history is any guide, its return will be just as storied as its brief, confusing absence.
The next chapters in VMware’s saga have yet to be written. But for now, in the world of virtualization, free still means something—and that’s worth a standing ovation (or at least a cautiously optimistic round of patching).

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Source: Petri IT Knowledgebase VMware's Free ESXi Hypervisor Makes a Comeback