We knew this gonna happen, and the truth is, everyone has expected that. A new VMware licensing PDF confirming the fact that there is no more vSphere 9 Standard and vSphere 9 Enterprise Plus versions of VMware product. The only two options you have right now is VMware vSphere Foundation 9 (VVF 9) and VMware Cloud Foundation 9 (VCF 9). Other than that, if you're still on v7, is to migrate to vSphere 8 at max while still be able to stay on the Standard or Enterprise Plus.
vSphere Standard and vSphere Enterprise Plus are only offered up to version 8 Update 3, as noted in recent discussions. VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) 9.0 is the primary offering for vSphere 9, bundling advanced features for modern enterprise workloads. Already back in April this year, we knew that VMware will implement significant changes to its licensing policies. A key update is the requirement for a minimum 72-core order quantity for VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) purchases. Additionally, VMware will discontinue the sale of vSphere Standard and Enterprise Plus as the EOL is in Oct 2027.
What is happening is that customers would be paying for features that they do not use, when they would want to migrate to v9.
Quote from the Product Line Comparison PDF.
VMware vSphere is available in two standalone editions, VMware vSphere Standard and VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus, and is also included as a component in VMware Cloud Foundation and VMware vSphere Foundation. Note that vSphere Standard and vSphere Enterprise Plus are only available as versions up to the 8 Update 3 release. Currently, vSphere 9.0 features are only available as part of VMware vSphere Foundation 9.0 and VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0.
Get the document here.
That is the current state. Unless Broadcom changes the licensing, the smaller clients would have to weight what's cheaper. Stay on VMware and pay (tripple) premium or have a (one-time cost) migration to elsewhere and change hypervisor platform? Time will tell. When you see that even the bigger guys are thinking about vendor lock-in scenarios, imho, the smaller ones have already decided.
Key Features in vSphere Foundation 9.0 Not in Standard or Enterprise Plus (v8)
VVF 9.0 includes all Enterprise Plus (v8) features plus new and exclusive capabilities:
- NVMe Memory Tiering: Automatically tiers cold memory to NVMe SSDs, reducing DRAM costs by up to 38% for memory-intensive workloads like VDI. Not available in Standard or Enterprise Plus.
- Zero Downtime vGPU vMotion: Up to 6x faster migration for GPU-backed VMs, critical for AI/ML workloads, with no downtime. Absent in Standard and Enterprise Plus.
- Monster VM Scale: Supports VMs with up to 960 CPUs, optimized for AMD Zen 5 and Intel Granite Rapids processors, ideal for large-scale analytics or databases. Not supported in Standard or Enterprise Plus.
- TLS 1.3 by Default: Enforces modern encryption (FIPS 140-2 compliant) across all management endpoints, reducing attack surface. Not default in Standard or Enterprise Plus.
- Expanded Live Patching: Builds on v8U3, enabling faster security updates without operational impact. Limited or absent in Standard and Enterprise Plus.
- vSAN Included: 100 GiB/core vSAN Enterprise license included, with global deduplication for storage efficiency. Requires separate purchase in Standard and Enterprise Plus.
- Aria Suite Standard: Provides predictive and proactive operations management for enhanced visibility and efficiency.
- Automated Installation: New VCF Installer automates deployment with pre-checks and JSON templates for consistent multi-site rollouts.
- Enhanced Tanzu Kubernetes Grid: Simplified Kubernetes cluster setup and independent upgrades, optimized for containers. Basic TKG in Enterprise Plus, none in Standard.
Licensing & Support
vSphere Standard (v8): Per-core licensing, no add-ons, limited to basic virtualization needs. Support via subscription (SnS mandatory).
vSphere Enterprise Plus (v8): Per-core licensing, includes vCenter Standard, supports some add-ons (e.g., vSAN separately). Support via SnS.
vSphere Foundation 9.0: Per-core licensing, includes vCenter Standard, vSAN (100 GiB/core), Aria Suite Standard, and TKG. Supports multiple add-ons (e.g., VMware Live Recovery, Private AI Foundation). Solution license key unlocks most features (vSAN requires separate key post-Nov 22, 2024).
Few Notes
- vSphere Standard and Enterprise Plus are not available in vSphere 9.0; features are folded into VVF 9.0 or VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0
- Customers using vSphere 7.x face end-of-support in October 2025, making VVF 9.0 a key upgrade path.
- VVF 9.0 offers cost savings (up to 50% for 3-year subscriptions) for Enterprise Plus users transitioning
Final Words
More posts from ESX Virtualization:
- VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF 9) and VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF 9) Has been Released
- Vulnerability in your VMs – VMware Tools Update
- VMware ESXi FREE is FREE again!
- No more FREE licenses of VMware vSphere for vExperts – What’s your options?
- VMware Workstation 17.6.2 Pro does not require any license anymore (FREE)
- Migration from VMware to another virtualization platform with Veeam Backup and Replication
- Two New VMware Certified Professional Certifications for VMware administrators: VCP-VVF and VCP-VCF
- Patching ESXi Without Reboot – ESXi Live Patch – Yes, since ESXi 8.0 U3
- Update ESXi Host to the latest ESXi 8.0U3b without vCenter
- Upgrade your VMware VCSA to the latest VCSA 8 U3b – latest security patches and bug fixes
- VMware vSphere 8.0 U2 Released – ESXi 8.0 U2 and VCSA 8.0 U2 How to update
- What’s the purpose of those 17 virtual hard disks within VMware vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) 8.0?
- VMware vSphere 8 Update 2 New Upgrade Process for vCenter Server details
- VMware vSAN 8 Update 2 with many enhancements announced during VMware Explore
- What’s New in VMware Virtual Hardware v21 and vSphere 8 Update 2?
- Homelab v 8.0
- vSphere 8.0 Page
- ESXi 7.x to 8.x upgrade scenarios
- VMware vCenter Server 7.03 U3g – Download and patch
- Upgrade VMware ESXi to 7.0 U3 via command line
- VMware vCenter Server 7.0 U3e released – another maintenance release fixing vSphere with Tanzu
- What is The Difference between VMware vSphere, ESXi and vCenter
- How to Configure VMware High Availability (HA) Cluster
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Hello Vladan,
what is Your source of the following statements “Additionally, VMware will discontinue the sale of vSphere Standard” and in the table that “vCenter Server Support require separate licence” ? Linked Broadcom document “VMware vSphere Product Line Comparison” has no such statements. Not that iam not expect only bad things from Broadcom so every bad news form them is very probable.
Hi, thanks for the comment. I’ll try to find out.
“Additionally, VMware will discontinue the sale of vSphere Standard” – we’re talking about v8, ok? We talk about v8 of vSphere. In two years time, it’ll go out of support. Same as the v7 (in 4 months time). At that time in the future, no more availability of v8. The biggest problem is if they (presumably) stop providing security fixes for vulnerabilities at EOL Oct 2027. That would effectively make the product insecure to use and we would have to look for something else.
As for the line with vCenter Server (scratch that word “support” – corrected that).
As per VMware, “You can license a vCenter Server systems with a vCenter Server license that has a per-instance capacity or with a Solution License”.
For standalone vSphere Enterprise Plus (v8), a separate vCenter Server license is typically required. However, when purchased as part of VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) or VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) bundles (e.g., post-vSphere 8.0 Update 2b), a vCenter Server Standard license is included.
I hope it makes sense…. -:)