VMware vSphere Express for Essential Virtualization - ESXi 9 and vCenter 9 with No vSAN and DRS

There is a new offering from VMware called vSphere Express. I think you've heard about it since it's been spread through the media during couple of days. It seems that they're trying to hold some of the SMBs (if they haven't left already).

Even if in the past Broadcom said, that there is no place for small clients, there is no option for small clients other than VCF. The vSphere Express is a bundle where you get ESXi 9.x, vCenter 9.x, distribured switch, vMotion. You don't get vSAN or DRS so you'll have to manage the load on your hosts manually. And, the package has 128 CPU cores. But let's start from the beginning.

vSphere Express: Broadcom’s New 128-Core Package for Essential Virtualization

Broadcom has finally listened to the smaller VMware customers. After two years of pushing everyone toward VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) or vSphere Foundation (VVF), they introduced VMware vSphere Express (it is a bit too late for many, because they already left…) — a fixed 128-core package built on vSphere 9 aimed at environments that just need solid hypervisor capabilities without the full private-cloud stack.

The official announcement came in the VMware Cloud Foundation blog on 4 November 2026. Prashanth Shenoy (VP of product marketing for the VCF division) put it clearly:

“We started listening to a lot of our lower-end customers who didn’t really want the VVF but wanted the core virtualization capability, and [vSphere Express is] really meant for that market.”

This is exactly the gap many of us have been talking about on the blog for the last couple of years.

Thanks AI for the image -:)

What You Actually Get

vSphere Express is a single fixed subscription SKU (VCF-VSP-EXP) limited to 128 cores per customer across all environments. You cannot buy fewer cores, you cannot expand it, and each end customer can hold only one package. Partner listings (TD Synnex and others) show a US list price of $9,600 per year — roughly $75 per core if you fully use the 128 cores. German partners quote around €9,631 excluding VAT, subject to Broadcom approval.

Included features (confirmed via official docs and partner material):

ESX Standard + vCenter Standard
vMotion (with the improved performance from vSphere 9)
High Availability (HA)
vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS)
vCenter Quick Patch
TPM 2.0 and vTPM 2.0 support

Not included:

Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) and Proactive HA
vSAN
Memory tiering
SR-IOV, GPU / vGPU support
Live Patching
Full VCF Operations capabilities (only the licensing part is required)
VCF Automation or Private AI services

In short: this is essentially classic vSphere Standard + Distributed Switch + the vSphere 9 improvements, without the resource-management and hardware-acceleration layer.

Deployment and Licensing Reality Check

According to the official Broadcom TechDocs page for vSphere Express, the mandatory components are:

ESX hosts
vCenter
VCF Operations (used only for licensing)
License server

Optional pieces are vSphere Replication, VMware Tools, and VMware Remote Console. There is no single-click installer — you deploy and configure everything manually. For a small three-host cluster this means you suddenly have two extra management appliances to size, patch, and back up just to keep the licences happy.

Licensing follows the same VCF/VVF infrastructure but with hard limits: maximum 128 cores per customer/site ID, default licence only (no splitting or sharing across sites), and version 9 or later only. Version 8 keys are not available for Express.

The European Angle – The Sentence That Matters MostFellow blogger Eric Sloof (NTPRO.NL) correctly highlighted the most important line in the whole announcement for European customers:

“Furthermore, for customers in countries in the European Economic Area, vSphere Standard version 8 and vSphere Enterprise Plus version 8 will remain available for sale until October 31, 2027, and will have Extended Support included in any active subscriptions to those offerings until the earlier of the applicable subscription end date or October 31, 2028.”

That single sentence changes the decision matrix completely for EEA customers (EU + Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway — not the UK or Switzerland). You can still buy expandable, per-core vSphere Standard 8 until the end of October 2027 and keep support (subject to your subscription term) until October 2028.

Eric’s detailed analysis is excellent and I highly recommend reading both of his posts on the topic:

Who Should Consider vSphere Express?

Good fit if:

You are at or under 128 billable cores
You are a new customer (or an existing customer that Broadcom has pre-approved)
You do not need DRS, vSAN, GPU, or memory tiering
You already use external shared storage (SAN/NFS)
You are happy with a 12-month subscription and the path toward VVF later

Think twice if:

Your estate is likely to grow beyond 128 cores
You rely on DRS for maintenance or load balancing
You run vSAN or need GPU acceleration
You are outside the EEA and Standard 8 is already gone

For many smaller European shops which have not left VMware yet, the smartest move right now is simply to renew or buy more Standard 8 capacity while it is still available and use the extra runway to evaluate Express, VVF, or alternatives properly.

Bottom Line

vSphere Express is a welcome (and long-overdue) correction. Broadcom finally admits that not every customer needs the full private-cloud stack. (It took them only 2 years – they realized that they can make even more money). The product is real, documented, and orderable through partners today.

Just go in with your eyes open: fixed 128-core package, annual term, mandatory extra appliances for licensing, and no DRS/vSAN/GPU. Treat it as a bridge rather than a permanent home, especially if you are in the EEA where Standard 8 still has life until 2028.As always, check the official sources and confirm everything in writing with your partner before signing.

My thoughts on it

Lock in. Just another lock in imho, which, of course, give you more time to stay with VMware but more you stay, more you pay. It's like when you change a car. Will you go fully electric or you stay with old petrol/diesel technology …. ?

Useful links:

Official announcement: Broadcom Updates VMware Portfolio…
TechDocs – vSphere Express: https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/vsphere/vsphere/9-1/vsphere-express.html
vSphere product page: https://www.vmware.com/products/cloud-infrastructure/vsphere
Eric Sloof’s excellent deep-dives (linked above)

VMware vSphere Express for Essential Virtualization – ESXi 9 and vCenter 9 with No vSAN and DRS