VMware vCenter, vSphere License Cost and Editions Comparison

Case: VMware vCenter License Cost?

If you use the type-1 hypervisor VMware ESXi, you must also know about VMware vCenter Server. vCenter Server is the centralized management utility for VMware, allowing you to manage ESXi hosts, multiple virtual machines and other dependent components in vSphere from a single interface.

To use vCenter Server, you need to subscribe corresponding licenses. You can use the free license on standalone ESXi hosts, but there are significant limitations since the special APIs cannot be used. And free ESXi cannot be managed by vCenter Server.

Unlike ESXi hosts are licensed with vSphere licenses on a per-processor basis, vCenter Servers are licensed on a per-instance basis. If you want to buy a new vCenter license when you starting use vCenter Server or your vCenter license expired, this article will provide a VMware vCenter editions comparison and introduce the vCenter license cost for you to refer.

VMware vCenter editions comparison

Depending on the used license, there are 3 editions of VMware vCenter Server 7.0: vCenter Server for Essentials, vCenter Server Foundation, and vCenter Server Standard. vCenter Server licenses for Standard or Foundation, are sold separately from vSphere licensing, where vCenter Server Essentials licensing is included with a vSphere Essentials/ Essentials Plus Kit.

Each version of vCenter Server comes with a different set of features which may or may not be suitable for every environment. It’s important to understand the differences between the licensing options for all 3 supported versions of vCenter Server and which one best fits your environment.

This part will cover VMware vCenter compare editions to show the differences between them.

vCenter Server for Essentials

vSphere Essentials and Essentials Plus are kits designed with the SMB space in mind and are getting started with virtualization. Unlike when purchasing vSphere Standard, Enterprise, etc. where the vCenter Server license is purchased separately, the vSphere Essentials and Essentials Plus kits themselves include vCenter Server.

The vCenter Server version included with vSphere Essentials and Essentials Plus is called “vCenter Server for Essentials”. When bundled with vSphere Essentials, vCenter Server for Essentials allows for management of up to 3 vSphere ESXi hosts, up to 2 physical CPUs each. There is no support for vMotion or vSphere High Availability with vSphere Essentials. The creation of datacenters, clusters, etc. are available but migrations to other hosts would require a “cold migration” or powered off VM prior to migrating.

The vCenter Server for Essentials bundled with vSphere Essentials Plus allows for business continuity features such as vSphere High Availability (HA), vMotion and cross switch vMotion, vSphere Replication, and optional access to vSAN.

vCenter Server Foundation

vCenter Server Foundation is sold as a separate license, provides the basic management necessary for smaller vSphere environments, but still limited in some features when compared to Standard.

vCenter Server Foundation only supports managing up to 4 vSphere ESXi hosts. This is true for vSphere starting with vSphere 6.5 Update 1 and above, older vSphere versions will support up to 3 hosts. vCenter Server Foundation does not come with vRealize Orchestrator, vCenter Server High Availability (VCHA), vCenter Server File-Based Backup and Restore, and does not support Enhanced Linked Mode (ELM).

This version of vCenter Server is best suited for environments where there will be no more than 4 vSphere ESXi hosts to manage and no requirement of some of the business continuity features.

vCenter Server Standard

vCenter Server Standard is the version containing all available vCenter Server features. It can manage up to 2000 vSphere ESXi hosts, and also brings the ability to leverage vRealize Orchestrator for automating key tasks, allows for Enhanced Linked Mode (ELM), vCenter Server High Availability (VCHA), vCenter Server File-Based Backup and Restore, as well as the vCenter Server Migration Tool (included on the ISO for all vCenter Server versions).

vCenter Server Standard is best suited for vSphere environments that have many vSphere hosts to manage, or those looking to scale out their virtual infrastructure or take full advantage a rich feature set that streamlines monitoring, orchestration, and provisioning of virtual machines. vCenter Server Standard is also sold separately from vSphere licensing.

VMware vCenter license cost

After the vCenter license comparison, you may also want to compare its exact pricing. Depending on the vCenter Server editions and support level, the vCenter Server price varies.

vCenter Server Essentials price

VMware vSphere Essentials (include vCenter Server Essentials) price:

▶ Basic Support: $576.96/year $686.77/3years

VMware vSphere Essentials Plus Kit (include vCenter Server Essentials) price:

▶ Basic Support: $5596.00/year $7188.44/3years

▶ Production Support: $5781.00/year 7676.84/3years

vCenter Server Foundation price

▶ Basic Support: $2095.00/year $3013.40/3years

▶ Production Support: $2197.00/year $3282.68/3years

VMware vCenter Server Standard price

▶ Basic Support: $7472/year $9599.08/3years

▶ Production Support: $7719/year $10251.16/3years

VMware vSphere edition comparison & license cost

VMware offers several editions of vSphere, each tailored to different needs and budgets. Each edition varies in terms of features, scalability, and cost, making it essential to choose the one that best aligns with your organizational requirements.

VMware vSphere Standard

The vSphere Standard edition is designed for businesses that require basic virtualization with some advanced features.

• Features and Capabilities: vSphere Standard includes essential features like vMotion, High Availability (HA), and vSphere Replication, making it suitable for most mid-sized businesses.
• Cost Considerations: The Standard edition is priced per CPU, with a typical cost ranging from $1,268 to $3,495 per CPU, depending on the features and support level you choose.
• Suitable Use Cases: This edition is ideal for businesses that need reliable virtualization with basic high availability and disaster recovery capabilities.

VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus

vSphere Enterprise Plus is the most feature-rich edition, offering advanced capabilities for large enterprises and mission-critical applications.

• Features and Capabilities: Enterprise Plus includes all the features of the Standard edition, plus advanced capabilities like Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS), Distributed Switch, and Host Profiles. It also supports vSphere with Tanzu, which enables Kubernetes on vSphere.
• Cost Considerations: The Enterprise Plus edition is significantly more expensive, with prices ranging from $3,595 to $7,995 per CPU.
• Suitable Use Cases: This edition is best suited for large enterprises that require advanced automation, resource management, and high scalability.

VMware vSphere Essentials

vSphere Essentials is a cost-effective solution designed for small businesses or branch offices with limited infrastructure needs.

• Features and Capabilities: This edition supports up to three hosts with two CPUs each and includes basic management features via vCenter Server Essentials.
• Cost Considerations: vSphere Essentials is one of the most affordable options, typically priced around $575 for a license that covers up to three hosts.
• Suitable Use Cases: Ideal for small businesses or remote offices that need a simple and low-cost virtualization solution without advanced features.

VMware vSphere Essentials Plus

Essentials Plus builds on the Essentials edition by adding key features that enhance availability and data protection.

• Features and Capabilities: In addition to the features included in the Essentials edition, Essentials Plus offers vSphere HA, vSphere Replication, and vSphere Data Protection.
• Cost Considerations: Essentials Plus is more expensive than the Essentials edition, with prices typically around $5,596 for a license covering up to three hosts.
• Suitable Use Cases: This edition is perfect for small businesses that require enhanced data protection and availability without the need for the advanced features of higher editions.

Comparison of vSphere editions and license cost

VMware licenses vSphere based on the number of CPUs (or sockets) in your physical hosts. Each CPU requires a license, and the cost can vary depending on the edition you choose. For instance, while vSphere Standard might cost around $3,495 per CPU, Enterprise Plus could cost as much as $7,995 per CPU. This CPU-based licensing model makes it critical to accurately assess your hardware requirements to avoid overspending.

Another key aspect of VMware's licensing model is feature-based licensing. Advanced features like Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS), vSphere with Tanzu, and Distributed Switches are only available in higher editions like Enterprise Plus. If your environment requires these features, you’ll need to opt for the more expensive editions, which can significantly increase the overall cost.

To help you decide which edition is right for your organization, here’s a comparison of key features and pricing:

If you run a small business, vSphere Essentials or Essentials Plus might be sufficient. However, if you manage a large, complex environment, the advanced features of Enterprise Plus could justify the higher cost.

Backup to protect VMware ESXi VMs from data loss

As you may already know, if you use the free VMware ESXi without vCenter Server, your options for VM backup and restore may be limited by not supporting vStorage APIs.

However, even if you pay the vCenter license cost to centrally manage ESXi virtual environments and large numbers of VMs, vCenter Server does not provide the feature of virtual machine backup. And that makes backup software a commonly accepted choice.

Here I introduce you to a VMware backup software AOMEI Cyber Backup, it enables you to backup multiple VMs in 3 simple steps, and supports both paid and free ESXi.

✦ Agentless Backup: create complete and independent image-level backup for VMware ESXi and Hyper-V VMs.
✦ Support Free ESXi: support both paid and free versions of VMware ESXi.
✦ Batch VM Backup: batch backup large numbers of VMs managed by vCenter Server.
✦ Multiple Storage Destinations: backup to local drive, or network destinations like Windows share or NAS.
✦ Automated Execution: create backup schedules to automate backups daily, weekly, monthly.

Next, I will show you how to backup multiple VMware ESXi VMs via AOMEI Cyber Backup. You can click the following button to download the 30-day free trial.

3 steps to perform VMware ESXi VM backup

1. Bind Devices: Access to AOMEI Cyber Backup web client, navigate to Source Device > VMware > + Add VMware Device to Add vCenter or Standalone ESXi host. And then click … > Bind Device.

2. Create Backup Task: Navigate to Backup Task > + Create New Task, and then set Task Name, Backup Type, Device, Target, Schedule, and Cleanup.

• Device: batch select large numbers of VMs managed by vCenter Server for centralized backup.

• Target: select to back up to a local path, or to a network path.
• Schedule (optional): perform full, differential, or incremental backup, and automate execution according to the frequency you specified.

• Cleanup (optional): automatically delete the old backup copies that exceed the retention period you specified.

3. Run Backup: Click Start Backup and select Add the schedule and start backup now, or Add the schedule only.

Created backup tasks will be listed and monitored separately, for restoring, progress checking and schedule changing.

When restoring, you can also restore to new location to create a new VM in the same or another datastore/host directly from the backup, saving the trouble of re-configuring the new VM.

Summary

When you are starting to use vCenter Server, or your vCenter license expired, you may want to buy a new vCenter license. Before you pay and install vCenter, it is important to understand the current 3 editions and vCenter license price. In this article, I made a VMware vCenter license comparison and introduced the vCenter license cost.

It is better to make a choice based on the current requirements of your environment and its potential size. For example, if you only need to manage a small environment with 3 or 4 ESXi hosts, then vCenter Server Foundation may be the best choice for you. If you know your organization will be scaling to more than 4 ESXi hosts, considering vCenter Server Standard.