There is a question asked by many users: Is ESXi free or paid? Are there any restrictions on the free VMware version ESXi? It is particularly helpful for newcomers who are exploring virtualization technology and seeking a comprehensive understanding of ESXi.
Excitingly, the answer is yes. VMware offers a great option to download a free version of VMware ESXi, and the process is quite flexible.
✨Access vSphere Hypervisor Download Center page, find the free license on the License & Download tab. Then go to install VMware ESXi and apply the license key to the ESXi Server on the Licensing page.
VMware Evaluation mode allows users to try the same set of features as the vSphere Enterprise Plus license, but for a free period of only 60 days. After that, all of your business ceases, you will need to apply for a (free or paid) license to make your ESXi server work again.
However, this free VMware ESXi also has some limitations on features, which can be found in the next part. You can decide for yourself whether the free version is suitable for your needs and environment.
Taking the latest vSphere 7.0 as example, the free version of ESXi provided some convenience such as not limiting physical memory and the number of cores per CPU. But it also has many limitations and restrictions. Let's talk about it.
1. You cannot manage virtual machines through vCenter Server.
Besides VMware vSphere Hypervisor, vCenter Server is the main management component which adds a range of advanced features such as vMotion, DRS, Software-defined storage (vSAN), High-Availability, cluster ESXi servers, upgrade Manager, etc. Unfortunately, there's no free version of vCenter. Therefore, an enterprise user may probably not consider the free version of VMware ESXi.
If you need to perform VMware vSphere H.A Cluster, vCenter Server is necessary to achieve high availability of virtual machines in cluster.
2. vStorage API is not accessible.
VMware doesn't provide vSphere Storage APIs for the free version of ESXi, which makes it difficult for many third-party software to perform automatic and multiple backups for VMs on free VMware ESXi. Native features such as Export& Import to manually back up virtual machines one by one are widely applied to protect the VM data.
However, manual backup is inconvenient and time-wasting. If you use free VMware ESXi and want an efficient VMware backup solution, you can try AOMEI Cyber Backup, an agentless backup software that supports both paid and free versions of VMware ESXi.
3. Up to 8 vCPUs per VM, any other VM with more than 8 vCPUs will not be started.
4. No VMware official support.
With the free version, if you confront problems, you will not be able to contact VMware support office, but you can browse the VMware community to find the solution.
*5. Up to 2 physical CPUs and 16 TB memory
The impact of these two points is not very significant in practice, and the restriction has been lifted in the free ESXi of vSphere 7.0.
To help you understand better, here's a comparison chart of VMware ESXi free and paid editions.
- Comparison between free ESXi vs paid ESXi -
| VMware ESXi Free | VMware ESXi Paid | |
| Expiration | No Limit | Not Applied |
| Community Support | VMTN Forums | VMTN Forums |
| Maximum vCPUs per VM | 8 vCPUs | 256 vCPUs |
| Official Support | No | Yes |
| vCenter Server | No | Yes |
| Storage API (VADP) | No | Yes |
| High Availability | No | Yes |
| vMotion | No | Yes |
| DRS | No | Yes |
Tips: On February 12, 2024, VMware announced the end of general availability for the free vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi 7.x and 8.x).
Considering these VMware ESXi free limitations, you may be able to decide whether you need the free version or paid version of ESXi. If you are new to vSphere ESXi or want to use ESXi in a home lab environment, I recommend you to try the free version that can meet some of your basic requirements.
In the part, I will introduce how to download and install the VMware ESXi free version step by step.
1. Download VMware ESXi from the VMware website. Pay attention to the compatibility of the free version.
2. Create an account and log in to your Customer Connect. Then you will get a license key and make a note of it.
3. Select Manually Download to start installing free version of ESXi.
4. Log in to the ESX/ESXi host and go to assign a license to ESXi host. Click Manage >> Licensing >> Assign License.
5. Enter the license key in the text box. Then click Check license.
6. Review the license keys and click Finish. In this way, you can simply get your ESXi host a free license and start using it. The next thing to consider is how to manage your virtual environment in a healthy and long-lasting way via reliable VMware backup solutions.
💥However, the VMware ESXi free license limitations of not supporting vStorage APIs may cause you not to be able to use the same backup solution for VMware free ESXi as for the paid versions.
AOMEI Cyber Backup can free you from this issue, as it supports backups of VMs both on the paid and free versions of ESXi. Next I will further elaborate on the issue.
Due to the limitation of not supporting vStorage APIs, the free VMware ESXi has a fewer backup solution than the paid versions. You are limited to the built-in backup functionality such as downloading VM files or exporting VM from ESXi.
If you are running virtual machines in VMware free ESXi and restricted by your budget, an efficient and free VM backup software is needed.
AOMEI Cyber Backup offers an agentless and free VMware ESXi backup solution for both paid and free versions of VMware ESXi. It protects ESXi virtual machines seamlessly, ensuring data integrity and enabling disaster recovery. It allows you to quickly recover from hardware failures, software errors, and data corruption, minimizing downtime and ensuring business continuity.
✤ Support Free ESXi: Support both paid and free versions of VMware ESXi. ✤ Scheduled Backup: Auto backup virtual machines on regular basis to protect VMware workloads continuously. ✤ Instant Recovery: Once the VMware crashes, quickly restore VMware to normal state and reduce business-critical downtime. ✤ Agentless Backup: Backup virtual machines at host level without installing agent on each VM, reducing O&M costs. ✤ Role Assignment: Allows one administrator to create sub-accounts with limited privileges. ✤ Email Notification: Send email notification when the task is completed or abnormal. ✤ Perpetual Free: Use AOMEI Cyber Backup Free Edition for basic backup and recovery features with no time limit.
You could download AOMEI Cyber Backup Freeware version to protect your free version of VMware ESXi:
1. Install AOMEI Cyber Backup and add vCenter or Standalone ESXi hosts as the source device. Then click Backup Task >> Create New Task.
2. In the task wizard, select VMware ESXi Backup and configure this task as you want.
3. Click Restore, you can restore entire VM from any recorded backup version quickly and easily, minimizing downtime and ensuring business continuity.
✍ To enjoy advanced backup features, you can also upgrade to Premium version. Backup Unlimited VMs: Batch backup large numbers of VMs managed by vCenter Server or on standalone ESXi hosts. Backup Cleanup: Set up a retention policy to delete old backup files automatically, thus saving your storage space and time-efforts. Easy Recovery to New Location: Restore a VMware ESXi VM to another datastore/host immediately from the backup, without complex reinstallation.
A powerful VMware ESXi free solution can be used to create test and development environments by provisioning virtual machines from backups. AOMEI Cyber Backup is a robust assistant for enterprise data security and virtual machine backup.
After reading this article, I believe you have been familiar with the VMware ESXi Free limitations. If you are in a home labs environment or in the initial stages of learning ESXi, the free VMware version of ESXi is worth a try.
However, if you are in a production environment and need to run workloads with advanced features, the limitations of VMware ESXi free version will impact your work badly. So it requires a paid license for VMware ESXi.