If you’ve been in the homelab or small business IT space for the last decade, you know the drill. Download VMware ESXi, get a free Hypervisor license key, and unlock 99% of the core virtualization features. It was the gold standard for "good enough" enterprise virtualization without the bill.
Broadcom didn't just kill a free license; they killed the on-ramp for a generation of VMware engineers. The homelab has a new default OS, and its name isn't ESXi. Have you managed to get a valid free key for ESXi 8 recently? Let me know in the comments—things change fast in the Broadcom era. vmware esxi 8 free license
Broadcom has signaled that the free hypervisor is a legacy headache they don't want to support. Their focus is on large subscription customers. If you’ve been in the homelab or small
If you have a working ESXi 7 free host with a valid key, stick with it until your hardware dies. If you are building a new server, skip ESXi 8. Install Proxmox VE today and avoid the licensing headache tomorrow. Broadcom didn't just kill a free license; they
Then Broadcom acquired VMware.
Let’s cut through the noise. Here is the honest state of the in 2025. The Short Answer Yes, a "Free" version of ESXi 8 still exists. But no, you cannot get a new license key for it the way you used to.
Suddenly, the rumors started swirling. Is the free license dead? Did Broadcom just torch the homelab community?