July 29, 2026 – since the Broadcom acquisition, VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) has been the flagship bundle. Anyone who purchases or renews a VMware subscription today ends up there almost automatically. At first glance, the licensing seems simple: one subscription per processor core. In practice, however, the cost drivers lie in the details. ProLicense, the independent licensing consultancy, explains the model and shows where savings can be made.
What VCF is and what’s included in the bundle
VCF is a complete stack for the software-defined data center. It bundles four components: vSphere for virtualization, vSAN for storage, NSX for networking, and aria or VCF operations for management and automation, along with tools such as the SDDC manager. Alongside this is the leaner VMware vSphere Foundation, or VVF for short. It includes virtualization, storage, and basic management, but no NSX and no SDDC manager, and its list price per core is about 40 to 50% lower than VCF’s.
How VCF is licensed
Billing is based on a subscription model—no longer a perpetual license—and is calculated per physical processor core. A minimum of 16 cores per CPU applies. Processors with fewer cores are therefore billed as if they had 16. vSAN storage is included on a per-core basis: approximately 1 TiB per core for VCF and approximately 0.25 TiB per core for VVF. If you need more storage, you can purchase additional vSAN capacity as an add-on. The price is determined by these factors: the number of cores, the bundle tier, and storage.
Where the costs really lie
The biggest cost driver is the mandatory bundling. Anyone licensing VCF pays for all four components—including NSX and aria—which many environments don’t even use. In practice, a large portion of VCF customers use only a fraction of the bundle. Added to this is the minimum core requirement, which artificially inflates the cost for small hosts, and the shift from a one-time purchase to a subscription model. Overall, renewal offers are often several times higher than the previous costs of a perpetual license plus maintenance. Those who only needed vSphere are hit hardest by this jump.
“Many companies pay for network and management components in VCF that they never actually put into operation. The first step is always to honestly assess what’s really needed from the bundle. Often, the lower tier is sufficient, and that alone significantly reduces costs,” says Christian Grave, managing director of ProLicense.
What ProLicense does: Third-party support, license trading, and the path to Nutanix
ProLicense helps with the transition to third-party VMware support and resells used VMware software. As a Nutanix partner, ProLicense also paves the way for a smooth, cost-effective migration to Nutanix, thereby permanently avoiding the expensive VMware subscription. Those who want to stay with VMware don’t have to sign up for the subscription right away: With existing perpetual licenses and third-party VMware support, a company can establish a significantly better starting position for subscription negotiations with VMware.
“There are two good ways out of the VCF cost trap. Either the planned switch to Nutanix—which we, as a partner, will smoothly facilitate—or staying with perpetual licenses and third-party support, which noticeably strengthens the negotiating position with VMware. Both options prevent the customer from paying the full subscription price,” says Markus Oberg, a partner at ProLicense.
In either case, the goal remains the same: minimal costs with full compliance. Anyone seeking a neutral VCF analysis for their own environment can reach ProLicense via the contact page or at +49 (0) 40-228 6828-0.
About ProLicense
ProLicense has been advising companies on software license management since 2009, independently of Oracle, Microsoft, VMware, and all other vendors. The founders, Sören Reimers (attorney) and Christian Grave (business graduate), each worked at Oracle for over eight years. ProLicense provides support for software audits, license negotiations, and ULA certifications; for transitioning to third-party support for software, hardware, and end-of-life open-source software; and for migrating to alternatives such as Azul, payara, or Nutanix. Used licenses are traded through the company’s own marketplace, ProLicense XChange. Compensation is performance-based and paid directly by the client, with no payments from vendors. The goal of every engagement: minimal costs with full compliance. Learn more at www.prolicense.com.
Press contact
ProLicense
Markus Oberg, partner and business development manager
Phone: +49 (0) 40-228 6828-0
Email: info@prolicense.com
Website: www.prolicense.com