{"id":22811,"date":"2026-01-12T12:35:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T12:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/?post_type=glossary&p=22811"},"modified":"2026-01-12T15:54:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T15:54:38","slug":"how-vmware-licensing-works","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/faq\/how-vmware-licensing-works\/","title":{"rendered":"How VMware Licensing Works"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

VMware licensing works through a per-core subscription model that replaced the old per-CPU and perpetual options. Organizations must license all physical CPU cores in scope, and two mandatory minimums shape the entire process: 16 cores per CPU and a 72-core minimum per license instance. These rules apply whether a customer chooses VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) or VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF), and subscriptions must be renewed to maintain access to updates and features. Another way to put it is that the way VMware licensing works now depends on accurately counting cores and choosing the right bundle.
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Learn how VMware licensing works under Broadcom\u2019s per-core model, including 16-core and 72-core minimums, VCF vs VVF bundles, and license portability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":22812,"parent":0,"template":"","categories":[257,45,49],"primary_category":[],"other_category":[],"class_list":["post-22811","glossary","type-glossary","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-broadcom","category-cloud-computing","category-data-protection"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow VMware Licensing Works | OTAVA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how VMware licensing works under Broadcom\u2019s per-core model, including 16-core and 72-core minimums, VCF vs VVF bundles, and license portability.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/faq\/how-vmware-licensing-works\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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