The VCF Takeover: Is VMware Pricing Itself Out of the Market?

You know something's off when even long-time VMware loyalists start talking about bailing. And if you've been lurking in the VMware community threads lately, the writing's on the wall: users aren't just annoyed—they're seriously questioning whether VMware's new pricing model under Broadcom is sustainable. So what's happening? In short: VCF is taking over, and it's not going smoothly. ## VMware Cloud Foundation is now the main event After Broadcom acquired VMware, it wasted no time streamlining the product line. Perpetual licenses? Gone. Simpler SKUs? Kind of. The result: you now choose between two bundles—VVF (vSphere Foundation) and VCF (VMware Cloud Foundation). Sounds easy, right? Except, for many users, it's not just a choice. It's a shove. From community feedback, here's how it breaks down: - **VVF (the smaller bundle)** is going for around **$150–190 per core/year** - **VCF**, the full-stack option, is hitting **$300–400 per core/year** - **Minimum purchase?** At least 72 cores per order. Some were told 96. And that's just the beginning. Multiple users mentioned that they were encouraged—or outright pushed—to adopt VCF even when they didn't need its full feature set. A few got quotes for VCF as high as **$6.5 million for a 3-year deal**. Same core count as their last contract. Ten times the price. Let that sink in. ## Users feel blindsided—and burned The chatter around these changes paints a grim picture. Not because VMware is offering more, but because customers feel they're being strong-armed into paying for features they don't need—and didn't ask for. One admin shared that VMware told them they had to go VCF "because that's the future," despite their environment being better suited for the lighter-weight VVF. Another was quoted $300 per core, with a supposed 20% discount—but only if they agreed to a 3-year commitment. Oh, and they were told they could technically cancel after a year, but "it's unlikely Broadcom will allow that." One comment nailed the mood: > "So no, there isn't really any info on transparent pricing as the VMware reps will just make up numbers depending on how much money they think they can get out of you." That's not exactly confidence-inspiring. ## Pricing, minimums, confusion, repeat Here's what we gathered from user reports: - **VCF:** ~$300–400/core/year - **VVF:** ~$150–190/core/year - **vSphere Std and Ent+?** Discontinued. - **VVF can only be quoted for one year** - Some reps dangling lowball quotes for "edge" VCF installs at $40/core (which many think is bogus) - **Minimum license starts at 72 cores**, possibly rising to 96 It's not just the prices that are frustrating people—it's the sheer opaqueness of it all. One comment summed it up perfectly: > "We pay for VVF per core €50 and yes, only for one year with the note that this is for 2025 only and may be different in 2026." If that sounds like pricing spaghetti, it's because it is. ## Reactions range from frustration to abandonment You'd expect some pushback—but this is more than grumbling. Some users are already plotting an exit. > "We have 1.5 years to exit the VMware space." > "Why should software you host yourself be licensed based off how many cores you have? It's barbaric." > "It's clear in the long term this will destroy VMware." Some are even shifting to Oracle Cloud VMware Solution (while it still includes licensing), or considering open-source stacks. Others are bracing for Broadcom to phase out VVF altogether—one rep reportedly said it could be gone within 18 months. There's even a theory floating around that VMware sales reps are tossing out artificially low VCF-Edge quotes just to stop people from migrating to Hyper-V. ## The bottom line: VMware's killing its goodwill If you boil it down, this isn't just a product issue—it's a trust issue. VMware's customers have spent years, even decades, building around its stack. Learning it. Certifying in it. Teaching their teams. Designing their datacenters around it. Now, with Broadcom at the helm, many feel like they're being treated like line items in a spreadsheet. And in that kind of environment, customers don't just complain—they look for alternatives. Open-source platforms. Cloud-native stacks. KVM-based solutions. Even public cloud. ## This isn't just a licensing shift—it's an identity crisis Broadcom wants you on VCF. Full-stack, tightly integrated, and tightly controlled. But for many, that's not what they signed up for. And when you suddenly start paying 3x or 10x more for the same core count, even the most loyal shops will start exploring exits. Right now, it feels like VMware is trying to turn every customer into an enterprise-scale VCF adopter—even if all they wanted was to run a few VMs with some decent support. Maybe that'll work in the short term. Maybe big accounts will keep paying. But if Broadcom keeps treating customers like they have no choice, don't be surprised if more start making one.