VMware Workstation Pro is the industry-standard desktop hypervisor for running multiple operating systems on a single Windows or Linux host — used by developers, IT professionals, and educators since 1999.
Since November 11, 2024, Broadcom distributes Workstation Pro and Fusion Pro free of charge for personal and commercial use — no license key, no trial countdown. The current build is Workstation Pro 26H1; the 25H2 line and legacy 17.x builds are also available in the table above.
The two questions people ask most — the full FAQ page covers licensing, versions, and platform support in more depth.
Do I need a license key?
No. Workstation Pro and Fusion Pro have been free for personal and commercial use since November 11, 2024 — no key, no trial, no feature gating.
Where does the download come from?
Installers are served directly from GitHub Releases over its CDN — no authentication wall, no redirect. See Verify Your Download to confirm the file's SHA-256 hash before installing.
Workstation Pro is a Type-2 hypervisor: it runs on top of your existing OS, which must expose CPU virtualization extensions (Intel VT-x or AMD-V) for guests to perform well.
Baseline: a 64-bit x86 CPU from the last decade, 4 GB+ RAM (more per guest), and Windows 10/11 or a modern 64-bit Linux distribution as the host. Fusion Pro requires macOS 13 or newer.
Workstation Pro 26H1 is the current build, carrying forward the 25H2 line's calendar-versioned naming, Linux performance work, Hyper-V coexistence, and expanded guest OS support.
Pro and Fusion are the full hypervisors, for Windows/Linux and macOS respectively; Player is the cut-down runtime Broadcom is winding down. All three are free of charge — most users want Workstation Pro (Windows/Linux) or Fusion Pro (macOS).
The most common installation snags — Hyper-V conflicts, BIOS virtualization settings, and 3D acceleration — are covered on the full troubleshooting page, along with the fix for each.
Run the installer you downloaded — there's no license key to enter on first launch, just choose the free-use option. Windows, Linux, and macOS (Fusion) each have a short set of steps, covered in full on the installation guide.
Before installing, see Verify Your Download to confirm the installer is genuine.
Installer files are served from GitHub Releases and are the original Broadcom-published binaries. Before installing anything, compute the file's SHA-256 hash and compare it against the value Broadcom publishes in the official release notes — the two must match byte-for-byte.
Click Create a New Virtual Machine on the home screen (or File → New Virtual Machine) to launch the wizard — choose an ISO or install the OS later, allocate CPU/RAM/disk, then install VMware Tools once the guest OS is up.
Open a .vmx file directly, import from VirtualBox/Hyper-V, or open a downloaded .ova/.ovf package via File → Open or File → Import. If a VM won't start, check that VT-x/AMD-V is enabled in your BIOS/UEFI first.
Go to File → Connect to Server, enter your ESXi or vCenter host and credentials, and manage remote VMs — power, snapshots, and console — right alongside your local library.