The Workstation family has three editions that share a codebase. Pro and Fusion are the full hypervisors; Player is the cut-down runtime that Broadcom is winding down. Since November 2024, all three are free of charge.
| Workstation Pro | Workstation Player | Fusion Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (personal & commercial) | Free (legacy, being phased out) | Free (personal & commercial) |
| Host operating systems | Windows, Linux | Windows, Linux | macOS (Intel & Apple Silicon) |
| Snapshots & clones | Yes (multiple, tree, linked) | Limited (single snapshot) | Yes (multiple, tree, linked) |
| Encrypted VMs | Yes | Run only | Yes |
| Virtual networks (vmnet) | Up to 20 custom | NAT + Bridged only | Up to 20 custom |
| REST API | Yes | No | Yes |
| Future updates | Active (current line) | Maintenance only — phasing out | Active (current line) |
Workstation Pro (Windows / Linux host) — the right choice for almost everyone. Full snapshot tree, linked clones, encrypted VMs, 20 virtual networks, REST API, and active development. Free for personal and commercial use.
Fusion Pro (macOS host) — the macOS equivalent of Workstation Pro. Same feature level. Required for Mac users; Workstation Pro does not run on macOS.
Workstation Player — only worth installing if you need to run a single pre-built virtual appliance and nothing else. Broadcom is phasing Player out; no new features are being added. New installs should use Workstation Pro instead.
Broadcom deprecated the paid Fusion Standard tier when they made Fusion Pro free. There is now effectively one Mac hypervisor in the VMware lineup: Fusion Pro.