Fabric vs VMware
Broadcom turned VMware into a per-core subscription sold in a handful of bundles. Fabric is the opposite bet: the whole HCI stack as one signed image, priced per server, with every feature in every class. Here is how they actually compare.
- VMware Cloud Foundation is licensed per core with a 16-core minimum per CPU and bundles vSphere, vSAN, NSX and Aria whether you use them or not. Fabric is licensed per node by class and includes the whole platform.
- VMware remains the deepest ecosystem in virtualization — ISV certifications, backup integrations and talent. Fabric trades ecosystem breadth for one image, one update and one bill.
- On a 32-core node the gap is roughly 3.5–6× per year before discounts; it widens with denser CPUs, because Fabric moves one band and VMware meters every core.
One dual-socket server, 32 physical cores, fully loaded with VMs (annual, list unless noted)
Fabric Medium class: $1,800 per node per year, everything included; 3-year term $1,620/yr.
Model: Per core, subscription only (perpetual licences ended in 2023), 16-core minimum per CPU socket, sold as VVF or VCF bundles.
Basis: VCF at ~$200/core realized to ~$350/core list, 32 cores, 1-year term (industry benchmarks, 2026).
Fabric vs VMware, honestly scored.
Where VMware is ahead we say so. Roadmap items are labelled and count against Fabric until they ship.
Choose Fabric if… Choose VMware if…
Fabric is the better fit for
- Organisations facing a Broadcom renewal who want a flat, per-node bill
- Edge, branch and mid-market sites Broadcom no longer prices for
- Sovereign and air-gapped deployments that cannot depend on connected entitlement
- Service providers who need tenancy without a separate cloud-director product
VMware is the better fit for
- Estates with deep NSX, SRM or Aria dependencies
- Workloads certified only on vSphere by their ISV
- Teams whose entire tooling and staffing is built around vCenter
Moving from VMware to Fabric
Most VMware exits are a two-step: stand Fabric up beside the existing cluster on commodity or reused hosts, then move workloads tier by tier. Because Fabric is licensed per node rather than per core, the pilot cluster costs the same whether it is three 16-core or three 32-core boxes inside a class, and the VMware migration credit covers you until your current contract expires.
See migration use casesFabric vs VMware: common questions
It replaces the stack — hypervisor, shared storage, networking, HA and management — rather than any one VMware product. VMs move as disk images; a turnkey ESXi import tool is on the roadmap. Expect a migration project, not a licence swap.
Fabric charges per node by class. A 32-core node is Medium class at $1,800 per year with everything included; VCF on the same node runs roughly $6,400 to $11,200 per year depending on realized versus list per-core rates. The gap grows with denser CPUs.
Both are part of the platform in every class, including the free Community edition. There is no separately licensed storage or SDN product.
Yes, by design. Sign-in is local, the control plane is your appliance, and updates are signed images you import and verify on site. Nothing phones home and there is no kill-switch.
Ecosystem depth: NSX is the most complete enterprise SDN, vMotion is the reference live-migration implementation, and the ISV, backup and DR (Live Site Recovery) ecosystem is unmatched. Fabric’s snapshots and cross-site replication are roadmap items.
How Fabric stacks up against the rest.
Try the whole platform free.
Community is unlimited nodes, every feature, forever. Move to a paid class when you want the production update channel and a support contract.