VMware Workstation Pro (known as VMware Workstation until release of VMware Workstation 12 in 2015) is a hosted (Type 2) hypervisor that runs on x64 versions of Windows and Linux operating systems. It enables users to set up virtual machines (VMs) on a single physical machine and use them simultaneously along with the host machine. Each virtual machine can execute its own operating system, including versions of Microsoft Windows, Linux, BSD, and MS-DOS. VMware Workstation is developed and sold by VMware, which has been owned by Broadcom since November 2023. In May 2024, Workstation Pro became free of charge for personal use, with paid subscriptions available for commercial use, while the free restricted VMware Workstation Player (formerly known as VMware Player), included in Workstation, was dropped as a separate product. In November 2024, VMware Workstation was made free for commercial use, with paid subscriptions and support no longer available.
VMware Workstation supports bridging existing host network adapters and sharing physical disk drives and USB devices with a virtual machine. It can simulate disk drives; an ISO image file can be mounted as a virtual optical disc drive, and virtual hard disk drives are implemented as .vmdk files.
VMware Workstation Pro can save the state of a virtual machine (a "snapshot") at any instant. These snapshots can later be restored, effectively returning the virtual machine to the saved state, as it was and free from any post-snapshot damage to the VM.
VMware Workstation includes the ability to group multiple virtual machines in an inventory folder. The machines in such a folder can then be powered on and powered off as a single object, useful for testing complex client-server environments.
VMware was first released on 15 May 1999.
VMware Workstation versions 12.0.0, 12.0.1, and 12.1.0 were released at intervals of about two months in 2015. In January 2016, the entire development team behind VMware Workstation and Fusion was disbanded and all US developers were immediately fired. The company said that "the restructuring activities will not impact the existence of any current product lines", that "roles and responsibilities associated with particular businesses will be moved to other regions and office locations", and that investment would continue "with emphasis on our growth products", but the future of Workstation and Fusion became uncertain by that point. On 24 April 2016, maintenance release 12.1.1 was released. Later in September of the same year, the company announced that "weâÂÂre very much alive and well". Consequently, on September 13, Workstation 12.5 and Fusion 8.5 were released as free upgrades which added support for Windows 10 Anniversary Update and Windows Server 2016. Since then, active development resumed.
In May 2024, VMware Workstation Pro became free for personal use, with only commercial use requiring a paid license, and free VMware Workstation Player was discontinued as unnecessary.
In November 2024, Workstation Pro became free for all users, including commercial and educational users. Technical support for Workstation by Broadcom was discontinued, with help now available only from documentation and the user forum on Broadcom's Web site.
There used to be freeware-based version of VMware Workstation with a limited feature set. This version was at first known as VMware Player until VMware Player v7 (released at the same time as Workstation 11). In 2015 the two packages were combined as VMware Workstation 12, with a free VMware Workstation Player version which, on purchase of a player license key granted commercial use along with commercial support, while the purchase of a pro license key became the higher specification VMware Workstation Pro (which also included commercial support). VMware Workstation Player, like VMware Player before it, was free of charge for non-commercial use, or for distribution or other use by written agreement. VMware Workstation Player was discontinued in 2024 due to redundancy after VMware Workstation Pro was made free for personal use. Before discontinuing VMware Workstation Player in 2024, VMware's website used to list the differences between VMware Workstation Player and Pro.
VMware Tools, a package with drivers and other software available for the various guest operating systems VMware products support, installs in guest operating systems to add functionality. Tools is updated from time to time, with v13.0.5.0 on 26 September 2025. It has several components, including the following:
Many ready-made virtual machines (VMs) which run on VMware Workstation Player, VMware Workstation Pro, and other virtualization software are available with software for specific purposes ready-installed, either for purchase or free of charge. As one among many examples, there are free Linux-based "browser appliances" with the Firefox or other browser installed which can be used for safe Web browsing; if infected or damaged the VM can be discarded and replaced by a clean copy. Or the appliance can be configured to automatically reset itself after each use so that no changes, including personal information, modified files, damage, etc. are stored. VMs distributed legally only have freely distributable operating systems, as operating systems on VMs must be licensed; ready-to-use Microsoft Windows VMs, in particular, are not distributed, except for evaluation versions.