Vendor expertise / VMware / VCF vs VVF

VMWARE LICENSING

VMware is two bundles, priced per core.

Broadcom concentrated VMware into VMware Cloud Foundation and vSphere Foundation. Which one you license, and how many cores count, decides most of the price.

16 coresMinimum licensed per processor
1 TiBvSAN per core with VCF
0.25 TiBvSAN per core with VVF

Presented by the Deal IQ VMware practice  ·  Updated September 2026

The two bundles

  1. VCF

    VMware Cloud Foundation

    The full private cloud stack, including 1 TiB of vSAN capacity per core.

  2. VVF

    vSphere Foundation

    The compute-focused tier, including 0.25 TiB of vSAN capacity per core.

Both are term subscriptions of one, three or five years. Perpetual licenses are no longer sold, and Broadcom does not publish list prices.

How cores are counted

Every physical core on a licensed host counts, including cores deactivated in the BIOS. Hyper-threading does not. Each processor licenses a minimum of 16 cores, even when the CPU has fewer. Additional vSAN capacity is sold as an add-on.

What it means at renewal

Many VMware customers signed their first Broadcom subscriptions in 2024 and 2025, and those terms are now coming up for renewal. The bundle, the core count and the term are all decided before anyone discusses a discount, and each moves the price.

Where Deal IQ comes in

This page covers what has changed and where the cost sits. Turning that into a better price on your contract is the negotiation itself. Deal IQ has run 50+ VMware negotiations covering $250M+ in contract value, with a network of 350+ former vendor sales, pricing and deal desk leaders that includes people who sold VMware. We negotiate directly with VMware or behind the scenes with your team, and our fee comes from the savings.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between VCF and VVF?

VMware Cloud Foundation is the full private cloud stack with 1 TiB of vSAN per core. vSphere Foundation is the compute-focused tier with 0.25 TiB per core.

How does Broadcom count VMware cores?

Every physical core on a licensed host, including disabled cores, with a minimum of 16 cores per processor. Hyper-threading does not count.

DEAL IQ IN NUMBERS

$20B+contract value negotiated
3,000+negotiations
100Net Promoter Score
4.7/5client rating for delivering savings
$0fee if there are no savings
NPS and rating from independent client research by Plural Strategy Group, 2026.What our clients say →

You are closer to a better deal than you think.

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