# VMware Workstation Pro Software Pricing, Alternatives & More 2026 | Capterra > With the help of Capterra, learn about VMware Workstation Pro Software - reviews, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other Virtual Machine products and more. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/212916/VMware-Workstation-Player/pricing --- # VMware Workstation Pro Software Review 2026: Features, Integrations, Pros & Cons Last updated on March 13, 2026 Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Description](#description)[Use cases](#use-cases)[Alternatives](#alternatives)[Features](#features)[Pricing](#pricing)[Support](#support)[Reviews](#reviews) VMware Workstation Pro ## What is VMware Workstation Pro? VMware Workstation Pro allows users to set up virtual machines (VMs) on a single physical machine. It provides fast, efficient access to the user's virtual machines and a secure, stable environment for their delivery. VMware Workstation Pro adds enterprise-class capabilities to basic virtualization that provides: ## What is VMware Workstation Pro used for? [Virtual Machine](https://www.capterra.com/virtual-machine-software/) Overall rating Based on 57 user reviews Reviews sentiment Positive 98% Neutral 2% Negative 0% Starting price $149 Per User, Per Month Free trial available Capterra Shortlist charts the highest-rated and most popular products... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Do you work for VMware Workstation Pro?[Manage this product listing](https://digitalmarkets.gartner.com/get-listed/claim-bx?url=http://www.vmware.com&name=VMware Workstation Pro) ## Compare with a popular alternative Capterra selects software alternatives based on relevant features, verified user reviews and user interactions. Placement may be influenced by client status. ### VMware Workstation Pro 4.8 (57) VS. [### Microsoft Azure](https://www.capterra.com/p/16365/Azure/) [4.6 (1,943)](https://www.capterra.com/p/16365/Azure/reviews/) Starting Price $149 Other Starting Price $31.39 Usage Based, Per Month Free Trial Free Version Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version Ease Of Use 4.6 (57) Ease Of Use 4.1 (1,928) Value For Money 4.2 (43) Value For Money 4.2 (1,575) Customer Service 4.6 (36) Customer Service 4.2 (1,547) ## VMware Workstation Pro alternatives [VirtualBox](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/) [4.6 (885)](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/reviews/) Starting price Contact vendor for pricing Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 94% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/) [Vinchin Backup & Recovery](https://www.capterra.com/p/180134/Vinchin-Backup-Recovery/) [4.7 (153)](https://www.capterra.com/p/180134/Vinchin-Backup-Recovery/reviews/) Starting price Contact vendor for pricing Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 94% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/180134/Vinchin-Backup-Recovery/) Highest Rated [NAKIVO Backup & Replication](https://www.capterra.com/p/161328/NAKIVO/) [4.8 (457)](https://www.capterra.com/p/161328/NAKIVO/reviews/) Starting price $99.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 99% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/161328/NAKIVO/) [Iperius Backup](https://www.capterra.com/p/129287/Iperius-Backup/) [4.5 (189)](https://www.capterra.com/p/129287/Iperius-Backup/reviews/) Starting price $29.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 92% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/129287/Iperius-Backup/) [View all alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/212916/VMware-Workstation-Player/alternatives/) ## Features Features with the highest number of reviews are displayed first. Those that have no reviews appear next, sorted alphabetically. Virtual Server 4.7 (17) 82.35% of 17 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Creates a virtual server that replicates all the functionalities of a dedicated physical server Virtual Machine Encryption 4.6 (14) 85.71% of 14 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Encrypts all information within a virtual machine including data, files, OS and software programs. Virtual Machine Monitoring 4.6 (13) 61.54% of 13 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Track and manage virtual machines (VMs) running on physical host machines Remote Update/Installation 4.8 (12) 58.33% of 12 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Deploy updates or install new software remotely Configuration Management 4.6 (11) 72.73% of 11 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Identify component attributes like servers, hardware, software, and manage relationships across all services Virtualization 5.0 (11) 72.73% of 11 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Create a virtual version of operating systems, storage devices, or computer network resources VMware Workstation Pro 6 features Identify component attributes like servers, hardware, software, and manage relationships across all services Deploy updates or install new software remotely Encrypts all information within a virtual machine including data, files, OS and software programs. Track and manage virtual machines (VMs) running on physical host machines Creates a virtual server that replicates all the functionalities of a dedicated physical server Create a virtual version of operating systems, storage devices, or computer network resources Features 4.8 (57) 4.8 Based on 57 reviews ## Pricing Value for money 4.2 (43) Free Trial Basic $149.00 Other, Value for money 4.2 (43) 4.2 Based on 43 reviews ## Support, customer service and training options Customer Service 4.6 (36) Support - Email/Help Desk - FAQs/Forum - Knowledge Base - Phone Support - 24/7 (Live rep) - Chat Training - In Person - Live Online - Webinars - Documentation - Videos Deployment - Web - Android - iPhone/iPad Typical users - Freelancers - Small businesses - Mid size businesses - Enterprises Customer Service 4.6 (36) 4.6 Based on 36 reviews ## User reviews Overall rating 4.8 Based on 57 reviews Filter by rating 5(46) 4(10) 3(1) 2(0) 1(0) Mentioned topic Sorted by most recent RP Rishik P. Student Education Management ### "Virtual Machines - VMware" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 3.0 3.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 February 3, 2025 My overall experience with VMware Workstation Pro is great. I use it whenever I want to test some applications, run new OS, etc. Pros VMware Workstation Pro is a tool for running multiple operating systems on a single computer. It’s fast and packed with features like snapshots and cloning, making it perfect for developers and tech enthusiasts. The thing I like most about this is the performance, I don't know how but VMs perform better on this when compared to its competitors like Virtual Box. Cons I didn't find any con specifically about this. VMware Workstation Pro was paid before, but it's free for personal use now. Switched from [VirtualBox](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/) VMs in virtual box performs slow, and it felt like the VM is not able to use the resources completely which are provided to it through Virtual Box. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. AU Anonymous User Engineering IT Food & Beverages ### "The best virtualisation tool " 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 0.0 0.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 January 22, 2025 Pros What I like most about VMware Workstation Pro is how easy it is to set up and install a virtual machine. Cons What I like least is that there are too many incremental updates. Switched from [VirtualBox](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/) VMWare offers more configuration options (network ...) Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. SW Sam W. Infrastructure Engineer Airlines/Aviation ### "Great product for local virtualisation - ESXi's little brother" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 3.0 3.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 January 20, 2025 Great product and my go-to for local virtualisation. A feature I particularly like is I'm able to develop locally, omitting a lot of the public cloud issues - and then import via OVF onto the cloud - this is very useful. All the network, storage, etc. just matches up. Pros I've used workstation pro for my local development environments for many years now and serves as an easy virtualisation tool for scenarios where one may not want to spin up full public or private cloud infrastructure. It's similar, but just much scaled back. Cons Sometimes there are local issues such as dependency issues or compatibility problems - this is due to often running VMware Workstation on windows or Linux and as such highly depends on your local environment. Therefore if your base OS isn't "clean" or has a lot of junk on it, you may struggle at first. Alternatives considered [VirtualBox](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/) Reasons for choosing VMware Workstation Pro Just a more put together product - VMware is the best out there and way more features. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. AU Anonymous User Formateur technique Professional Training & Coaching ### "Virtualisation d'environnements différents" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 0.0 0.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 January 16, 2025 Pros Simplicité d'utilisation, compatibilité des OS supportés, les snapshot pour le backup de machines virtuelles Cons Volume des machines virtuelles assez important Switched from [VirtualBox](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/) J'utilise les 2 logiciels pour la gestions de différents environnements Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. JH Jason H. Owner Retail ### "VMware for the win" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 4.0 4.0 Likelihood to Recommend 9/10 January 15, 2025 Did everything I needed it to do and allows versatility with your workstation. Pros Makes it easy to use different operating systems on the same workstation. Cons Set up time takes a little longer than I would have liked. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Austin M. Programmer Analyst Pharmaceuticals ### "VMWare Workstation, your virtual machine farm" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 0.0 0.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 August 7, 2024 I had an amazing time switching and interacting when I couldn't switch between my previous software and VMWare Workstation, it was an amazing interaction and I sure think this could help other people as well. Pros Intuitiveness on installation and set up, incredibly easy and swift to make it work. Cons Some options can be accessed through certain places, I think they're updating some button actions but it could be even better! Switched from [VirtualBox](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/) We didnt really COMPLETE the switch because VirtualBox is needed in some cases but VMWare makes amazing work in other situations, so we have both running. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. SK Sabih K. Security Researcher Education Management ### "Unlocking Efficiency and Security: A VMware Workstation Pro Review" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 April 16, 2024 Pros The most impressive aspect of VMware Workstation Pro is its ability to efficiently utilize hardware resources by enabling multiple virtual machines on a single device. Cons One downside of VMware Workstation Pro is that it may require significant system resources, which could potentially impact the performance of the host machine, especially when running multiple VMs simultaneously. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. AU Anonymous User Project Manager Information Technology and Services ### "An amazing way to have two entirely separate configuration" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 3.0 3.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 0.0 0.0 Likelihood to Recommend 8/10 October 13, 2023 Pros The snapshot and clone features have been a real lifesaver for me. They've given me the freedom to test out various configurations and scenarios without the constant worry of messing up my real work environment, especially when juggling projects with a wide range of software needs. Also, the drag and drop feature between hostd and virtual OS is amazing and soooo useful. Cons The setup might take a little time and the software uses alot of resourses of my PC. It might not be for low end PCs. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. AU Anonymous User CEO Design ### "my virtual PC" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 9/10 September 30, 2023 it's easy to learn and saves a lot of time Pros a fast, powerful tool for creating virtual machines to test different operating systems, for example Cons presents a simple interface for use, it is very practical Reasons for choosing VMware Workstation Pro by its simplicity and intuitiveness, i.e. its understanding of the physical machine. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. JE Jason E. Landscaper/White Hat Pen Tester Computer & Network Security ### "VMWARE workstation pro" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 September 30, 2023 Highly satisfied and paid member who utilizes Vmware pro everyday. Pros If you already have experience in IT and you want to make it a career. VMWARE workstation pro makes it perfect for users of any age. Highly recommend. Cons Price is higher, but definitely worth it. And vmware offer s a free version of vmware player. Alternatives considered [VirtualBox](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/) Reasons for choosing VMware Workstation Pro Features, tools, and quality. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. [View all Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/212916/VMware-Workstation-Player/reviews/) Popular comparisons [Microsoft Azure vs VMware Workstation Pro](https://www.capterra.com/compare/16365-212916/Azure-vs-VMware-Workstation-Player)[VirtualBox vs VMware Workstation Pro](https://www.capterra.com/compare/169939-212916/VirtualBox-vs-VMware-Workstation-Player) [VMware Fusion vs VMware Workstation Pro](https://www.capterra.com/compare/212916-212917/VMware-Workstation-Player-vs-VMware-Fusion)  Independent research methodology Capterra's researchers use a mix of verified reviews, independent research and objective methodologies to bring you selection and ranking information you can trust. While we may earn a referral fee when you visit a provider through our links or speak to an advisor, this has no influence on our research or methodology. 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