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VMware ESXi Free vs Hyper-V: catalog facts
VMware ESXi Free	Hyper-V
Freemium Free hypervisor edition for small deployments, with paid vSphere licensing for advanced…	Free Included at no extra cost in Windows Pro, Enterprise and Windows Server editions.
Self-hosted	Windows
Mature, widely deployed hypervisor used extensively in enterprise environments Free edition available for smaller homelab or small-business use	Built into Windows with nothing extra to buy Type-1 hypervisor with near-native performance
Free edition lacks the centralized management features found in licensed vSphere Requires dedicated hardware to install, as it runs directly on bare metal	Not available on Windows Home editions Windows only
Downloadable app	Operating system
Closed source	Closed source
License not stated	License not stated
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.