--- title: VMware Workstation Pro Reviews meta_title: 'VMware Workstation Pro Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 139 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how VMware Workstation Pro works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 4.5 review_count: 139 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-08-09' parent_category: name: IT Infrastructure url: https://www.g2.com/categories/it-infrastructure --- # VMware Workstation Pro Reviews **Vendor:** Broadcom **Category:** [Server Virtualization Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/server-virtualization) **Average Rating:** 4.5/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 139 ## About VMware Workstation Pro VMware Workstation Pro is a desktop hypervisor that enables users to run multiple operating systems simultaneously on a single Windows or Linux PC. Designed for IT professionals, developers, and educators, it provides a robust platform for developing, testing, and deploying applications across diverse environments without the need for additional hardware. Key Features and Functionality: - Multiple OS Support: Run a wide range of operating systems, including various versions of Windows, Linux, BSD, and MS-DOS, on virtual machines. - Snapshot Capability: Save the state of a virtual machine at any point in time, allowing for easy rollback to a previous state, which is invaluable for testing and development purposes. - Virtual Networking: Create complex network configurations with support for bridging existing host network adapters and sharing physical disk drives and USB devices with virtual machines. - High-Performance Graphics: Support for DirectX 10.1 and OpenGL 3.3 enables running 3D applications and games within virtual machines. - Remote vSphere Integration: Connect to remote vSphere environments to manage virtual machines and data centers directly from the Workstation Pro interface. Primary Value and User Solutions: VMware Workstation Pro addresses the complexities of managing multi-OS operations by providing isolated, secure environments for development, testing, and learning. It allows users to streamline workflows by running multiple operating systems on a single machine without rebooting, facilitating efficient software development and testing across different platforms. Additionally, its integration with remote vSphere setups ensures seamless management of virtual infrastructures, making it an essential tool for professionals seeking flexibility and control in their virtualization needs. ## VMware Workstation Pro Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users value the **seamless integration** with systems like vSphere/ESXi, enhancing their virtualization capabilities remarkably. (2 reviews) - Users value the **Snapshot and Clone Features** of VMware Workstation Pro for easy machine virtualization and efficiency. (2 reviews) - Users value the **robust virtualization capabilities** of VMware Workstation Pro, enabling efficient management of multiple VMs. (2 reviews) - Users find VMware Workstation Pro's **ease of setup** enhances their experience, especially compared to alternatives like VirtualBox. (1 reviews) - Users appreciate the **extensive features and capabilities** of VMware Workstation Pro, enhancing their virtual environment experience. (1 reviews) - Setup Ease (1 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Users often face **complex billing issues** with VMware Workstation Pro, complicating the licensing and activation process. (1 reviews) - Users find the **difficult configuration** of VMware Workstation Pro challenging, especially without a background in networking. (1 reviews) - Users find the product's **high cost** a barrier, particularly for small teams or individual developers. (1 reviews) - Users find the **high licensing cost** of VMware Workstation Pro a barrier compared to free alternatives. (1 reviews) - Users face **complex licensing and activation issues** that create challenges, particularly in corporate environments. (1 reviews) - Users experience **performance issues** with VMware Workstation Pro, including slow startup times and occasional UI lag. (1 reviews) - Users report **poor customer support** following Broadcom's acquisition, leading to dissatisfaction with VMware Workstation Pro. (1 reviews) - Required Expertise (1 reviews) - Steep Learning Curve (1 reviews) - System Instability (1 reviews) ## VMware Workstation Pro Reviews ### 1. Often buggy under linux. **Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Charles L. | Software Research Laboratory | Research Assistant, Higher Education, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 29, 2016 **What do you like best about VMware Workstation Pro?** The ability to connect to a remote server is wonderful for interacting with virtual machines on our ESXi instance. I primarily use Linux as my host OS. As the vsphere client does not support Linux, VMware Workstation became indispensable for working with virtual machines hosted on our ESXi servers. **What do you dislike about VMware Workstation Pro?** I've always had problems running Windows Guests on VMWare Workstation with a Linux host. I've attempted on both Ubuntu and Mint and had the same problem on both. The graphics in the guest OS will often lag for a few seconds, making it difficult to work on documents or PowerPoints. Worse, the entire vmware workstation process will occasionally live lock, pushing how ever many cores are assigned to the guest to 100%. This problem requires killing the workstation process from the host and restarting all running virtual machines. **Recommendations to others considering VMware Workstation Pro:** If you are a small team, have only basic needs, and don't require support, consider more light weight options. If you already implement VMware solutions, such as ESXi, staying in the ecosystem is worth it. **What problems is VMware Workstation Pro solving and how is that benefiting you?** There are two main problems I use VMware Workstation to solve. The first is to access VMs hosted on our local ESXi server. The second is local running of Windows application, such as Microsoft office, on my linux hosts. The first problem is solved only by VMware Workstation. The second problem is partially solved by workstation. While it does run the Windows guests under a linux host, it does so with some quirks that can make working in it annoying. ### 2. VMware Workstation Pro not working for me **Rating:** 1.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Mihai G. | Change and Release Manager Domains Development, Internet, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 10, 2015 **What do you like best about VMware Workstation Pro?** The ease of set up on a windows 7, and an user friendly interface that is quite intuitive. **What do you dislike about VMware Workstation Pro?** No help on how to do things or troubleshooting when you get stuck because of a bad setup or a bad .vmdk. It only pinpoint that you have an issue and will not work, solving it get you searching over the internet. **Recommendations to others considering VMware Workstation Pro:** Try it as a side VM but don't relay on it as it has got me lots of headaches trying to mount and install machines on it. So I have dump it in the end. **What problems is VMware Workstation Pro solving and how is that benefiting you?** Setting up a small batch of vm's in order to be able to create different environments for users. I have dumped the solution in the end and adopting something else. ## VMware Workstation Pro Discussions - [Is VMware a workstation pro?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-vmware-a-workstation-pro) - 1 comment - [Is Workstation Pro free?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-workstation-pro-free) - 2 comments - [View VMware Workstation Pro pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/vmware-workstation-pro/reviews?filters%5Bnps_score%5D%5B%5D=2§ion=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-08-12+11%3A41%3A33+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=d6ef81e0-b75c-477b-8fdc-a4c092cbc982&secure%5Btoken%5D=7ac4b3fe1addaf51be8894c564e8b6bafd2d2546466b9587cffeb4c7847086ca&format=llm_user) ## VMware Workstation Pro Features **Performance** - Scalability - Portability - Data Recovery - Disaster Recovery **Functionality** - OS Integration - Resource Saving - Performance Management - Security - Third-Party Integrations - User Management - Compliance Management - Task Management **Agentic AI - Server Virtualization** - Autonomous Task Execution - Multi-step Planning - Cross-system Integration - Adaptive Learning - Proactive Assistance - Decision Making - File Transfer **Additional Functionality** - Cloud Computing - Archiving & Retention - Issue Tracking - Virtual Machine Migration - Server Monitoring - Status Tracking - Secure Login - Activity Dashboard - API - Graphical User Interface - Secure Data Storage - Alerts/Escalation - Generative AI - Virtual Server - Remote Update/Installation - Data Verification - AI Copilot - Reporting & Statistics - VDI - Database Support - Data Synchronization - Data Replication - Virtual Machine Monitoring ## Top VMware Workstation Pro Alternatives - [VirtualBox](https://www.g2.com/products/virtualbox/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (292 reviews) - [Azure Virtual Machines](https://www.g2.com/products/azure-virtual-machines/reviews) - 4.4/5.0 (377 reviews) - [Google Compute Engine](https://www.g2.com/products/google-compute-engine/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (876 reviews)