VMware Workstation - To buy or not to buy?

I'm considering to purchase VMware Workstation for my personal use but I'm surprise that it's subscription based?! Or did I go to the wrong page?

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iBrokeIT

I think you first need to ask yourself what features you need in VMware Workstation that aren't present in VMware Player or Virtualbox.

chopsticks

Actually I'm considering to subscribe to Cisco VIRL but it needs VMware Workstation in order to work properly.

elTorito

Where did you read that VMware Workstation is subscription-based? Once you purchase the license key, you unlock the product (the version you bought) for unlimited usage. It's true that you can buy a subscription (Support and Subscription) for support, though, which also acts as a form of software assurance that may make you eligible for a free upgrade to the next major release of the software.

As to the question: If you can spare the money, for sure. It's a great all-round product. I use it often for small-scale home labbing.

Mike7

Player is free for personal use. Workstation has features which you may or may not find useful.
There is a comparison table at VMware Player Pro: Compare to VMware Workstation 11 | United States

Believe you can download a 30 day Workstation trial from vmware.com.
When you install Workstation, Player is also installed.
Why not give it a try first? And if you do decide to buy, wait till Black Friday to see if they have any discounts. They had it for Workstation in 2013

chopsticks

Thanks, elTorito & Mike7!