Licensing and cost
VMware Cloud Foundation and vSphere Foundation are offered as subscriptions. Core counting for VCF and VVF includes a minimum of 16 cores per physical CPU. Actual costs depend on the specific quotation and contract.
Proxmox VE & VMware migration
Proxmox VE instead of VMware: planned, migrated, operated.
We assess whether Proxmox VE fits your VMware environment, plan the transition and support migration, backup and operations. On-site in Bern and Valais; remote across Switzerland.
Compare before the next renewal
A contract renewal or server refresh is a useful point to review your platform. The decision should account for total cost, the features you need and operational requirements.
Support and renewal
Support deadlines must match the product version actually in use. We account for contract expiry, hardware lifecycle and available maintenance windows. A platform change remains one option alongside retaining or upgrading the current environment.
A realistic Proxmox budget
Proxmox VE is open source. Subscriptions are priced by occupied CPU sockets and provide access to the Enterprise Repository. Vendor ticket support depends on the selected plan; Community does not include it. Migration, hardware, backup and ongoing maintenance also belong in the comparison.
Five-year cost comparison
The calculator works with your own VMware quotation. Proxmox subscriptions are the vendor's list prices; every other value is a visible assumption you can adjust. The result is an initial orientation, not a quotation.
Result
The calculation runs in your browser and requires JavaScript.
VMware, five years–
Proxmox VE, five years–
Difference over five years–
- Running costs per year · VMware including maintenance
- –
- Running costs per year · Proxmox VE including maintenance
- –
- Migration by effort, estimated
- –
- One-off costs Proxmox VE
- –
Not included: Veeam licences (identical on both sides), internal staff time, power, networking and storage hardware. Maintenance is applied equally to both platforms; price changes at future VMware renewals are not included.
Basis: Proxmox: subscription prices as of 10 September 2026 · Broadcom: core counting with at least 16 cores per CPU
From decision to day-to-day operation
Fixed-price assessment
A bounded review of the current environment to inform your platform decision.
- Document hosts, VMs, dependencies and requirements
- Assess compatibility, storage and backup
- Compare costs with explicit assumptions and limits
- Discuss the target design, risks and migration proposal
Scope, deliverables and a fixed price are agreed in a quotation after the initial discussion. Proceeding with migration is a separate decision.
Migration in planned stages
Build the target environment, test the migration approach and move systems in agreed phases.
- Prepare networking, access, hosts and storage
- Run a pilot with representative systems
- Check backup, restore and the rollback plan
- Document acceptance and operational handover
Duration and interruptions depend on systems, data volumes and dependencies. Maintenance windows and rollback criteria are agreed in advance.
Operations and training
Hand over and maintain the environment so its owners can manage it in everyday use.
- Plan monitoring, updates and maintenance windows
- Maintain backup jobs and agreed restore tests
- Document operating procedures and responsibilities
- Train administrators on their own environment
Ongoing maintenance, availability and response times are agreed separately. Vendor subscriptions and support coverage are selected to suit the environment.
Who this is for
SMEs, municipalities, educational institutions and energy providers considering a server platform refresh or a VMware alternative. Application vendor support, a workable operating model and realistic migration planning are prerequisites.
What we establish before a move
Existing hardware and applications
Servers and storage can be reused where compatibility, capacity and support requirements allow it. Guest operating systems, application licences and software vendor support are also reviewed.
Storage and availability
Ceph, ZFS or existing SAN/NAS are assessed against workload, networking, failure scenarios and operating effort. A cluster does not replace backup; host count alone does not determine the right architecture.
Veeam and recovery
An existing Veeam environment can form part of the target design. Supported versions, resources, licensing and restore methods are checked first. Proxmox Backup Server is another option, depending on requirements.
Data location and responsibility
Storage locations, offsite copies, access rights and responsibilities are explicitly agreed. The operating model follows your requirements for data location, recovery and maintenance.
Technology and tools
The selection depends on your environment and the agreed scope.
- Platform
- Proxmox VE KVM / LXC Cluster & HA
- Storage
- Ceph ZFS SAN / NAS iSCSI / NFS Fibre Channel
- Backup
- Veeam Proxmox Backup Server Restore tests
- Operations
- VLAN Monitoring Patch management Documentation
Bern, Valais and remote across Switzerland
Planning, implementation and handover on-site in Bern and Valais, or remotely as agreed. Based in St. Niklaus; collaboration and documentation in German or English.
Start with your platform
For an initial assessment, a brief description of the environment, approximate host and VM counts, your objective and a rough timeframe are enough. We can discuss contract and system details afterwards within an agreed scope. Email enquiries are answered within one working day.
Please do not send credentials, private reports or client data in an initial enquiry.