VMware Fusion 2026: Benefits, Features & Pricing

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On this page

Overview
Pricing and Plans
Features
User Reviews

Overview

VMware Fusion

4.9

(24)

Pricing

Pricing available upon request

About VMware Fusion

VMware Fusion is a user-friendly application that lets users run Windows and other x86 operating systems on their Mac. With its drag-and-drop nature, VMotion, snapshots and other features that maximize the performance of their Mac and preproduction VMs, VMware Fusion can help users get the most out of their desktop computer.

VMware Fusion Screenshots

VMware Fusion Pricing and Plans

Starting price: Pricing available upon request

Free Trial

Free Version

Basic

Pricing available upon request

No plan information available

VMware Fusion Features

Popular features found in Virtualization
Archiving & Retention
Capacity Management
Namespace Management
Version Control
More features of VMware Fusion
Configuration Management
Data Migration
Virtualization
Virtual Machine Monitoring

VMware Fusion User Reviews

Overall Rating

4.9

Ratings Breakdown

88%

13%

Secondary Ratings

Ease of Use

4.5

Value for money

4.5

Customer support

4.2

Functionality

4.6

Vasilis K.

Verified reviewer

Information Technology and Services

Self-Employed

Used monthly for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed January 2025

A reliable software for running virtual machines

My overall experience with VMware Fusion is really good. I use it for running Windows on my macOS system and haven't faced any important issues so far.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

Easy setup even if you're a beginner and also generous free version.

Cons:

A few months ago I tried to install Windows 11 on my M2 macbook using VMWare Fusion but failed. I hope this issue has been resolved by now.

Reasons for switching to VMware Fusion

Because I had multiple failures with Virtual Box. Especially when it comes to arm-based chips.

Ben L.

Verified reviewer

Information Technology and Services

5001-10000 employees

Used daily for less than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed April 2025

Fusion is a great business tool for running different OS's on one physical client at the same time.

Fusion has been crucial for my work environment as I can run a VM on my client workstation that can be used as a "sandbox" environment, or include criteria that my client device cannot satisfy.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

Fusion is an efficient and quality hypervisor for use on MacOS. Streamlined enough for most business applications.

Cons:

Running YouTube videos, or other highly graphic intense videos (like gaming) are not as smooth as some pay for solutions.

Reasons for choosing VMware Fusion

Because of the price of Fusion. It is currently free for consumer use from VMware.

Reasons for switching to VMware Fusion

For quality of the product in running VMs as well as the price of the product.

Sugam P.

Verified reviewer

Information Technology and Services

11-50 employees

Used weekly for less than 6 months

Review source

Reviewed October 2023

A Reliable Virtualization Software

VMware Fusion is a dependable virtualization tool that strikes a balance between performance and user-friendliness. It's a great choice for exploring different operating systems and software development, despite a few performance quirks and a bit of a learning curve during setup.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Functionality

Pros:

VMware Fusion is a really solid virtualization software that offers a lot of great features. It's fantastic for creating a versatile virtual environment where you can run various operating systems concurrently. Whether you're working with Windows, Ubuntu, CentOS, or others, VMware Fusion handles them with ease. It's known for being resource-efficient, ensuring that your host system and virtual machines run smoothly without hogging your computer's power. What really sets it apart is the seamless data sharing between the host and guest operating systems, which is a huge help for testing and software development. Plus, it has a user-friendly interface and excellent support, making it accessible to both beginners and experts. And the fact that it's readily available with minimal licensing concerns is definitely a big plus.

Cons:

To get the most out of VMware Fusion, you'll need a fairly powerful computer, which might not be ideal for everyone. Some users have reported occasional performance hiccups, especially when running more advanced Linux versions. While it's user-friendly for the most part, setting it up can be a bit overwhelming, especially if you're new to virtualization. Complex configurations might require some technical know-how.

Manuel Ángel G.

Verified reviewer

Education Management

201-500 employees

Used daily for less than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed November 2022

Incredibly powerful and useful tool

Overall, I have found VMware Fusion to be an excellent tool for managing virtual machines. It is easy to use and has a wide variety of features that make it an ideal tool for sysadmins. It is also very stable and has good performance.This tool to create and manage virtual machines, as well as providing a platform on which to test and develop new software. Additionally, it help us to save time and money by consolidating your hardware resources and allow us you to run multiple operating systems on a single computer.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

As a sysadmin, I find VMware Fusion to be an incredibly powerful and useful tool. It allows me to easily test and deploy new software and services in a safe and isolated environment, without affecting my production systems. Additionally, the ability to run multiple virtual machines on a single physical machine is extremely cost-effective and convenient. Overall, I highly recommend VMware Fusion to any sysadmin looking for a reliable and easy-to-use virtualization solution.

Cons:

There were a few times when the software crashed or froze, but not is common

Reasons for choosing VMware Fusion

There are a few reasons why I chose VMware Fusion over Azure Virtual Machines. First, I already had a license for VMware Fusion, so it was a more cost-effective option for me. Second, I was more familiar with the VMware Fusion interface and felt more comfortable using it. Finally, I had heard good things about the performance of VMware Fusion and wanted to try it out for myself.

Reasons for switching to VMware Fusion

I made the switch from VirtualBox to VMware Fusion because I found that VMware Fusion was more stable and offered more features than VirtualBox. Also, it provides us with a more stable and reliable virtualization platform. It also offers better performance and scalability, which is important for our growing infrastructure.

Verified

Reviewer

Computer Software

2-10 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed July 2021

Fusion 12 - another solid product from VMware

I have been utilising Fusion for labs and it's been a great experience. VMware have always produced some solid software and Fusion 12 is no exception.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

The quality is the big sell for me. My guest machine is running really well under Fusion on Big Sur whereas I'd had problems with it using another type 2 hypervisor on macOS. The limits are really generous in version 12 and you can utilise up to 32 CPUs and 128GB of RAM. By anyone's standards that is plenty for some reasonably complex lab setups.

Cons:

I have hit a small issue with a linux guest that had the VMware tools removed. Every boot up it throws an error and the fix doesn't work (a vmx edit for a setting that's not present). I was a fan of the older VM Tools that they shipped with their products, the para-virtualisation drivers always worked well for me.

Reasons for choosing VMware Fusion

Whilst Parallels has a good reputation I am a long term VMware user and the integration into vCenter was a big plus point for me.

Reasons for switching to VMware Fusion

I had tried out VirtualBox but found it not to be very stable. I kept having freezing issues with the guest machines and after migrating the guest to Fusion didn't have any issues. As it was exactly the same hardware the finger was certainly pointing to VirtualBox being the issue.

Aaron P.

Verified reviewer

Information Technology and Services

Self-Employed

Used weekly for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed July 2021

Stable and Fast Virtualization for Macs

VMWare Fusion has been a rock-solid virtualization solution. While lacking some features of its competitors, it makes up for it in stability, great licensing terms, and the support of a world-class virtualization team in VMWare.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Functionality

Pros:

VMWare Fusion has the backing of VMWare, which is world renowned for its virtualization software across all platforms. Fusion supports a wide range of OS' to virtualize - from Windows to Linux - and handles all of them extremely well. In addition, with its latest update, VMWare has released VMWare Fusion Play, which is a free version of VMWare Fusion for personal use,

Cons:

The main downsides to VMWare come when comparing it to competitors, specifically Parallels Desktop. Parallels supports a number of additional features when compared to VMWare - specifically support for running a virtual machine as a background service, that can start automatically on boot up with no interaction. In addition, Parallels supports DirectX 11 whereas Fusion is limited to DirectX 10.

Reasons for choosing VMware Fusion

While free, VirtualBox is significantly slower at virtualization than VMware Fusion and QEMU is significantly more complicated and difficult to setup and use. VMWare Fusion and Parallels Desktop have very similar feature sets, but their licensing terms are very different - VMWare's licensing terms are much better than Parallels. With that being said, Parallels has some features that VMWare does not - such as being able to run as a service in the background and support for DirectX 11. Thus its more strict licensing terms may be worth it for some of its additional features.

Eros B.

Verified reviewer

Industrial Automation

501-1000 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed July 2022

All OS on Your Mac easily way

I'm using Fusion every day and I started using it in the early version. During this years the software become more and more efficient and easy to use. Through it I can combine Windows with macOS in a very efficient way. If I need to change something is enough to shutdown the virtual machine, make changes, and restart it

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

I use a Mac in a company dominated from Windows, so I must use it and with Fusion I can combine macOS and Windows Easily. With fusion I can move files from the virtual machine to the Mac desktop and viceversa simply dragging them. This is a fantastic thing!

Cons:

The management of 4K display could be more refined. In some cases it is not so usable and I must disable the 4K feature.

Reasons for switching to VMware Fusion

I made the switch for a better virtual machine management

Wale A.

Verified reviewer

Internet

2-10 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed April 2021

A needed convenience

When I switched from macOS to Windows, I had to install Windows via Bootcamp and this wasn't the best solution. VMWare Fusion helped my productivity with its ability to let you run dual operating systems side by side.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Functionality

Pros:

One thing I love about VMWare Fusion is its speed. Running Windows in a virtual machine on my MBP does not slow down macOS in any way. With its ease of deployment, anyone should be able to set it up as it provides a guide.

Cons:

When running a virtual environment, it's worth noting that there are likely to be certain issues here and there, and this might not be specifically a VMWare Fusion issue. So far, I haven't run into major issues while using this program. H

Verified

Reviewer

Automotive

10000+ employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed July 2022

We can install Windows and linux OS on MAC through VMware Fusion.

I have fantastic experience with fusion and I have been using from 2years on my MacBook Air and completely satisfied.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Functionality

Pros:

We can operate Mac OS and windows OS simultaneously without facing any difficulty.

Cons:

I don't feel anything for dislike and it is very hard to dislike.

José F.

Verified reviewer

Oil & Energy

1001-5000 employees

Used daily for less than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed November 2022

Best VM application

I have some servers and workstations running a virtual machine environment, which saves me time in deploying, testing, and saving cost and time—the safe way to test before deployment. I am excited!

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

The fast way to create the virtual machine, easy to import, and stability of the resources used like memory, CPU, and hard drive.

Cons:

There is nothing to change, for now, I am satisfied.

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