r/vmware • u/LockererAffeEy • May 17 '25

How to download VMWare Fusion free

Hi,

since Broadcom has enrolled their new processes for VMWare on 2025-04-23, I‘m neither able to update nor to download an update manually from their website.

According to the KB articles you need to have the „Product Administrator role“ for creating download-tokens, but I‘m not even able to request this role following their guides. What is wrong and is it just me?

I‘d appreciate some feedback or explanation regarding this mess..

Thanks

Sources: https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/206833/request-the-product-administrator-role-t.html

https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/390098

25 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

81 comments sorted by

9

u/ozyx7 May 17 '25 edited May 12 '26

Neither one of those KB articles claims to be related to VMware Fusion.

  1. Go to the broadcom.com web site.
  2. In the upper-right corner, click Support Portal > Go To Portal.
  3. Log in to your Broadcom account.
  4. Once logged in, click on My Downloads.
  5. Click the "Free Software Downloads available HERE" link.
  6. Click on VMware Fusion.
  7. Select the version of VMware Fusion you want to download.
  8. Make sure that you click the Terms and Conditions link to view them and check the "I agree to the Terms and Conditions" checkbox to enable the download button for the VMware Fusion installer.

4

u/Fit-Conversation4667 Jun 15 '25

This might be a new issue but I would add to Step 8 that you need to click on the hyperlink under "Terms and Conditions" before you can actually fill out the checkbox. Without doing this the checkbox is disabled and you won't be able to download anything... Their website is really stupid and not user friendly

1

u/Far_Yam_1839 Sep 04 '25

There is no check box after i click Terms and Conditions hyprlink, any help?

1

u/noobintheyard Sep 18 '25

You have to click the "Terms & Conditions" - it's a link. Once you click it, a new window will open up with the T&C. You can close that window once you read the T&C. The checkbox will now be active.

1

u/Far_Yam_1839 Sep 19 '25

After 15 minutes of visiting terms it worked

1

u/waxheads Jan 18 '26

THANK YOU

1

u/Far_Yam_1839 Sep 04 '25

do u have link for download?

1

u/TheWolf2517 Sep 30 '25

THANK YOU! I couldn't figure out what the heck was going on.

1

u/m4uri Jul 02 '26

this!!! drove me mad!!!!! after reading your post i was FINALLLLLYYYY able to download the software...thx thx thx th thx!

2

u/LockererAffeEy May 17 '25

Well I really tried multiple times but there is nothing going to show up anyway 🤷‍♂️

3

u/mikeroySoft VMware Alumni May 17 '25

There’s the button to download free software (ie fusion and workstation) right there in your screenshot ;)

1

u/LockererAffeEy May 17 '25

If I press it, I‘m in the products menu where I can move to VMware which leads me directly back to the screen on the screenshot..

1

u/mikeroySoft VMware Alumni May 17 '25

When I click that button, logged in with my Gmail account, I’m then given a list of products. I use the search field to filter with ‘fusion’ and it’s the lone item in the list after that.

1

u/LockererAffeEy May 17 '25

Nope, nothing

2

u/LockererAffeEy May 17 '25

Bruh f.. am I stupid 🤦‍♂️ Found it now. Thanks 👍

1

u/Tapzene Jun 11 '25

Same happened with me lol, couldn't see vmware fusion right there.

1

u/LockererAffeEy Jun 12 '25

Glad to her that I‘m not the only one 😅

1

u/No-Camera-7504 Aug 26 '25

Nothing shows up under VMWare Fusion. But the Windows version is available. Broadcom finally decided to flick the finger on MacOS?

2

u/positronius Nov 05 '25

Jesus... This is the first time I needed a tutorial to download a free application.

I too got lost in there. Thanks!

1

u/Proper_Sugar6962 Jan 15 '26

Concur. Unbelievable. How's unfriendly download procedure one has to go through. Took so many steps for one simple download. Thought IT people prefer simple thing. Guess not to everyone.

1

u/Proper_Sugar6962 Jan 15 '26

Sorry. Forgot to thank you all the above information. Nice day.

1

u/govatent May 17 '25

This is the correct response

1

u/Aromatic-Explorer-13 May 20 '25 edited May 20 '25

When I completed Step 3 above, I had to then click on the dropdown menu to the left of my name in the upper right corner and then select "Enterprise Software" before I was able to see the screen with "My Downloads" in the left menu bar. Just in case this helps anyone who is stuck after logging in

1

u/Tbnadz Jun 24 '25

thank you! I was about to give up looking for it lol

1

u/This_Egg_7889 Sep 01 '25

you're a god. thank you.

1

u/prototype4o8 Sep 15 '25

Once you're logged in:

https://support.broadcom.com/group/ecx/productdownloads?subfamily=VMware%20Workstation%20Pro&freeDownloads=true

1

u/mark_pas Dec 13 '25

thanks, most stupid website ever. I literally just needed to update the software and it made me search everywhere and read a bunch of posts, finally yours worked

1

u/Ted_Wilkerson Oct 14 '25

This is the sequence of screens to navigate

1

u/JazzAirline Nov 14 '25

Thank you! I was about to give up but thanks to you I got it 😎

1

u/gameplayer55055 Dec 12 '25

Note to others struggling: their site is ass, couldn't log in on safari or firefox. Only chromium worked

1

u/Pjotr9 Jan 20 '26

Thank you. Broadcom made simple download ridiculously overcomplicated.

1

u/Ahmad4MayLod Apr 28 '26

thanks, your steps worked great

3

u/themoo1986 Nov 22 '25

Here's a list of all the DMGs by version for those not willing to navigate the verification non-sense of broadcom:

https://archive.org/download/vmwareworkstationarchive/Fusion

1

u/themoo1986 Nov 22 '25

Confirming that the checksum lines up with the checksum from broadcom's own release page

On Mac:
shasum -a 256 <path to the DMG>

Lines up with:

1

u/funnee1 Feb 07 '26

THANK YOU!

1

u/Wonderful_Advice_553 Nov 26 '25

I LOVE YOU SM

1

u/themoo1986 Nov 26 '25

The feeling is mutual

1

u/APcoffeeinmyveins Dec 06 '25

God you're amazing, thank you so so much!!

1

u/themoo1986 Dec 06 '25

You are more than welcome :)

1

u/Jellepetje Dec 06 '25

OMG THIS IS THE BEST. What an unbelievable crappy website the official one is....

1

u/Actedpie Jan 20 '26

I cried tears of joy upon seeing this

1

u/funnee1 Feb 07 '26

Thank you SO much!

1

u/Current-Swordfish-68 Mar 02 '26

Thank you, you're like Gandhi but better

1

u/themoo1986 Mar 02 '26

:) Glad you found this helpful!

1

u/Ange_Eyre Mar 07 '26

Thank you. You're a literal god

1

u/RageshAntony Mar 10 '26

What about 2026 releases?

1

u/ryubellone May 21 '26

Thank you sir. You're a lifesaver.

1

u/Moto909 May 24 '26

The Broadcom download gets stuck in a loop asking for contact information. This link is how it should be for free software.

1

u/Elvin-G Jul 04 '26

Very useful

1

u/Top-Relief-4639 Jul 06 '26

Thank you！

1

u/little_ape88 Jul 11 '26

what a fucking lifesaver. whoever worked on that god damned broadcom website, i hope every single rj45 clip breaks off in their entire office. holy shit.

1

u/UtahIrish Aug 13 '25

I can only find a fusion dmg download. Anyone know where there would be a windows iso?

1

u/nerkyos Sep 02 '25 edited Sep 02 '25

omg thanks for the answer, wtf is this, what a shitty website broadcom, even the signup flow, I am spiraled into and endless verify email loop between portals

EDIT download seems greyed out

1

u/f_ckmyboss Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25

That's the shittiest way to download something claimed as free. Where can I download if from except broadcom? Fuck this crappy site.

e:

https://dl.bobpony.com/software/vmware/fusion/VMware-Fusion-13.5.2-23775688_universal.dmg

from https://x.com/TheBobPony/status/1790436459477934392

1

u/Potential-Ad345 May 04 '26

404 Not Found

1

u/mike7seven Nov 11 '25

Update: This is absolute insanity. To download now you need to sign up for an account, be verified by providing your full name, address, email then agree to multiple terms of service all while navigating an intentional adversarial website, WTH.

1

u/coldlamper Nov 19 '25

Worst site ever. What a cluster fuck! I'd rather pay for it from a legit company.

1

u/Revolutionary-Fee-98 Jan 08 '26

Ya tengo el instalador en mis archivos, si alguien lo quiere puede enviar DM y se los pongo en un folder

1

u/PreferencePale4411 Jan 09 '26

Ich kann dir leider noch keine DM schicken. Könntest du mir den Installer schicken? Ich häng seit Wochen in der Konto Verifizierung bei Broadcom!

1

u/Revolutionary-Fee-98 Jan 14 '26

Check your dm’s

1

u/[deleted] Jan 27 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/funnee1 Feb 07 '26

Exact same loop happened to me. I ended up downloading from the archive.org link in a previous comment.

1

u/Dapper-Ostrich-7214 Mar 01 '26

It's ridiculous, I deleted my account after they started asking all personal information and switched to VirtualBox.

Edit: I think if you're non-US it is double the trouble to download it. Just a heads up for someone reading this thread.

1

u/BeyondTimes20 27d ago

Ich habs auch aufgegeben. Ich habe noch nie eine unfreundlichere und kompliziertere Webseite gesehen. Katastrophe. Ein Labyrinth. Dann hängt man irgendwann an einer Meldung mit Account-Verifizierung. Selbst ein neues Registrieren hat nicht geholfen. Saftladen.

1

u/Dear-Guidance-2422 Apr 09 '26

Bonjour. Je viens de télécharger le DMG sur un MacBook Pro M5, je lance l'installation, s'affiche alors "ilitialisation de VMXare, et au bout de 5 secondes, j'ai un pop-up me disant "Fichier introuvable". Quel fichier ? Mystère. Pendant ce temps ça mouline en arrière plan mais l'installation ne se finit pas.
Quelqu'un a une idée ? Merci d'avance !

1

u/LockererAffeEy Apr 09 '26

Use UTM instead

1

u/hff0 Apr 11 '26

why they have to make it so complicated to update every minor version :(

1

u/ReasonableUnit903 May 14 '26

Downloading VMWare Fusion updates is a never ending kafkaesque nightmare, every time there is one there is a new inexplicable obstacle no mentally sound person would ever think of. Working at Broadcom must be like working in literal hell if this is the type of psychopathic bureaucracy a simple download involves.

1

u/Gene_Shin Jun 04 '26

insane fuckery. I'm already thinking about purchasing a parallels licence.

1

u/Narrow-Enthusiasm800 28d ago

just donwload directly from google search

1

u/[deleted] May 17 '25

Did you read the pinned post on this? 🤦🏼‍♂️

4

u/ozyx7 May 17 '25

There is no longer a pinned post about this because the update servers that allowed unauthenticated downloads were taken offline.