| Component | Licensing Metric | Description | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | Per CPU Core | The standard runtime. License counts cores on the hosts running K8s worker nodes. | | Tanzu Application Service (TAS) | Per vCPU / Instance | The Cloud Foundry-based abstraction layer. Consumption-based. | | Tanzu Mission Control (TMC) | Per Cluster / CPU | The management plane. Often licensed per CPU of the managed clusters, or via "service tokens" depending on the bundle. | | Tanzu Observability (Wavefront) | Per Metric / Host | SaaS-based monitoring. Priced based on data ingestion rates (points per second) or monitored hosts. | | Tanzu Labs | Professional Services | Not a software license; billed as time-and-materials consulting. |
Tanzu is a suite of tools, and the licensing varies by component. tanzu licensing
| Your scenario | Recommended license | |---------------|----------------------| | You run only on-prem vSphere + need containers | VVF (includes Tanzu) | | You have large vSphere footprint + full dev platform | VCF | | You run K8s on bare metal or multiple clouds | Tanzu Standard (standalone) | | You want a PaaS-like experience for developers | Tanzu Application Platform | | You have tiny test clusters | VMware Workstation / free TKG community | | Component | Licensing Metric | Description |
If you’ve been confused about VMware Tanzu licensing, you’re not alone. With Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware and the subsequent portfolio simplification, the old "Tanzu = Kubernetes on vSphere" mindset is outdated. Consumption-based
When managing Tanzu licenses, keep the following risks in mind:
Below is a complete guide to understanding Tanzu licensing, broken down by the current state, the historical context (which you may still encounter in contracts), and specific product metrics.
VMware Tanzu licensing has shifted from perpetual models to a approach following Broadcom’s acquisition. Organizations now license physical CPU cores rather than sockets, typically requiring a minimum of 16 cores per CPU and a 72-core minimum per license instance . Current Tanzu Licensing Models