VMware alternative: Phillux instead of vSphere and ESXi

Why so many are doing the sums right now

Since Broadcom took VMware over, the licence model is a different one. Perpetual licences are no longer sold; there are only subscriptions. Licensing goes by physical processor cores, with a minimum purchase per CPU — so anyone running small servers pays for cores they never use. The classic bundles for smaller shops have vanished from the price list, and the partner programme has been thinned out considerably.

For large data centres with a deeply integrated VMware estate, none of that changes the sums much. For an operation with two or three hosts it looks different: there, the next renewal often carries a number that no longer matches the size of the setup. That is exactly the situation in which it pays to look at alternatives — and Phillux is one of them.

Up front, so nobody wastes their time here: if your setup stands on vSAN, NSX or automated DRS, Phillux is not the replacement you want. Where the limits lie is stated plainly further down.

What is different day to day

Three things that stand out when you come from vSphere.

Templates in Phillux, captured from a VM or a container, ready for new guests

One service instead of a federation

No vCenter that wants operating, backing up and updating as an appliance of its own. Phillux runs as a single service on Debian: one file, one autostart. On a single host, backing up means copying that file. The cluster arrives when a second server does — it is not the precondition for getting started at all.

Images and ISOs in Phillux: Debian netinst, virtio-win drivers and a Windows 11 image

Windows 11 without firmware groundwork

Windows 11 demands UEFI, Secure Boot active and a TPM 2.0. In Phillux all three are there the moment a guest is created as Windows — there is no step in which you assemble firmware, an EFI disk and a virtual TPM one by one. The installation runs unattended to a finished desktop with an administrator account, and the virtio drivers are already inserted.

Containers are part of it

LXC containers sit under the same roof next to the virtual machines, with limits for CPU and memory per container and a terminal in the browser. Whatever does not need a whole VM for a small service runs as a container — without a second product having to be operated and licensed for it.

Phillux and VMware vSphere side by side

Verifiable properties only — the rows where the two genuinely differ.

As of 2026. The VMware licence model has changed several times since the Broadcom takeover — please check the current terms with the vendor.
Topic	Phillux	VMware vSphere
Licence model	Subscription, from 190 € a year by size of machine; Enterprise per 16 cores	Subscription per physical core, with a minimum purchase per CPU
Perpetual licence	Not offered either — one licence per server and year	No longer sold; existing licences run out
Management	One service on the host, web interface included	ESXi per host, plus vCenter as an appliance of its own
Containers	LXC containers as equals next to VMs	Through Kubernetes services in the larger bundles
Windows 11 guest	UEFI, Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 automatically; unattended installation	Firmware, EFI disk and vTPM are set one by one
Cluster	From two nodes, configuration reconciled from a leading node	HA, DRS and affinity rules
Live migration	Over shared OCFS2 cluster storage	vMotion over shared storage, and also possible without it
Distributed storage	Not available; shared storage over OCFS2	vSAN, included in the larger bundles
Network virtualization	Own virtual networks and bridges; firewall per guest	NSX with micro-segmentation, in the larger bundles
Operating system	Debian 13, ordinary server hardware	ESXi as a hypervisor of its own, mind the hardware compatibility list
Interface	REST API, documentation generated from the program itself	APIs and PowerCLI
Support	Straight from the maker — from the people who wrote the code	Through partners and support contracts; third-party backup and monitoring

What Phillux is built for

So that nobody starts a trial that cannot fit: here is the cut, stated plainly — what Phillux is made for, and where its scope ends.

One to a handful of hosts. On a single server Phillux runs with no cluster stack at all; from two nodes upwards live migration comes with it. It is not laid out for double-digit host counts with high-availability groups and several sites.
Shared storage over OCFS2, a firewall per guest. Storage distributed across many nodes, and micro-segmentation in the sense of NSX, are not part of the scope. Anyone building on vSAN, NSX or automated DRS today would be giving those functions up in a move rather than replacing them — Phillux is not the replacement for that.
Whatever hangs off the guests belongs checked first. Backup solutions, monitoring and vendor support for third-party software sometimes require a particular platform. That chain is better settled before the trial than after it.
Requirements decide the question ahead of us. Where an auditor or a framework contract prescribes a particular platform, there is nothing to compare.
Commercially licensed, one licence per server and year. From 190 € depending on the size of the machine, with a licence agreement.

If your setup stays inside that frame — one to a handful of hosts, Windows and Linux guests, an operation meant to be simple — Phillux is built for exactly that size.

Bringing existing ESXi guests across

A move does not mean setting everything up again. Point Phillux at an ESXi source and it brings the guest across: disks, specs and network in one step. It is the same flow as creating a new virtual machine, only starting from an existing machine instead of a blank one. The same path works for Proxmox.

A sensible order

Set a server up with Debian 13 — or take the installation medium that sets up Debian and Phillux unattended.
Bring two or three uncritical guests across from ESXi and let them run in daily use.
Check what hangs off them: backup, monitoring, remote access, the guest systems' own licences.
Only then decide whether the rest follows — the old environment keeps running in the meantime.

The trial period runs for a month, without registration and without functions being held back. That is enough to do the sums with real machines instead of data sheets.

Try it fully for a month Tell us how many processor sockets your server has and what should run on it — we'll name the right edition and the price. For the trial we need no personal details.

Download it See the editions

Frequently asked questions about moving off VMware

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Can I bring my VMs across from VMware ESXi?

Yes. Point Phillux at the ESXi source and it brings the guest across — disks, specs and network in one step. It then keeps running under Phillux. The same path works for Proxmox.

Does Phillux replace vCenter?

It makes vCenter unnecessary without rebuilding it. Phillux runs as one service on the host and brings its web interface with it; several hosts are joined into a cluster with a single key and shown side by side in that same interface. There is no appliance of its own that wants operating and backing up.

Is there a replacement for vSAN or NSX?

No. For live migration Phillux relies on shared OCFS2 cluster storage, and it offers its own virtual networks with a firewall per guest. Distributed storage across many nodes and micro-segmentation in the sense of NSX are not part of it. Anyone who depends on those will not find a replacement in Phillux.

Will Phillux run on my existing server hardware?

As a rule, yes. What it needs is an x86-64 processor with the virtualization extensions enabled in the BIOS, and Debian 13. Because Debian sits underneath, hardware support is broader than with a hypervisor of its own that comes with a compatibility list.

How is Phillux licensed?

Licensed per server and year, in three editions: 190 € for Essentials, 390 € for Standard and 490 € per 16 cores for Enterprise. The size of the installation decides which edition fits, and the figures are ceilings rather than requirements: up to one socket, 8 cores and a cluster of 2 hosts is Essentials, up to two sockets, 16 cores each and a cluster of 4 hosts is Standard, anything larger is Enterprise. A single socket with 12 cores is therefore Standard, and a machine with 64 cores comes to 1,960 € a year under Enterprise. What the software can do is the same in all three, the cluster included. Support is chosen separately, from nothing extra up to an answer within four hours on working days.

What happens if the server has no internet connection?

Phillux keeps running. If the licence temporarily cannot be checked, it carries on normally while a grace period runs. There is no cloud holding your machines, backups or credentials, and no telemetry about how you run it.

How does Phillux differ from Proxmox VE?

Both run virtual machines and LXC containers on your own hardware. Proxmox is open source and cut for data centres with distributed storage; Phillux is commercial, arrives as a single service, and sets Windows guests up with TPM 2.0 by itself. The full comparison has a page of its own.