Despite the removal of the free hypervisor in early 2024, Broadcom has since reintroduced a free tier for specific use cases: hegdepavankumar/VMware-ESXi-License-Keys ... - GitHub

Using unauthorized keys violates EULAs (End User License Agreements), leaving companies vulnerable to audits, fines, and legal action.

Even if you manage to find a key that works, using it carries serious legal consequences. Using an unauthorized key is a direct violation of VMware's software license agreement, which explicitly prohibits selling, leasing, or otherwise transferring the Software License Key to another party.

Using an ESXi 9 license key from GitHub can pose several risks, including:

Beyond licensing, ESXi 9.0 includes several hardware and performance enhancements: hegdepavankumar/VMware-ESXi-License-Keys ... - GitHub

In previous versions (6.7, 7.0, 8.0), you could get a legitimate free key from VMware’s website that limited you to basic features and no support.