Essentials
HPE will give you a free first year. That is a discount on moving in, not on running the platform. This page lays out what each one asks you to operate, patch, and renew after the migration.
HPE is giving the first year away.
HPE announced this at Discover in June 2026. It is a real offer and a smart one. Read what it covers, and what starts billing in year two, before you build a budget around it.
A discount on moving in. Not on the years you run it.
- Year one free. VM Essentials licenses cost nothing for the first 12 months of a VMware migration.
- $1 Zerto. A 12-month Zerto data protection license for a single dollar.
- Three free years for partners who earn HPE’s Private Cloud competency by year-end.
- The pitch: a cure for the “double-bubble” of paying for two platforms at once during a migration.
What the free year actually buys you
The offer is real. Here is what it covers today, and what starts costing money once the first year ends.
Year two bills at full price
The free year ends at month thirteen. Then the per-socket license and the Zerto license both bill at list. Model five years, not one. The platform with fewer moving parts wins that number.
It pays down a problem you can avoid
HPE is covering the cost of running two platforms during the migration. That overlap cost exists because VM Essentials sits on separate storage and a separate DR product. Collapse those layers into one OS and the overlap shrinks on its own.
The dollar Zerto license proves it
A one dollar Zerto license is a strong deal. It also shows data protection lives outside the platform. You run VM Essentials, plus Zerto, plus a storage layer. Three products, three renewal dates, three support paths.
The math assumes HPE servers
The free-license programs run through HPE’s channel and pair with ProLiant servers. The price stays attractive while you stay on HPE hardware. Price your next refresh before you commit.
One integrated OS, or a stack you assemble
VM Essentials is a KVM hypervisor, a Morpheus management layer, and a storage layer you supply. VergeOS ships all three as one codebase. Here is what each one puts in front of the admin.
What you’ll hear, and what it means once you run it
HPE’s pitch is good. Here is how each claim reads from the operator’s chair.
Questions worth asking, us included
Put these to any platform on your shortlist. The answers tell you what the next five years cost and how they run.
After the free year, what does year two cost once the hypervisor, DR, and storage all renew at list?
During a multi-drive failure, does the platform keep serving data, or wait for a rebuild?
Is data protection built into the platform, or a separate license on its own renewal date?
Does the price stay attractive on non-HPE hardware, and what does that do to my next refresh?
The free year covers moving in. You operate, patch, and renew the platform for years after. One integrated OS costs less to run every year after the first than a hypervisor you assemble and maintain yourself.