For a yearly subscription fee (usually around $200 USD), you get legal, 365-day evaluation licenses for nearly the entire VMware catalog, including ESXi 8 and vCenter. This is currently the "gold standard" for home labs. Transition to Type-2 Hypervisors: Broadcom recently made VMware Workstation Pro (for Windows/Linux) and VMware Fusion Pro free for personal use
You no longer need to hunt for gray-market keys. Broadcom now provides a dedicated download path for the that includes an embedded license key , so you don't even need to enter a separate code after installation. Steps to Download: vmware esxi 8 license key free link
Accept the terms and conditions to activate the download link. Key Features and Limitations of the Free Version For a yearly subscription fee (usually around $200