Say Goodbye to Lock-In. Say Hello to Platform9 CE.
If you’ve been searching for a free, modern, and enterprise-grade private cloud platform that doesn’t come with surprise license costs or bloated complexity, Platform9 just dropped exactly what you need.
Meet the Private Cloud Director Community Edition (PCD CE)—a powerful new release built for developers, sysadmins, and cloud architects tired of wrestling with legacy infrastructure like VMware vSphere or OpenStack DIY setups.
This isn’t a watered-down demo. It’s a full-featured version of Platform9’s Private Cloud Director, free to use, forever. And it’s already picking up steam in the virtualization community.
What Is the Private Cloud Director Community Edition?
The Community Edition is a free version of Platform9’s Private Cloud Director, purpose-built for single-region deployments. It includes all the essential features you’d expect from a modern private cloud solution, without time limits or paywalls.
You’ll get a fully functioning control plane, automated cluster deployment, self-service VM management, image catalogs, role-based access control, and more. It’s designed to run on a single node, making it perfect for home labs, testing, or proof-of-concept environments.
The difference? You don’t need a VMware license. You don’t need to learn Kubernetes. You don’t need a support contract to get started.
Why This Launch Matters Right Now
VMware’s licensing changes and Broadcom’s acquisition have triggered a mass rethink across the IT world. Thousands of engineers and IT leaders are now asking: What’s my Plan B?
Platform9’s Community Edition gives you an easy answer.
You can try it out in your own environment—at no cost—and experience a modern private cloud experience without the overhead. It’s also an ideal launchpad for teams evaluating alternatives to vSphere, vCenter, or VMware Cloud Foundation.
This is more than a free tool. It’s a gateway to cloud-native virtualization without vendor drama.
Community Edition Is Already Gaining Momentum
Since its announcement in March 2024, the Community Edition has gained serious traction. Over 1,000 downloads in the first two weeks. Dozens of home lab setups documented. Active threads across Reddit and Platform9’s community channels.
Early adopters are spinning up test clusters, migrating workloads, and even demoing internal PoCs—all without spending a dime.
It’s clear: the PCD Community Edition isn’t just a freebie. It’s a real contender in a market that’s hungry for change.
What You Can Do With It
You’re not just downloading software—you’re standing up a real, production-capable private cloud stack.
You can:
- Launch virtual machines in minutes.
- Create tenant environments with strict access control.
- Experiment with infrastructure-as-code workflows.
- Migrate off VMware for test and dev workloads.
Whether you’re a virtualization engineer, a DevOps practitioner, or just cloud-curious, the Community Edition gives you a complete environment to experiment, learn, and build.
How to Install It in Minutes
Getting started is straightforward. You’ll need:
- 12 CPUs (16 recommended)
- 32GB RAM
- 50GB disk space (100GB preferred)
- Ubuntu 22.04 AMD64 image
- Virtualization enabled in BIOS (especially if you’re using nested virtualization)
From there, just SSH into your node and run the following install command:
curl -sfL https://go.pcd.run | bash
The installer guides you through setup. No container configuration. No manual networking. No OpenStack acrobatics.
Once you’re done, just log in through the web UI and start building your private cloud.
For detailed instructions and prerequisites, check out the official docs.
A Clear Path to Enterprise, If You Need It
Here’s the smart part: everything you build on Community Edition is portable. If you decide to scale to a larger, multi-region deployment or need full SLA-backed support, upgrading to the enterprise version is seamless.
There’s no need to rearchitect, rewrite scripts, or switch platforms. The free edition gets you in the door, and the commercial offering helps you scale, with the same tools, workflows, and interface.
Final Thoughts: You Don’t Have to Compromise Anymore
The private cloud space is changing fast. You shouldn’t have to stick with a vendor just because it’s the devil you know.
Platform9’s Private Cloud Director Community Edition is your chance to explore a modern, cloud-native experience without the licensing pain, steep learning curve, or overhead of managing open-source stacks on your own.
It’s simple. It’s powerful. And it’s free.
Ready to try it out? Download and install Platform9 Community Edition now
And once you do, join the conversation. Share your setup. Ask your questions.
The community’s waiting.
FAQs
Is Platform9’s Community Edition really free, or is there a time-limited trial?
Yes, it’s completely free, with no time limits, feature restrictions, or hidden upgrade traps. You can use the Community Edition indefinitely for single-region deployments. It’s built for home labs, PoCs, and smaller environments, giving you full access to PCD’s capabilities without needing a commercial license.
What’s the difference between the Community Edition and the Enterprise version of Private Cloud Director?
The Community Edition includes nearly all core features of the Enterprise version but is limited to single-region, self-managed environments. It comes with community support only (via Reddit, Discord, etc.). The Enterprise version adds multi-region support, high availability, advanced security/compliance features, and 24/7 commercial support from Platform9.
Can I migrate from VMware to Platform9 using the Community Edition?
Absolutely. The Community Edition is a great place to start exploring a VMware alternative. While it doesn’t offer automated migration tools out-of-the-box, you can manually migrate VMs using open formats like OVA or QCOW2. It’s a practical way to prototype and test your move away from vSphere or ESXi before scaling to a full production deployment.
