Omnissa licensing is the set of terms under which Omnissa sells its virtual desktop and application software (Horizon, App Volumes, Dynamic Environment Manager, ThinApp), its unified endpoint management platform (Workspace ONE) and the cloud services built around them. Omnissa was the End-User Computing business of VMware. It became an independent company on 2024-07-01, when KKR completed its acquisition of the business from Broadcom for about USD 4 billion.[8] Customers that bought these products from VMware now hold Omnissa entitlements under Omnissa paper. The vSphere infrastructure that runs many Horizon deployments stays with Broadcom; see Broadcom licensing.
Omnissa licenses most of its products in three ways: per Named User, per Concurrent User or, for Workspace ONE, per Device.[3] New sales are term licences (software the customer runs for a fixed period) or SaaS subscriptions that include the cloud-hosted control plane. Perpetual licences survive as a legacy population that Omnissa migrates to subscriptions.[3][4] For the general models, see named user licensing and concurrent and device licensing.
Contract structure
The Omnissa agreement is a stack of documents published on its legal center. The General Terms state that the Order, the General Terms, the Exhibits, the Guides, the Addenda and the Service Level Agreement together form the Agreement. Where they conflict, they apply in that descending order of precedence.[1] Catalog: Order of precedence across the Omnissa agreement documents.
| Layer | Document | What it controls |
|---|---|---|
| Order | Quote, enterprise order or reseller order | Quantities, metric, term, price[1] |
| General Terms | Omnissa General Terms (May 2026) | Scope of use, evaluations, fees, assignment, liability, governing law[1] |
| Exhibits | Software Exhibit (June 2026); Cloud Services Exhibit (June 2026) | Licence grant, territory, copies, verification; cloud acceptable use[2][5] |
| Guides | Product Guide (October 2026); Cloud Services Guide (2026-09-15); Support Services Guide (July 2025) | Product-level licence notes, metrics, bundles; cloud entitlements and overages; support purchase rules[3][4][9] |
The contracting entity depends on the billing address. It is Omnissa, LLC for orders billed to the United States and Omnissa International Unlimited Company in Ireland for everyone else. Some United States public sector orders are with Omnissa Federal, LLC.[1] The governing law follows the same split: California for United States billing addresses and Ireland for the rest.[1] The Omnissa agreement, audit and VMware transition article covers the contract terms in detail.
Editions
| Product line | Editions and offers named in Omnissa documents | Licensing unit |
|---|---|---|
| Horizon SaaS subscriptions | Horizon Universal, Horizon Apps Universal, Horizon Apps Standard, Horizon Cloud on Azure Standard, Horizon Standard Plus, Horizon Enterprise Plus, Horizon Platinum[3][7] | Named User or Concurrent User[3] |
| Horizon term | Horizon Standard Term, Horizon Enterprise Term, Horizon Apps Advanced Term, Horizon for Linux Term[3] | Named User or Concurrent User; Standard and Linux per Concurrent User only[3] |
| Workspace ONE | Employee Essentials, Mobile Essentials, Desktop Essentials, UEM Essentials, Enterprise, Platinum, plus add-ons[6] | Per Device or per Named User (up to five devices each)[6] |
| App and user management | App Volumes Standard and Advanced, Apps Essentials, Dynamic Environment Manager Standard and Enterprise, ThinApp[3] | Named User or Concurrent User; ThinApp per Device or Named User[3] |
| Monitoring and services | Omnissa Monitor Standard and Advanced, Horizon Accelerator, Workspace ONE Accelerator[3][4] | Matched to the Horizon or Workspace ONE quantity[3] |
Omnissa publishes monthly list prices for Workspace ONE, based on 12 months prepaid with production-level support. Examples are USD 5.25 per device or USD 9.45 per user for UEM Essentials.[6] Catalog SKUs record these prices, for example Workspace ONE UEM Essentials. Horizon editions appear as SKU rows without public prices, for example Horizon Universal Subscription and Horizon Enterprise Term. Product detail is in Omnissa Horizon licensing, Omnissa Workspace ONE licensing and Omnissa App Volumes, DEM and ThinApp licensing.
Metrics
| Omnissa term | Catalog row | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Named User | Named User | The customer’s single designated human User.[3] |
| Concurrent Users | Concurrent User | Users maintaining an Active Connection at any given time, including active and idle session states.[3] |
| Device | Device (Workspace ONE) | Client hardware that enables installing and running of Workspace ONE; compliance is counted in Enrolled Devices.[4] |
| Seat | Seat (Workspace ONE) | One Named User or one Device, depending on how the Order is placed.[4] |
The Software Exhibit links metric and quantity. The Authorized Use Limitation is the quantity licensed under the License Metric stated in the Order. The License Metric is the criterion for measuring usage, such as Devices or Named Users.[2]
Counting / floors
Named Users and devices. A Workspace ONE Named User may use the software on up to five Devices. Web-only access does not count as a Device.[3] The limit applies to each user, so one user’s unused allowance cannot be given to another.[4] Catalog: Workspace ONE Named User covers up to five devices.
Concurrent Users include idle sessions. The Concurrent Users definition counts idle as well as active session states.[3] For Horizon Enterprise, Enterprise Plus and Universal Concurrent User licences, each Concurrent User may use only one Powered-On Desktop Virtual Machine and either Windows or Linux, not both at once.[3] Catalog: Concurrent Users include idle sessions; One powered-on desktop VM and one OS family per Horizon Concurrent User.
One metric per SID. Horizon SaaS subscriptions may be bought per Named User or per Concurrent User, but all subscriptions under a single SID must use the same metric.[3] Catalog: One SID holds only Named User or only Concurrent User subscriptions.
Bundled components. Most Horizon editions include other Omnissa products “for up to the number of” users paid for the Horizon edition. Examples are Dynamic Environment Manager, App Volumes Advanced and ThinApp Client licences.[3] Bundled entitlements therefore follow the parent edition’s quantity and metric. They are not separate pools.
Floors. The Product Guide sets no general minimum quantity. Add-ons must match the parent entitlement instead. Horizon Accelerator needs the same number of seats and the same term as the Horizon subscription. Omnissa Monitor Advanced needs the same number and type of users as the Horizon Term entitlement.[3] Catalog: Horizon add-ons must match the Horizon quantity and term.
Virtualization & partitioning
Omnissa products are licensed per user or per device, not per processor, so they have no partitioning rules. The Product Guide still defines a Server as a hardware system, with each hardware partition or blade counted as a separate system.[3] The virtualization question for Horizon is about the hypervisor underneath. Some Horizon bundles include VMware vSphere Foundation for VDI licences. Broadcom requires Omnissa to flow down terms for these licences. They are governed by Broadcom’s Foundation Agreement, restricted to virtual desktop infrastructure, and usable only with Horizon.[3] Catalog: VVF for VDI licences restricted to VDI use with Horizon. See virtualization and partitioning.
Cloud / BYOL
Horizon SaaS subscriptions such as Horizon Universal Subscription can be deployed on-premises or used with the Omnissa-hosted Horizon Service, in any combination, as long as the total stays within the purchased number of Named or Concurrent Users.[3] Horizon Term editions may run on-premises or in the customer’s designated cloud environment.[3] Software that is incidental to a Cloud Service and must be installed on-premises is free of the territory restriction.[3] Catalog: Horizon Service entitlements portable across on-premises and cloud up to the total; Horizon Term editions may run on-premises or in a designated cloud.
Programs
- Migration from Perpetual to Term and the Subscription Upgrade Program. Perpetual keys may be used until the customer upgrades to the subscription release. A customer moving to a Cloud Service must stop using its perpetual licences within 90 days.[3][4]
- Migration Licenses. These are temporary licences for hardware replacement, data centre moves or version upgrades. They are provided as is.[2]
- Evaluations. An evaluation lasts 30 days unless Omnissa specifies otherwise in writing.[1]
- Horizon Accelerator and Workspace ONE Perpetual + Hosting are described in the product articles.
Compliance at a glance
The customer must provide certified reports on request. Omnissa, or an independent third party, may verify compliance remotely or on site after 30 days’ written notice. Unlicensed use must be covered by an order within 30 days. If the shortfall is 10% or more of fees, the customer also pays Omnissa’s verification expenses.[2] Omnissa may bill overage fees directly, even when the customer bought through a reseller.[1] Product telemetry is part of the picture too. Each Horizon 8 pod accepts one licence key or subscription bundle, and Omnissa states it has mechanisms to monitor use of two different licences.[10] Support must be bought at the same level for all licences of a product in a given environment.[9] Catalog: Licence verification: certified reports, 30 days notice, 10% cost threshold; Overage and metered fees may be billed directly by Omnissa; Same support level for all licences of a product in an environment. See software license audit.
Out of scope
- VMware vSphere, vSAN and VMware Cloud Foundation licensing, which Broadcom governs. See VMware vSphere and VCF.
- Horizon list prices and partner price lists, which are distributed through the Omnissa Partner Connect portal.
- Signed enterprise agreements, public sector contract vehicles and the Public Sector Exhibit, which override the web terms for the customers they cover.
- Third-Party Offerings that Omnissa resells (2Pint, Lookout, Google Chrome Enterprise Premium), which are governed by their providers’ terms.