Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Service License May 2026

Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Service (the tightly integrated, supervisor-cluster-based Kubernetes service on vSphere) is not licensed separately . Its license is bundled into broader VMware suites. This guide explains exactly which licenses grant you TKGS rights and how to track consumption. 1. Which Licenses Include TKGS? You get the right to use TKGS only with these products (as of VMware/Broadcom 2025-2026 model):

| Feature | TKGS under VCF | TKGS under VVF | |---------|----------------|----------------| | NSX Advanced Networking | ✅ Full (N/S + E/W, load balancer, ingress) | ❌ Only N-S load balancer (NSX ALB) – no pod-to-pod encryption | | Storage capabilities | vSAN, NFS, VMFS, iSCSI + volume snapshots | vSAN, NFS, VMFS (no snapshot restore via TKGS) | | Multi-tenancy (vSphere Namespaces) | Unlimited | Limited to 3 Namespaces per cluster | | Cluster lifecycle management | Full (scale, upgrade, repair) | Full | | Tanzu Mission Control integration | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | | TKG Service version | Latest (aligned with VCF) | Latest | | Direct control plane access | ✅ Supervisor API | ✅ Supervisor API | | Price (relative) | Higher | Lower | tanzu kubernetes grid service license

| Product | Licensing Unit | Minimum Purchase | Includes TKGS? | |---------|---------------|------------------|----------------| | VCF | Per core (16-core min per CPU socket) | 32 cores per organization | ✅ Full | | VVF | Per core (16-core min per CPU socket) | 32 cores per organization | ✅ Limited | iSCSI + volume snapshots | vSAN