The hypervisor is free. There is zero reason to risk a backdoored ISO.
While Broadcom briefly discontinued the free version in early 2024, it has since been reintroduced. How to Download VMware ESXi 8 Free Version Vmware Esxi 8 Download Iso
Broadcom has transitioned VMware from perpetual licenses to a based on CPU cores. YouTube·Pragmatic IT Solutions by Vikash How to Download VMware ESXi 8 Free Version The hypervisor is free