16GB is the minimum for multiple VMs. Go to 32GB if you can.

Not really.

16GB will work if you’re running one or two lightweight Linux VMs with just a terminal and some basic services. But once you throw in a Windows VM, more than two guests, or any real workload (databases, development servers, compiling), you’ll hit the ceiling fast. Each VM needs RAM for itself plus overhead for the hypervisor. The host OS needs a chunk too. You end up with 2-4GB per VM max, and that gets painful.

32GB gives you breathing room. You can assign 8GB to a couple of Windows VMs, keep 16GB for the host, and actually use them without swapping to disk. Future You will thank you every time a VM doesn’t freeze.