While you can deploy an NSX Edge without NSX Controller Cluster, you would still need to prepare the ESXi host/cluster for NSX and technically installing VIBs into it.
This is also mentioned in the admin guide here: Add an Edge Services Gateway
- Verify that the host clusters on which the NSX Edge appliance will be installed are prepared for NSX. See "Prepare Host Clusters for NSX" in the NSX Installation Guide.
If the cluster is not prepared for NSX, you will get below error message
