Azure Stack vs VMware Cloud Foundation comparison

Microsoft and Broadcom are both solutions in the Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms category. Microsoft is ranked #1 with an average rating of 7.8, while Broadcom is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.2. Microsoft holds a 17.4% mindshare in HCCP, compared to Broadcom’s 17.9% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

Azure Stack

Read 69 Azure Stack reviews

3,524 Views
3,418 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

VMware Cloud Foundation

Read 33 VMware Cloud Foundation reviews

3,437 Views
2,681 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Azure Stack

VMware Cloud Foundation

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

Azure Stack and VMware Cloud Foundation are competing products in the cloud solutions market. Users have expressed a preference for Azure Stack's pricing and support, citing its integration capabilities and user-friendly model. However, VMware Cloud Foundation is seen as superior in terms of features and functionality.

Features: Azure Stack is favored for its versatility, ease of use, and integration capabilities. It has comprehensive security features and simplifies application deployment, integrating well with Microsoft tools and complying with IT governance standards. VMware Cloud Foundation excels with complete data center capabilities, life cycle management, and advanced automation, offering robust virtualization solutions through a single network, and allowing extensive customization and management across various environments.

Room for Improvement: Azure Stack could improve third-party integration and pricing, and faces challenges with setup complexity and database management. Users suggest enhancements in monitoring tools and support for Azure's existing services. VMware Cloud Foundation could benefit from better integration and pricing flexibility, as well as easier upgrades. Complicated deployment processes and licensing costs also need attention.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Azure Stack provides a user-friendly deployment experience with strong integration capabilities but receives mixed feedback on customer service response times and support depth. VMware Cloud Foundation offers straightforward deployment but its technical support sometimes lacks in detailed problem resolution due to complex integration issues. Azure Stack is noted for faster deployment within Microsoft's ecosystem, whereas VMware's deployment is comprehensive but complex.

Pricing and ROI: Azure Stack's pricing is considered reasonable with flexible pay-as-you-go options and affordable upfront costs. Despite being seen as expensive compared to some options, it offers clear value through its features and licensing flexibility. VMware Cloud Foundation is expensive, yet it effectively reduces costs compared to direct competitors, offering an all-in-one solution. Both platforms highlight positive ROI, with Azure Stack providing quick gains due to low initial costs and VMware delivering savings through efficient infrastructure management.

To learn more, read our detailed Azure Stack vs. VMware Cloud Foundation Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Azure Stack vs. VMware Cloud Foundation

December 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

ROI

Sentiment score

5.6

Azure Stack offers varying ROI, improving utilization and cost-effectiveness, with benefits often apparent within the first two years.

Sentiment score

5.7

VMware Cloud Foundation promises future returns with potential savings, despite high costs, through increased efficiency and stability.

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Stack report

VMware Cloud Foundation allows cost and time savings by quickly deploying infrastructure requests and integrating automatic ticketing and backup services.

Muneer-Hussain

Credit Analyst - Risk Management at Boubyan Bank

In terms of ROI, although VMware Cloud Foundation is expensive, it saves time in most cases, which indirectly saves costs for users.

Mangesh Parjane

Technical Manager at Owens & Minor, Inc.

For more quotes and insights, download the VMware Cloud Foundation report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

6.5

Azure Stack customer service varies, with satisfaction influenced by support tiers, subscription type, and customer familiarity with Microsoft services.

Sentiment score

7.0

VMware Cloud Foundation's support is generally responsive and professional, but some users seek improvements in speed and issue resolution.

The technicians handling the tickets do not seem very technical.

JitenderSingh

Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Any support we receive is through Dell EMC, as that's a policy from Microsoft itself.

MohammedAbdulAleem

Lead Enterprise Architect at Integrated Telecom

It is okay; overall it is good without room for improvement when it comes to response time or first-level support quality.

Rajendra-Satale

Data Architect at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Stack report

There are times when support is unclear, and even VMware support personnel may lack familiarity with certain parts, causing difficulties.

Mangesh Parjane

Technical Manager at Owens & Minor, Inc.

Based on my nine years of experience with VMware, I would evaluate their technical support as effective.

Narasimha Reddy Illuri

VMware Administrator at Infosys

The technical support from VMware Cloud Foundation deserves a nine out of ten rating.

MONICA I.

Cyber Security Analyst at Amdari

For more quotes and insights, download the VMware Cloud Foundation report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.4

Azure Stack offers flexible scalability for businesses but faces challenges with regional availability and rack limitations.

Sentiment score

7.8

VMware Cloud Foundation offers excellent scalability, adaptable for various businesses, though dependent on licensing and hardware configurations.

Monitoring, changing plans, and consolidating things are necessary parts of the process to avoid excessive costs.

reviewer2160696

Vice President Of Engineering at a logistics company with 11-50 employees

Our company seeks cost-effective and more flexible open systems, and we find it difficult to integrate with third-party hardware.

MohammedAbdulAleem

Lead Enterprise Architect at Integrated Telecom

On a scale of one to ten, I would rate the scalability of Azure Stack as eight.

JitenderSingh

Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Stack report

When more hosts are added, performance goes slow.

Abid_Ali

Deputy Manager, Customer Services at Jaffer Business Systems

VMware Cloud Foundation supports scalability and company growth.

Muneer-Hussain

Credit Analyst - Risk Management at Boubyan Bank

VMware Cloud Foundation is quite scalable, receiving a rating of eight and a half to nine out of ten.

Mangesh Parjane

Technical Manager at Owens & Minor, Inc.

For more quotes and insights, download the VMware Cloud Foundation report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.7

Azure Stack is stable and reliable, with minimal downtime, supporting both cloud and on-premise deployments effectively.

Sentiment score

7.7

VMware Cloud Foundation is stable and reliable, with high performance and minimal issues, despite some migration complexities.

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Stack report

The stability of VMware Cloud Foundation is very high.

Abid_Ali

Deputy Manager, Customer Services at Jaffer Business Systems

If one component fails to operate in a timely manner, the entire infrastructure can go down because everything is interconnected.

Mangesh Parjane

Technical Manager at Owens & Minor, Inc.

I am currently satisfied with the stability of VMware Cloud Foundation, though having started only two to three months ago, I am still in the monitoring phase.

Narasimha Reddy Illuri

VMware Administrator at Infosys

For more quotes and insights, download the VMware Cloud Foundation report

Room For Improvement

Azure Stack needs improvements in features, compatibility, scalability, setup, user-friendliness, and cost management to compete effectively.

VMware Cloud Foundation requires improved integration, security, user-friendly features, better pricing, and enhanced support, especially post-Broadcom acquisition.

The precision of anonymous activity tracking should be improved, particularly in identifying the correct location because IP information is sometimes inaccurate.

JitenderSingh

Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Many resources get created in Azure Stack, and managing those resources can be challenging.

reviewer2160696

Vice President Of Engineering at a logistics company with 11-50 employees

Management looks for a balanced product that utilizes existing hardware, fulfills external customer demand, and leverages the scalability of the cloud model.

MohammedAbdulAleem

Lead Enterprise Architect at Integrated Telecom

For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Stack report

VMware Broadcom needs to include auto resource allocation at the VM levels.

Abid_Ali

Deputy Manager, Customer Services at Jaffer Business Systems

The maintenance cost has increased significantly, especially after Broadcom acquired VMware, with a shift from socket-based licensing to core-based licensing.

Muneer-Hussain

Credit Analyst - Risk Management at Boubyan Bank

Each user needs deep knowledge of every aspect of virtualization.

Mangesh Parjane

Technical Manager at Owens & Minor, Inc.

For more quotes and insights, download the VMware Cloud Foundation report

Setup Cost

Enterprise users view Azure Stack as costly, yet value its support, flexibility, and scalable subscription model despite complex licensing.

VMware Cloud Foundation is costly but valued for comprehensive features, despite post-acquisition price hikes; bundles offer savings.

If Microsoft lowers the price, more small businesses would be able to adopt the Enterprise E5 license.

JitenderSingh

Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Stack report

The cost has become very high, especially after Broadcom's acquisition, altering the licensing model to a more expensive core-based system.

Muneer-Hussain

Credit Analyst - Risk Management at Boubyan Bank

When comparing prices of both clouds, AWS is cheaper because they offer a free section for practice.

MONICA I.

Cyber Security Analyst at Amdari

The price is quite higher than some other vendors.

Abid_Ali

Deputy Manager, Customer Services at Jaffer Business Systems

For more quotes and insights, download the VMware Cloud Foundation report

Valuable Features

Azure Stack excels in ease of deployment, scalability, and seamless integration with Microsoft tools for app development and hybrid cloud.

VMware Cloud Foundation offers scalable automation, disaster recovery, and seamless management, enhancing operational efficiency and infrastructure modernization.

They allow me to track all user activities.

JitenderSingh

Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

I am very much impressed with Azure Stack, especially regarding security, complete compliance, data sovereignty, and data security.

MohammedAbdulAleem

Lead Enterprise Architect at Integrated Telecom

It has benefited my organization as it is implemented according to the standards, including GDPR and all, so it works.

Rajendra-Satale

Data Architect at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Stack report

The solution now offers auto-deployment of VMs.

Narasimha Reddy Illuri

VMware Administrator at Infosys

All features of VMware Cloud Foundation are valuable to us, as it covers every industry standard protocol and requirement protocol.

Abid_Ali

Deputy Manager, Customer Services at Jaffer Business Systems

VMware Cloud Foundation allows for extensive customization, aligning with our customer requirements.

Muneer-Hussain

Credit Analyst - Risk Management at Boubyan Bank

For more quotes and insights, download the VMware Cloud Foundation report

Categories and Ranking

Azure Stack

Ranking in Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms

1st

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) (2nd)

VMware Cloud Foundation

Ranking in Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) (9th)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms category, the mindshare of Azure Stack is 17.4%, down from 29.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Cloud Foundation is 17.9%, down from 23.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Azure Stack	17.4%
VMware Cloud Foundation	17.9%
Other	64.7%

Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms

Featured Reviews

Rajendra-Satale

Data Architect at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Unified data platform has improved regulatory compliance but still needs better integration features

It is difficult to say about Azure Stack improvement because I need to revisit and study it again. The pricing is okay, but on the services side, perhaps we need to think about some services, not all. I would not like to see any additional features in the future. To give them more like a 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10, I think they need to improve on the interface, implementation, configuration, and integration with other products, so I rate them an eight. As compared to AWS, they need to add more features. I would like to see operations and storage features, like AI features or security features.

Read full review

Narasimha Reddy Illuri

VMware Administrator at Infosys

There is progress in performance and stability, but further advancements are needed for end-user satisfaction

VMware Cloud Foundation's best features include its advanced capabilities, security purposes, and performance levels. The solution offers efficient licensing options. Previously, vSphere essential was available, but now it has moved to VMware Cloud Foundation 8.0. It includes advanced features such as lifecycle manager, patching level, and cluster level patching options. The solution now offers auto-deployment of VMs. Previously, I had to use the content library, right-click, and create VMs manually. With VMware Cloud Foundation, auto-deployment is possible by simply right-clicking and assigning a specific DHCP IP, enabling physical to vCenter level communication for automatic VM deployment. The workload portability feature in VMware Cloud Foundation provides good workload balance. For instance, in a cluster level with four to five ESXi hosts, each host has minimum resources allocated for CPU and memory, resulting in significantly reduced utilization at the VMware Cloud Foundation level.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	33
Midsize Enterprise	13
Large Enterprise	26

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	27

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Azure Stack?

For hybrid cloud operations, the seamless transition it enables is key. Most enterprises have a lot of workloads on-premises, and they want a smooth way to move into the cloud. Some things are on...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Stack?

Maintenance is included as part of the overall cost.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Azure Stack?

I am not really aware about Azure Stack's integration capabilities with my existing IT investments; my technical team would know more about it.I think Azure Stack is a bit expensive, but it is defi...

See all answers

What do you like most about VMware Cloud Foundation?

VMware Cloud Foundation provides us with the vSphere dashboard through which we can manage, monitor, schedule, and spin up your virtual machines. We can manage, monitor, and get reports of your inf...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Cloud Foundation?

The price for VMware Cloud Foundation is not cheap, as the market is competitive with AWS cloud. When comparing prices of both clouds, AWS is cheaper because they offer a free section for practice....

See all answers

What needs improvement with VMware Cloud Foundation?

In VMware Cloud Foundation, areas that have room for improvement include the experience between VMware Cloud Foundation and the cloud. I prefer working with the cloud due to my study with the archi...

See all answers

Comparisons

AWS Outposts vs Azure Stack

Compared 20% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs Azure Stack

Compared 9% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) vs Azure Stack

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Azure VMware vs Azure Stack

Compared 4% of the time

Red Hat OpenShift vs Azure Stack

Compared 3% of the time

More Azure Stack Competitors

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs VMware Cloud Foundation

Compared 12% of the time

Microsoft Azure vs VMware Cloud Foundation

Compared 9% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) vs VMware Cloud Foundation

Compared 9% of the time

Red Hat OpenShift vs VMware Cloud Foundation

Compared 6% of the time

Amazon AWS vs VMware Cloud Foundation

Compared 5% of the time

More VMware Cloud Foundation Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Azure Stack

February 2026

Download Azure Stack product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware Cloud Foundation

January 2026

Download VMware Cloud Foundation product report

Overview

Information not available

Microsoft

VMware Cloud Foundation makes it easy to deploy and run a hybrid cloud. VMware Cloud Foundation provides integrated cloud infrastructure (compute, storage, networking, and security) and cloud management services to run enterprise applications in both private and public environments.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Weblink, Fathym, Sage, CFD Support Ltd, The UberCloud Inc.

ricoh, dell technologies, sky

Buyer's Guide

Azure Stack vs. VMware Cloud Foundation

December 2025

Free Report: Azure Stack vs. VMware Cloud Foundation

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