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Citrix XenServer vs Oracle VM VirtualBox comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 6, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Citrix XenServer
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Oracle VM VirtualBox
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of Citrix XenServer is 4.9%, up from 3.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle VM VirtualBox is 9.3%, down from 11.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Virtualization Software
 

Featured Reviews

Siva Kuppala - PeerSpot reviewer
Apr 29, 2024
Allows us to allocate CPU, memory, storage, and network resources across VMs and minimizes downtime in case of hardware failure or maintenance
It is a scalable product and provides great benefits for virtualization needs. However, there are a few considerations: * Cost: Citrix Hypervisor can be fairly expensive. * Complexity: There's a learning curve, especially for those coming from a Microsoft background. Setting it up and managing it can introduce some complexity. * Hardware Support: Not all major hardware vendors fully support Citrix Hypervisor. * Third-party Integration: Integrating Hypervisor with other technologies within a large ecosystem can sometimes be challenging. * Community Support: Compared to solutions like Microsoft Hyper-V, the community support for Citrix Hypervisor is somewhat less extensive. It is not vast. If there are any issues or errors, the community support is not that good. Those are definitely important disadvantages.
Tomasz Pietas - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 9, 2023
Good functionality and free to use with a useful snapshot feature
I'm a teacher and I use the solution for teaching and testing.  I have been able to test and roll back features if I need to. I have snapshots and a virtual network if I need to.  The functionality and productivity are very good. I can test and roll back features in my work. It's a big platform.…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Scripting can automate procedures."
"The solution is extremely stable."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is very fast. It also works very well for physically small servers."
"The support for this solution is phenomenal."
"This is a dependable solution for virtualization with a good community for product support."
"The solution integrates well with other solutions, which makes it really strong as a primary solution to deploy."
"The core function enables multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical server. This maximizes hardware utilization and efficiency."
"It is quite flexible and rugged. It is also easy to understand and user-friendly. It is not as complicated as some of the other solutions. It has its technicalities, but it is easy to understand. You can easily pick up in a short period of time and understand how to manage the infrastructure."
"The solution's most valuable feature is its stability."
"The solution has high performance and is easy to use."
"Oracle VM VirtualBox has a platform where the support team responds to frequently asked questions by its users. Every time I have had issues with Oracle VM VirtualBox, I always get a solution from Oracle's online platform or GitHub."
"I think VirtualBox has good stability because I use it in an environment with several resolutions."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that there is no cost because it is open source."
"The versatility, simplicity, and stability of the product are it's most valuable features."
"The solution is very stable."
"This product is extremely easy to install, use, has a great GUI and is incredibly stable."
 

Cons

"You need a licensed account to look up technical support."
"The solution is too expensive and people are kind of moving away from Citrix. It's starting to become a problem. It is a primary reason that while we are rebuilding we're going to seek out open-source solutions."
"The graphics user interface is pretty bad."
"There are several areas that need improvement including the stability of the networking stack and networking management."
"I think the technical support could be better."
"Overall, I can't think of a feature that is lacking. We've been pretty satisfied overall."
"I find that the features in Citrix Hypervisor are not as rich as with VMware. It would be a benefit if they had some of the other features VMware has, such as the ability to expand a drive on the fly. You do not have to take down the machine to do it but in Citrix you do."
"The solution needs better backup facilities that are available for virtual machines to create servers on."
"Oracle VM VirtualBox is not flexible, It's not like VMware."
"It could improve slightly with enhanced reporting capabilities that show the current status of the network."
"The technical support needs to improve."
"The interface should be easier to comprehend"
"It should have the functionality where if I move the mouse away from one screen, the context changes automatically."
"The product lacks scalability since it is for desktops and not for servers."
"The solution needs to improve the methods used for starting and stopping the machine."
"The memory and hardware usage could be a little bit lighter. Right now, it's quite heavy on the usage. The CPU usage should be lower."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"To subscribe to the paid version with support, it is approximately $6,000 per year."
"Citrix Hypervisor is expensive."
"We migrated from VMware to XenCenter to cut costs."
"We used it only for some desktop licenses, so the pricing is great. We used the free licenses for server virtualization."
"The cost of this product is not high."
"There are free and paid versions. The free version is limited in features but not by time limit. The paid version has more features."
"Citrix Hypervisor is a licensed product, and customers who buy the Citrix XenDesktop get Citrix Hypervisor for free. If they don't buy the license for Citrix XenDesktop, they'll need to pay for Citrix Hypervisor and its price is high. Pricing is even higher than VMware. The licensing policy for Citrix Hypervisor is good. It's straightforward. The only issue is the price because it's an expensive product."
"The pricing and licensing is so important. Customers do consider the price seriously."
"This is an open-source product and it can be used free of charge."
"The product is free to use."
"Pricing does not apply for us, we do not have to pay for the service."
"It is a very cost-effective solution."
"Oracle should consider reducing the cost of the product."
"Available for free use"
"The license I use is free."
"The tool is not as expensive as other products."
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Comparison Review

VL
Jan 13, 2015
vSphere vs. RHEV vs. Hyper-V vs. XenServer
We have used the following functions: 1. Hypervisor: to ensure that the virtual server provide web and email services to the company, thus providing a stable operation a with single sign-on integration of an AD server and vCenter. 2. Network and Storage: centralized data server…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
52%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Computer Software Company
15%
Educational Organization
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Citrix Hypervisor?
The core function enables multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical server. This maximizes hardware utilization and efficiency.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Hypervisor?
I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten, with one being very inexpensive and ten being very expensive.
What needs improvement with Citrix Hypervisor?
It would be very helpful if I could browse the data store directly in the GUI, similar to VMware and Hyper-V. This feature would be particularly useful when something goes wrong with a virtual mach...
How does KVM compare to Oracle VM VirtualBox?
KVM is easy to use, stable and flexible. It is mature and very fast. It is an affordable open-source solution that is easy to set up and manage. It offers very good security. It has a virtual manag...
What do you like most about Oracle VM VirtualBox?
The product’s most valuable feature is the ability to manage multiple operating systems through one application.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle VM VirtualBox?
The pricing is flexible. When Oracle bought VirtualBox, they introduced some licensing issues. However, it did not affect the terms of licenses and additional costs. The price is okay. I rate the p...
 

Also Known As

Hypervisor
No data available
 

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

U.S. Army Shared Services Center, SoftLayer, Educational Services of America, Independent Bank, and SK Telecom.
Airbus, Colorado State University, SCS Africa, Wolf Medical Systems.
Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix XenServer vs. Oracle VM VirtualBox and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
815,854 professionals have used our research since 2012.