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Citrix XenServer vs Oracle VM VirtualBox comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 6, 2024

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
7.9
Citrix XenServer offered significant ROI with user satisfaction, virtualization benefits, and cost savings despite significant initial expenses.
Sentiment score
4.0
Organizations using Oracle VM VirtualBox achieved quick ROI by reducing hardware costs and speeding up software deployment and testing.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.5
Citrix XenServer's support is inconsistent, with mixed reviews on response times and effectiveness, benefiting from paid options.
Sentiment score
7.7
Oracle VM VirtualBox users often prefer community resources over official support, though some praise Oracle's knowledgeable assistance.
They do not provide adequate support for midsize businesses.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Citrix XenServer excels in scalable deployments, effective for varying business sizes, but needs more features, especially in storage.
Sentiment score
7.3
Oracle VM VirtualBox scalability receives mixed reviews, with some praising efficiency while others cite hardware constraints and resource management challenges.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Citrix XenServer is a reliable, stable system with minimal issues, appreciated for uptime and dependability despite minor glitches.
Sentiment score
7.0
Oracle VM VirtualBox is generally stable, with Linux favored for reliability, and users rate it highly for functionality.
 

Room For Improvement

Citrix XenServer needs improved backup, flexibility, and support, addressing concerns over cost, interface, Linux support, and community assistance.
Users find Oracle VM VirtualBox challenging due to outdated UI, networking issues, and required command-line configurations, seeking improvements.
Although the product is technically competitive, it is not widely known or used due to poor marketing.
 

Setup Cost

Citrix XenServer offers free and paid versions; customers find it cost-effective but note licensing can be confusing.
Oracle VM VirtualBox is favored for free access, appealing to smaller users, with variable costs for larger enterprises.
The pricing and licensing policy of Citrix XenServer is not transparent and quite confusing.
 

Valuable Features

Citrix XenServer provides cost-effective, high-performance virtualization with seamless integration, intuitive management, and robust features enhancing user satisfaction.
Oracle VM VirtualBox provides cost-free, multi-platform virtualization, offering ease of use, high performance, and versatile open-source features.
It provides secure access to applications and resources, which is crucial for us and our clients.
 

Categories and Ranking

Citrix XenServer
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
11th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Oracle VM VirtualBox
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of Citrix XenServer is 5.3%, up from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle VM VirtualBox is 8.4%, down from 11.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Virtualization Software
 

Featured Reviews

Siva Kuppala - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Kopano  Ramaphoi - PeerSpot reviewer
A flexible and easy-to-deploy product that provides a great user experience
The product should improve its scalability. It should be more flexible to be used with desktops with different capacities. We do not have much storage on our desktops, and we must allocate a certain amount of memory to install the product. When we install a virtual machine, we have a limit that we cannot exceed 80% of RAM.
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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
54%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
8%
University
8%
 

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?
The pricing and licensing policy of Citrix XenServer is not transparent and quite confusing. The sales channel has deteriorated over the years and sales margins have dropped significantly, making i...
What needs improvement with Citrix Hypervisor?
The marketing of Citrix lacks effectiveness. Although the product is technically competitive, it is not widely known or used due to poor marketing. Additionally, the technical support for midsize b...
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
 

Learn More

 

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: January 2025.
831,020 professionals have used our research since 2012.