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Citrix XenServer vs RHEV comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 23, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Citrix XenServer
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
RHEV
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
13th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of Citrix XenServer is 4.6%, down from 5.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of RHEV is 2.4%, down from 3.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Virtualization Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Citrix XenServer4.6%
RHEV2.4%
Other93.0%
Server Virtualization Software
 

Featured Reviews

SP
Citrix Specialist at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Support team resolves issues quickly and receives positive feedback
We can improve Citrix XenServer Performance Management in the server base by enabling CPU virtualization extensions such as Intel VT or AMD-V. We can use Paravirtualization (PV) drivers to enhance network performance. We can implement dedicated storage not shared with other applications and use thin provisioning for more efficient storage usage. Regular updates should be given to patches and hotfixes. XenCenter or web-based solutions provide better control and monitoring, which is useful for automatic tasks with PowerShell scripts. We can implement high availability and live migration with pools, along with security and backup to enable role-based access control for safer management. We can schedule VM snapshots and use VM export for backup and recovery. While Citrix Hypervisor remains a reliable virtualization platform, several areas could be improved to better meet enterprise needs. The user interface, though functional, lacks a more modern web-based experience compared to tools such as Proxmox VE or VMware vSphere. A more responsive browser-accessible interface would simplify management, especially for remote administrators. Citrix Cloud needs improved support for containerization technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes, which are essential in today's hybrid cloud environments. Backup and disaster recovery features are somewhat limited, often requiring third-party tools. Better built-in snapshot management and cloud integration would enhance usability. Community support and documentation have fallen behind compared to open-source projects such as Proxmox. More transparent development and a stronger ecosystem would greatly benefit users. The streaming licensing and feature access make Citrix Hypervisor more competitive in a growing market of free and open-source hypervisors.
Mike Neuliep - PeerSpot reviewer
Linux Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Has supported virtualization projects in side jobs but has required workarounds due to lack of maintenance
In my opinion, the best features of RHEV are that it is a real hypervisor and it is free, so it performs better than VMware. I have used the live migration feature in the past with RHEV. There is a free clone of it that is based on the open source. Live migration is a nifty feature if your app is not highly available and you need to do maintenance on a machine. You can migrate the VM off of it, do your maintenance, and move it back when you are done. RHEV has a high availability architecture with a built-in monitoring feature where you could see machines other than the one you are operating on. I tend to implement high availability not so much in RHEV, but by using standard application high availability strategies. Red Hat has another product specifically for high availability.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is easy to deploy. It's very easy to understand problems and read logs."
"Citrix is easy to use and is stable."
"The most valuable feature is transferring and sharing applications that allow users to move files between devices, including smartphones, tablets, and computers without needing USB cables, internet connections, or data usage."
"The solution integrates well with other solutions, which makes it really strong as a primary solution to deploy."
"Citrix Hypervisor integrates easily and I can manage the infrastructure better. If I need to take a machine down to expand the hard drive, I do not have to physically be here. I do not need to order new equipment or new hard drives. I can shut it down, increase the drive space and bring it back up."
"What I find most valuable in Citrix Hypervisor is its licensing policy, because you'll get it for free if you buy a Citrix XenDesktop license. You don't need to spend additional money on the Citrix Hypervisor because you can manage both the Citrix XenDesktop and the Citrix Hypervisor with just one license, so you can save on cost. I also like that the solution is good support-wise. Hardware support is also faster compared to other solutions."
"The compatibility of the solution is its most valuable feature. It's compatible on almost every cloud these days."
"Citrix Hypervisor is quick to deploy and easy to manage."
"It is very stable."
"The solution is overall very good with all the facilities. It is user friendly, easy to configure, has documentation, and support is available."
"Red Hat is the most stable system."
"Stability and speed are the most valuable aspects."
"Customers are moving to open source and Red Hat is the leader in this particular space. I think customers feel more confident running Red Hat Virtualization than VMware."
"In my opinion, the best features of RHEV are that it is a real hypervisor and it is free, so it performs better than VMware."
"The most valuable feature of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization is its pricing."
"There aren't any bugs on the solution."
 

Cons

"The solution needs better backup facilities that are available for virtual machines to create servers on."
"The main problem with Citrix Hypervisor is getting readily available backup solutions for it. It would be wonderful if Hypervisor were better integrated with third-party backup solutions."
"There are several areas that need improvement including the stability of the networking stack and networking management."
"Overall, I can't think of a feature that is lacking. We've been pretty satisfied overall."
"Something that could be improved in Citrix XenServer is its centralized management since the Citrix XenServer Center should be deployed in Windows."
"The licensing costs are too high on the solution. They should work to make the costs more reasonable."
"The self-service user portal needs to be more granular and be more customizable."
"The product could be faster and licensing options could be improved."
"I would love to see better documentation and ease of use."
"The biggest improvement would be more third-party direct support for things like backups and provisioning through third-party portals."
"Customers are not aware of this solution, they can improve by providing more awareness and solution availability."
"RHEV can improve by keeping pace with new features and new enhancements. They should not be halted or delayed innovation because over the past quarter the enhancements have not been as fast as they have been previously."
"The Administration of the Oracle database and the SAP ERP needs improvement."
"We should improve how we manage storage domains and make more comprehensive control available through the command line."
"We would like the dashboard feature of this solution to be improved, as it is not very detailed at present."
"It would be better to have more patches, especially kernel-level updates, live and online so that we can keep the business up and running during this period."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"To subscribe to the paid version with support, it is approximately $6,000 per year."
"There are three editions available and I believe they are perpetual licenses."
"Citrix is a good low-cost alternative to VMware, so if budgeting is an issue then I would recommend it."
"There is a license required to use this solution. You need a license on every server, but the license is more for support than anything else. The cost is not expensive, it is a fraction of the cost of VMware. When you look at the cost overall and features, Citrix Hypervisor has a very attractive offering."
"There are free and paid versions. The free version is limited in features but not by time limit. The paid version has more features."
"We used it only for some desktop licenses, so the pricing is great. We used the free licenses for server virtualization."
"The most valuable feature is the cost; it is a free product."
"The licensing is straight forward based on usage and features."
"I believe we pay on a yearly basis."
"Its price depends on the use cases."
"We buy a license for commercial use, and we also use the free editions."
"This is an open-source solution."
"I would say the price is acceptable."
"We have to pay extra for vulnerability and fault tolerance."
"The solution does not require licencing but a subscription is necessary, which is very affordable."
"We are using the free version of Red Hat."
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Comparison Review

VL
CIO at Robusta Technology & Training
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
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise18
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise12
 

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?
Licensing with Citrix XenServer is very cost-effective. Organizations save substantial money because competing solutions, such as VMware, cost double or triple. If you are using Citrix load only, t...
What needs improvement with Citrix Hypervisor?
There could be improvements in Citrix XenServer, but I cannot think of any at the moment. Overall, we are very happy with it.
What do you like most about RHEV?
The initial setup is fairly straightforward and well-documented. The process is very similar to its competitors. The success of your setup depends on how well you plan.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for RHEV?
It's the open source. There's not much cost. It's very minimal comparably. Compared to what I am paying for VMware, it's negligible.
What needs improvement with RHEV?
RHEV is not improving because it has been discontinued. It has been discontinued for years. I would love to get back into RHEV, but the job market is difficult and no one is hiring. RHEV is designe...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Hypervisor
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

U.S. Army Shared Services Center, SoftLayer, Educational Services of America, Independent Bank, and SK Telecom.
Qualcomm and Bonham's Auction House.
Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix XenServer vs. RHEV and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,078 professionals have used our research since 2012.