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Hyper-V vs VMware Workstation comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 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

Hyper-V
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
143
Ranking in other categories
Server Virtualization Software (3rd)
VMware Workstation
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Virtualization solutions, they serve different purposes. Hyper-V is designed for Server Virtualization Software and holds a mindshare of 14.1%, down 14.5% compared to last year.
VMware Workstation, on the other hand, focuses on Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), holds 15.4% mindshare, up 15.3% since last year.
Server Virtualization Software
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

Ananth Narayana Rao - PeerSpot reviewer
Cost-effective and good for small workloads while addressing update-driven challenges is needed
I use Azure Monitor and other monitoring solutions to support clients in Accenture's managed services. We support multiple environments, primarily on cloud platforms like Azure and AWS, and also on-premises environments with operating systems like Windows, Linux, and Solaris, among others…
Shambhu Narayan  Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
An easy-to-manage solution that has really good customer support compared to other market players
VMware Workstation makes it easy to manage all the resources that we are handling. VMware Workstation has reduced our infrastructure cost. If someone wants machines, I can create them easily using the solution. VMware Workstation is easier to manage than other workstations like Oracle Workstation. VMware Workstation is an easy-to-manage solution, and its support is really good compared to other market players. Overall, I rate VMware Workstation an eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We appreciate how easy this solution is to implement on standalone severs."
"I value the simplicity of configuration because it has worked as expected for my client."
"I appreciate its stability and user-friendly management interface."
"The solution has an easy setup."
"The most valuable feature of Hyper-V is that it's very intuitive."
"The initial setup was very easy."
"The initial setup is not difficult at all. It is very easy."
"It is beneficial for those who need to set up virtual machines without licensing requirements."
"VMware Workstation allows you to run a virtual machine."
"I like that it's easy to use. It's easy to deploy virtual machines. You have to insert your ISO and the image of your OS and configure it. They provide a step-by-step guide, and you have to follow it. In the end, you have to start the machine, and that's all you have to do. I liked that they synchronized the mouse, keyboard, and everything. When you finish the installation, it directly links to your laptop. This makes copying and pasting things from my laptop inside the virtual machine easy."
"It's really easy to build testing environments with VMware Player."
"It's stable."
"The most valuable features of VMware Workstation are the speed of access and quality of upgrade. Those are the more important and pertinent aspects as far as we were concerned. Functionality and features were relevant for the customers. What a customer chose, we had to make sure that it operated."
"Instead of relying on dual-boot operating systems, I can utilize open-source tools within my infrastructure. This approach allows me to create an in-house cloud platform suitable for testing. VMware Workstation enables me to perform tasks across various operating systems using a single device. It has helped me save time."
"The platform’s most valuable feature is snapshot."
"VMware Player's best feature is the ability to run different OS's simultaneously."
 

Cons

"Microsoft tech support is horrible."
"Improvements could be made to the configuration of the solution."
"Hyper-V could improve the management tools."
"Sometimes there's a bit of slowness in the VMs."
"Enhanced visibility and reporting capabilities are desired for better insights and analysis."
"The technical support is good but it could improve by being faster."
"If you have a bigger implementation, you need more tools to coexist with many, many features that are not present in the base Hyper-V."
"All the actions are manual, and if customization is needed, it is difficult with Hyper-V."
"The GUI interface could be improved."
"The network configuration was not as easy as it could be and could take less time. We faced challenges with backup due to limitations in the free version, requiring us to switch to a paid version."
"The network configuration was not as easy as it could be and could take less time."
"VMware Player isn't downgradable, so if you have a later set of VMs, you need to upgrade it or figure out a workaround."
"It could have more platforms and CPUs."
"Performance could be improved, it's somewhat clunky."
"VMware Player should provide a cloud version with no limitations to hardware resources."
"The price of VMware Workstation is an area of concern where improvements are needed."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is nothing extra required for Hyper-V apart from the licenses that one purchases to use Microsoft Windows."
"There is a license required for this solution. I would recommend purchasing the support."
"Hyper-V's price is essentially zero because it's a feature of the operating system that I can enable and disable at will."
"I do not have experience with pricing or licensing of the product."
"The license is free."
"This is a fairly expensive product because it balances the needs of security."
"We have an agreement with Microsoft, so this came with that solution. The pricing is OK for us."
"The pricing is competitive, and a bit less than other options on the market."
"It has the best licensing modules."
"Licensing fees are paid on an annual basis."
"VMware Workstation's costs are lifetime."
"VMware Workstation has a high price than competitors in the market."
"The tool is not the cheapest."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The solution's pricing is almost the same as what Google Cloud, AWS, or Microsoft would charge you."
"The licensing costs are cheap. I pay approximately $100 per year."
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Comparison Review

it_user234735 - PeerSpot reviewer
May 10, 2015
Hyper-V 2012 R2 vs. VMware vSphere 5.5
I was won with Hyper-V 2012R2 recently and the table below based on customer RFP (edited). This articles all about technical, there is not related with TCO/ROI, licensing cost, “political”, etc. Another to noted is the Windows Server 2012 licenses is based on 2 socket CPU, meanwhile…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
15%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How does KVM compare with Hyper-V?
KVM is better. But let's just look at the software instead of judging. Hyper-V was a free solution from Microsoft to virtualize Server or Client OS as it is a feature on Windows Server since 2008 a...
How does Proxmox VE compare with Hyper-V?
One of the best things about Proxmox VE is that it is open-source and very inexpensive. You get all of the same features as with the more well-known products. Proxmox VE is very easy to deploy - it...
What do you like most about Hyper-V?
The initial setup is not difficult at all. It is very easy.
Which VMware solution would you go with - Workstation or vSphere?
VM Workstation’s setup is so easy, you can use it almost instantly, it works well with Windows and Linux. We like VM Workstation primarily to test environments to determine how well a solution will...
What do you like most about VMware Workstation?
The product is stable, very easy to deploy, easy to use, easy to configure, and easy to set up.
What needs improvement with VMware Workstation?
The product's integration capabilities are an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Large customer base from all industries, all over the world. Two major Hyper-V customers are Telefonica and EmpireCLS.
Akademiska Hus
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