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KVM vs Oracle VM VirtualBox vs VMware Workstation comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Mindshare comparison

Server Virtualization Software
Server Virtualization Software
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

Lan Tuong - PeerSpot reviewer
Useful to manage the virtual environments
The most valuable features of KVM for us are the console, which allows us to build or clone VMs quickly, and the ability to take snapshots and recreate new VMs rapidly. That's one of the things we love about KVM. The built-in management console, Auto KVM, is the most valuable tool for managing our virtual environments. We use it most to create and fire up new VMs or clone them for customers based on requests. The migration tools have worked quite well for us. We're moving from an Oracle Solaris platform for KVM logical domains, upgrading, and using KVM from Red Hat. It's slightly different but very similar to Oracle Unbreakable Linux, which is basically a clone of Red Hat. Oracle's console is easier to use than Red Hat's, though.
Tomasz Pietas - PeerSpot reviewer
Good functionality and free to use with a useful snapshot feature
The functionality and productivity are very good. I can test and roll back features in my work. It's a big platform. It's very useful. I like that it has a snapshot feature. The virtual network is great. There are a lot of features. It has everything I need. The product is free to use. It's easy to set up.
Phanindar Ada - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers ease of deployment and use along with a comfortable configuration process to be handled
The tool's performance is really good, so I can rate it a ten out of ten. The product did meet my expectations by allowing me to run multiple operating systems simultaneously. I recommend the product to those who plan to use it. The product is stable, very easy to deploy, easy to use, easy to configure, and easy to set up. I took care of the integration part of VMware Workstation with vSphere. I describe the product's documentation as a good area. My company gets complaints about technical notes from VMware. My company does face limitations with the product, and it is based on the licenses that we have purchased from VMware. I rate the overall product a ten 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

"This solution is open source and easy to configure."
"The most valuable feature of KVM is its stability."
"I have found KVM to be scalable."
"The product's scalability is good...It's a very stable product."
"The initial setup was very easy."
"I appreciate the network passcode feature in KVM, as it provides a convenient way to manage DNS and cloud hosting."
"I like that this is an open-source solution. It is very powerful, and it's easy."
"The product is scalable."
"The installation is easy."
"It's very simple to use."
"This solution can be used on many different platforms including Windows and Linux."
"VirtualBox provides an isolated, consistent environment"
"The configuration and installation is pretty straightforward."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that there is no cost because it is open source."
"This solution creates a snapshot of virtual machines so you can create test environments."
"It is a stable product."
"The most valuable feature of the VMware Workstation is the ease to create a development environment. When you have different ongoing developments, you often need to create a lot of different development environments. With this workstation solution, you can have a development environment for all the things you develop."
"VMware Player's best feature is the ability to run different OS's simultaneously."
"The most valuable features of the VMware Workstation solutions are the ESXi and vCenter."
"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."
"I have found this product excellent for test/dev environments. This is 90% of what I use this product for."
"It will not harm any of the computer settings to run a specific program. For example, if a program needs a specific security policy, we don't have to use the shared configuration. We have an individual copy of Windows installed on the virtual machine, so anybody can access that. It helps us a lot."
"We are able to simultaneously run multiple operating systems in a single machine and have virtually no performance hit."
"The features are good."
 

Cons

"I have previously used VMware and KVM is easier to use. However, they both have their strengths depending on their use cases. They are mostly equal. One of VMware's advantages is it has better support."
"Some things are pretty basic, and they could be more robust with more detail."
"We are not getting good support from KVM, and it is not that user-friendly."
"Monitoring and resolution could be improved."
"The solution’s user interface could be improved and made more user-friendly."
"They could provide a more comfortable and easier-to-manage interface for the product, whether text-based or graphical. It can be challenging to manage without the support of additional tools."
"One thing that maybe could be improved is making it easier to scale. It needs to be more clear on how to scale the storage space for virtual machines."
"Although KVM meets our expectations, it can be somewhat fragmented with numerous management tools available, making it difficult to determine which tool to use."
"They could improve the graphics functionality of the product."
"The solution needs to improve its flexibility. It's not as flexible as VMware."
"The solution needs to improve the methods used for starting and stopping the machine."
"The solution should have more enterprise features, like migration, high availability storage, disaster recovery, and the ability to deploy to enterprise-scale usage. They should not just offer desktop usage."
"We're working with them to be able to allow the local USB ports to be ported over to the remote desktop, running VirtualBox."
"It's not as robust as server platforms, nor does it need to be."
"This solution needs improvement with the business continuity planning, disaster and recovery management and using centralized data storage."
"This should have better support for multiple network cards and some parts of the GUI should be improved."
"They could bring in many different features from VMware vSphere to Workstation."
"The interface is a little wonky and needs to be improved."
"VMware Workstation has some network limitations which could improve, it is not as flexible as VMware NSX. Additionally, it could support operating systems better. I only run some Linux versions and Windows at the moment but it would be nice to be able to take whatever operating system you want and run it."
"The tool has limited scalability."
"The solution should provide a guide on its installation."
"I need to buy a newer version of the tool to support Windows Server."
"The GUI interface could be improved."
"The price should be reduced."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is fair compared to others. But in our local market, it's a problem to get budget approval from management. That's why they are trying to get those products so we can give them the price benefit. But if you consider the international market or other products, it's sometimes better than their price."
"I use the free version of KVM, and I'm not sure if there is a paid version."
"There is no cost involved in the use of KVM, as it is open source."
"We had some problems with the licensing."
"KVM is priced reasonably."
"It is cheaper than other competitors like VMware or Hyper-V."
"This solution came with the Linux license."
"It is free for everyone."
"The product is free to use."
"This is an open-source product and it can be used free of charge."
"Oracle should consider reducing the cost of the product."
"Pricing does not apply for us, we do not have to pay for the service."
"The solution is free."
"Available for free use"
"Everything is free within limitations. Once you go over a certain level of usage you have to license the product."
"The license I use is free."
"The solution’s pricing is moderate."
"It has the best licensing modules."
"The product is expensive."
"The solution is moderately priced. I rate the pricing a six out of ten."
"The cost differs depending on the customer's requirement."
"VMware Workstation has a high price than competitors in the market."
"The product has a moderate price."
"Licensing fees are paid on an annual basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Educational Organization
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
8%
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Why KVM??? Help please!
KVM scales better, orchestration better, performs better and supports a wider range of hardware and, also, you can im...
Why KVM??? Help please!
Small support team, small cluster, low core count, use VMware products Large support team, large clusters with many c...
Why KVM??? Help please!
Far from being an expert, my opinion is that the positive sides of KVM are: Lower costs and open-source which gives ...
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...
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 af...
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 ...
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

 

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Sample Customers

MediaWiki, Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia, Wikivoyage, Wikidata, Wikiversity, Commons
Airbus, Colorado State University, SCS Africa, Wolf Medical Systems.
Akademiska Hus
Find out what your peers are saying about Proxmox, VMware, Microsoft and others in Server Virtualization Software. Updated: November 2024.
817,852 professionals have used our research since 2012.