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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.
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

"It is an easily scalable solution."
"The most valuable feature of KVM is its stability."
"There is a strong emphasis on availability, and they have numerous API interfaces for distributed storage and the solution is quite known for its openness."
"The KVM service is well managed with a central policy interface."
"It offers a high-availability environment."
"The most valuable feature of KVM is its superior real-time performance, which results in lower latency compared to alternatives like VMware and Microsoft."
"The key aspect is that the KVM directly interacts with the Kronos. There's no clear indication of indirect communication with Kronos. It is not linked to Kronos, and interaction is straightforward without any intermediaries."
"The initial setup was simple."
"It is a stable product."
"The snapshot feature is very powerful; it protects us from disaster."
"This product is very user-friendly and easy to use."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to copy bidirectionally between the desktop and the virtual machine."
"Compatible with almost any operating system"
"The product gives us the flexibility to try different machines."
"It's very simple to use."
"The configuration and installation is pretty straightforward."
"The technical support is good."
"VMware Workstation is easy to manage and understand."
"I would rate the stability a ten out of ten."
"The product is stable, very easy to deploy, easy to use, easy to configure, and easy to set up."
"VMware Workstation allows multiple operating systems in the same physical machine."
"The simplicity of the deployment and the implementation, and the footprint for the hardware are some of the solution's valuable features."
"The product is really easy to use."
"Having ten people working off a single piece of hardware reduces costs."
 

Cons

"The solution overall is just okay."
"The solution’s user interface could be improved and made more user-friendly."
"We would like to have a software lifecycle solution included in this solution. We can handle the software needed for KVM, but also the software that we provide. A lifecycle component would be very beneficial."
"Monitoring and resolution could be improved."
"Its resource usage can be improved."
"The grid interface of KVM needs improvement. It could be more beautiful, especially when compared to VMware."
"I would like to see more focus on microservices and integration with Kubernetes or OpenShift."
"Technical support is not top-notch."
"The communications setup lags. It does not connect properly so the batching and networking is a bit slow."
"We're working with them to be able to allow the local USB ports to be ported over to the remote desktop, running VirtualBox."
"The tool has some stability issues."
"It could improve slightly with enhanced reporting capabilities that show the current status of the network."
"The technical support needs to improve."
"When I select the Ubuntu operating system from within the virtual machine, it sometimes hangs."
"It would be good if we could use Hyper-V Windows subsystems with Linux and VirtualBox on the same instance. Currently, to be able to use VirtualBox, we have to restart the machine into an instance of Windows where Hyper-V is disabled, which is understandably very inconvenient."
"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."
"For some virtual machine configurations, you have to go to the text editor and make the configuration changes, which could be improved."
"The interface is a little wonky and needs to be improved."
"The solution should provide a guide on its installation."
"Its networking features need improvement."
"They could include official support for macOS virtualization within VMware Workstation."
"VMware Workstation’s scalability could be improved."
"VMware Player should provide a cloud version with no limitations to hardware resources."
"There could be more integration with different tools."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"One only needs a subscription to Oracle Linux. So, it's cheaper with Oracle Linux's subscription. It is not very expensive. In short, the solution is open source, and you need only a subscription."
"This solution is an open-source, free platform with paid support."
"KVM is an open-source product that works well for us."
"The product's pricing is above average but cheaper than that of VMware. I can't provide specific licensing costs, but we have a contract with Red Hat for client support that covers everything. There are no additional costs beyond the standard licensing fees."
"I use KVM for free through Proxmox, which offers a free license alternative."
"KVM is an open-source solution."
"It is cheaper than other solutions out there on the market."
"​It is free and can be run from your laptop, if needed, unlike VMware.​"
"Everything is free within limitations. Once you go over a certain level of usage you have to license the product."
"It is an open-source solution."
"The solution is free."
"There are no licensing fees."
"Oracle should consider reducing the cost of the product."
"Price wise, Oracle VM VirtualBox is a six on a scale from one to ten."
"Available for free use"
"No licensing is required as it is open-source."
"The cost differs depending on the customer's requirement."
"Licensing costs are paid on a yearly basis."
"The licensing costs are cheap. I pay approximately $100 per year."
"The product is expensive."
"With all its support and ease of use, VMware Player's pricing is fair."
"The solution’s pricing is moderate."
"The solution is moderately priced. I rate the pricing a six out of ten."
"The solution's pricing is almost the same as what Google Cloud, AWS, or Microsoft would charge you."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Educational Organization
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
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.
817,653 professionals have used our research since 2012.