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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

"One of the best features of KVM is its user-friendly interface."
"The initial setup was simple."
"KVM has a rich options set which can be directly used or via wrappers, such as libvirt."
"The scalability part should be better."
"Good screen and keyboard sharing feature."
"The product is scalable."
"KVM is stable."
"The most helpful aspect of KVM is the fact that the interface is so minimal. It includes just what you need to set up the VMs and manage them, and it's very simple to do so."
"The versatility, simplicity, and stability of the product are it's most valuable features."
"The initial setup was straightforward."
"The configuration and installation is pretty straightforward."
"I like that Oracle VM is safe and stable. It is also very easy to administer. For example, opening a VM or adding a host adapter is extremely easy."
"The product is very easy to use."
"Technical support is good."
"The product’s most valuable feature is the ability to manage multiple operating systems through one application."
"This is a highly scalable solution."
"The product works well."
"Great at solving connection problems."
"VMware Player helps you to virtualize and install Ubuntu or any other operating system, even on a Windows laptop."
"The most valuable features of the VMware Workstation solutions are the ESXi and vCenter."
"VMware Workstation is easy to manage and understand."
"It's really easy to build testing environments with VMware Player."
"It is much more mature compared to Nutanix or SimpliVity when it's cross-platform based."
"I appreciate the ease of backup and snapshot creation. The ability to revert to previous versions without losing data is very useful for our team."
 

Cons

"We are not getting good support from KVM, and it is not that user-friendly."
"There are some issues with the graphics and some software that is very complex."
"The solution should be more user friendly. We are struggling with the command lines."
"Monitoring and resolution could be improved."
"In KVM, snapshots and cloning are areas where there could be a little more sophistication, like VMware."
"Lacks high availability across clusters as well as support for Apache CloudStack."
"Technical support is not top-notch."
"The speed is around thirty percent slower than another competitor. This would be something to work on."
"The technical support needs to improve."
"When I select the Ubuntu operating system from within the virtual machine, it sometimes hangs."
"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."
"I find the solution to be incredibly unstable, constantly falling over and not working properly."
"The solution needs to improve the methods used for starting and stopping the machine."
"It could improve slightly with enhanced reporting capabilities that show the current status of the network."
"The user interface needs to be improved."
"VMware Player isn't downgradable, so if you have a later set of VMs, you need to upgrade it or figure out a workaround."
"The big issue that we've always had with VMware, was the disparity between what was presented for a Windows-based client and a Linux-based client. The Windows client was always two or three releases ahead of the Linux client. We always wanted VMware to change and improve the feature sets between the client connector on Linux and on Windows."
"The solution can be expensive."
"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 solution freezes sometimes."
"It takes too much time to load all the plug-ins and software."
"There could be more integration with different tools."
"The price should be reduced."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is no cost involved in the use of KVM, as it is open source."
"It is free for everyone."
"I use KVM for free through Proxmox, which offers a free license alternative."
"It is cheaper than other competitors like VMware or Hyper-V."
"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."
"KVM is free."
"KVM is priced reasonably."
"The tool is free."
"There are no licensing fees."
"The product is free to use."
"It is an open-source solution."
"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."
"No licensing is required as it is open-source."
"Oracle should consider reducing the cost of the product."
"Pricing does not apply for us, we do not have to pay for the service."
"VMware Workstation is an expensive tool. I rate the product's price a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is a high price, and ten is a low or good price."
"VMware is expensive. Licensing can be tricky. For example, I recently had a client running VMware vSphere Essentials and wanted to migrate to a more scalable solution. However, they had no choice but to purchase a completely new license and deploy a completely new instance of VMware."
"The solution’s pricing is moderate."
"It has the best licensing modules."
"VMware Workstation's costs are lifetime."
"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."
"The cost differs depending on the customer's requirement."
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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.
817,751 professionals have used our research since 2012.