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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

"This solution is open source and easy to configure."
"I appreciate the network passcode feature in KVM, as it provides a convenient way to manage DNS and cloud hosting."
"The product's scalability is good...It's a very stable product."
"I like that it's easy to manage. It's also more powerful when it comes to security than others. That point of view is the one consideration. The other consideration is that it's cost-effective."
"Scaling the solution is easy. You just have to add more hardware."
"The GUI interface makes the management of KVM easier than ever before."
"The most valuable feature of KVM is its stability."
"The product is really good...One can get good performance because of kernel-based virtualization."
"Oracle VM VirtualBox has a platform where the support team responds to frequently asked questions by its users. Every time I have had issues with Oracle VM VirtualBox, I always get a solution from Oracle's online platform or GitHub."
"I think VirtualBox has good stability because I use it in an environment with several resolutions."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that there is no cost because it is open source."
"The cloning is a very useful tool."
"The versatility, simplicity, and stability of the product are it's most valuable features."
"The flexibility and the closed platform, so it allows you to run in multiple platforms, Windows, Linux, Macintosh."
"The scalability of the solution is very good."
"Compatible with almost any operating system"
"I have found this product excellent for test/dev environments. This is 90% of what I use this product for."
"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."
"The product is stable, very easy to deploy, easy to use, easy to configure, and easy to set up."
"The features are good."
"The tool’s GUI is very user-friendly."
"VMware Workstation has tons of third-party support, the largest partner ecosystem. VMware works with a ton of different vendors. They have plugins for almost everything. Other hypervisors lack the flexibility that VMware Workstation offers."
"The most valuable feature of VMware Player is the ability to snapshot with or without memory."
"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."
 

Cons

"Lacks high availability across clusters as well as support for Apache CloudStack."
"Although KVM meets our expectations, it can be somewhat fragmented with numerous management tools available, making it difficult to determine which tool to use."
"I have encountered difficulties in getting the tool's documentation."
"The virtual manager and the graphical QEMU for KVM need some improvement."
"The main drawback in the solution is probably disaster recovery."
"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."
"The stability of this solution is less than other products in the same category."
"The KVM tech support is really bad. They are not very responsive."
"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."
"The technical support needs to improve."
"Oracle VM VirtualBox is not flexible, It's not like VMware."
"The communications setup lags. It does not connect properly so the batching and networking is a bit slow."
"The solution has to do a better job of promoting the product and its licensing capabilities."
"The user interface needs to be improved."
"The solution is not flexible."
"VMware Workstation could improve the export and import of virtual machines."
"My experience with Workstation is limited, so I don't know all the functionalities of this tool. Maybe Workstation could add some more compatibility with other vendors."
"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 product could provide the features available in Microsoft Hyper-V."
"The interface is a little wonky and needs to be improved."
"The tool has limited scalability."
"I would want to see features included that make deployment easier."
"When you go to work on a server, it opens up the whole window, and that causes an error inside VMware Player."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"KVM is an open-source solution."
"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."
"KVM is priced reasonably."
"We had some problems with the licensing."
"This solution is an open-source, free platform with paid support."
"​It is free and can be run from your laptop, if needed, unlike VMware.​"
"The solution is extremely cheap in China."
"KVM is an open-source product that works well for us."
"Everything is free within limitations. Once you go over a certain level of usage you have to license the product."
"The tool is not as expensive as other products."
"No licensing is required as it is open-source."
"Price wise, Oracle VM VirtualBox is a six on a scale from one to ten."
"It is pretty good for the price, which is free."
"This is an open-source product and it can be used free of charge."
"Pricing does not apply for us, we do not have to pay for the service."
"The license I use is free."
"The licensing costs are cheap. I pay approximately $100 per year."
"The solution is moderately priced. I rate the pricing a six out of ten."
"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."
"I use the free version of VMware Workstation."
"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."
"The solution’s pricing is moderate."
"VMware Workstation has a high price than competitors in the market."
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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
16%
Educational Organization
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
8%
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
9%
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.
 

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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
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