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Nutanix AHV Virtualization vs VMware ESXi comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 6, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
4.2
Nutanix AHV Virtualization boosts ROI by cutting costs, simplifying management, enhancing efficiency, and increasing productivity and scalability.
Sentiment score
4.6
VMware ESXi boosts efficiency and saves costs, but some users consider alternatives due to rising expenses and ROI challenges.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.7
Nutanix AHV Virtualization customer service is praised for its exceptional support, knowledge, and effective issue resolution despite occasional delays.
Sentiment score
7.4
VMware ESXi support is generally positive, though Broadcom acquisition caused some delays; users praise higher-level support efficiency.
Their engineers are excellent and provide great supportability.
They provide prompt and quality responses.
In the last three or four years, we did not require any support from VMware engineers, indicating its high reliability.
I rate the technical support from VMware as nine or ten out of ten.
We are not receiving the response very fast from support, so we have to wait a lot.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Nutanix AHV offers near-perfect scalability, easily expanding compute, storage, and networking resources, resembling cloud service flexibility for organizations.
Sentiment score
7.8
VMware ESXi is highly scalable, widely used globally, supporting extensive infrastructures despite some licensing challenges, rated 8-9/10.
We can scale our systems easily without any downtime, making it a highly effective solution for dynamic environments.
Nutanix AHV Virtualization is very scalable; however, I might be underutilizing its capabilities.
My customers are highly satisfied with its scalability.
vCenter Server can manage up to 1,000 ESXi servers within a single UI interface, allowing extensive deployment and management capabilities.
The solution is scalable, allowing us to scale up or down regardless of infrastructure size.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Nutanix AHV is highly stable and reliable, with proactive support and tight integration, despite occasional minor update challenges.
Sentiment score
8.2
VMware ESXi is praised for stability, resolved issues, and dependable performance, with occasional downtime and seamless integration noted.
Issues such as patch delays and the OVF format challenge affect its stability rating.
The solution is very stable.
I would give the stability a seven out of ten at the moment, primarily due to the issues I've had with updates.
ESXi is stable, and our business operations depend on it year after year.
 

Room For Improvement

Nutanix AHV requires improved compatibility, deployment, user interface, support, pricing, integration, scalability, containerization, disaster recovery, and documentation.
Users seek cost-effective VMware ESXi with simpler licensing, improved support, easier management, and better scalability post-Broadcom acquisition.
This delay in patching creates risk, especially for government projects that require timely updates.
These menus often show options like host, memory, and disk, however, they fail to provide insight into what's happening.
Using Lenovo hardware seems problematic with Nutanix AHV Virtualization, which demands careful consideration during updates.
Providing a mobile application for remote access to ESXi servers would be beneficial.
The cost of VMware ESXi is very high, especially after the acquisition by Broadcom, which led to price increases.
It's not cost-effective for small users and creates a gap for alternatives, while favoring larger clients.
 

Setup Cost

Nutanix AHV offers cost-effective virtualization with no licensing fees, providing significant savings and a competitive ROI.
VMware ESXi's high pricing and complex licensing model post-acquisition lead to increased costs, requiring tailored licensing for efficiency.
Other solutions like Citrix and VMware have seen a significant price increase, whereas Nutanix hasn't increased as dramatically.
This has been advantageous as it does not require additional licensing costs for the hypervisor, contributing to overall cost savings.
The pricing was reasonable compared to other competitors, though the storage was expensive.
The product is very cost-effective, though not fixed, as pricing tends to fluctuate over time.
Changes have made it cost-prohibitive for smaller users.
VMware is shifting to Broadcom, and their prices are becoming more expensive nowadays.
 

Valuable Features

Nutanix AHV is lauded for its ease of use, integration, cost-effectiveness, performance, scalability, and open-source flexibility.
VMware ESXi provides efficient server management with features like vMotion and disaster recovery, plus seamless third-party integration and scalability.
It is easier to manage than VMware in some ways, providing a good level of interaction.
The technology behind the backups is very efficient, enabling a reliable virtual environment.
Its capability to move virtual machines to physical machines is very efficient for our live environment.
As a level one or bare metal hypervisor, its unmatched scalability depends on underlying hardware, capable of managing large numbers of physical servers with one management platform.
Features like high availability ensure VM migration to another host in case of host failure.
 

Categories and Ranking

Nutanix AHV Virtualization
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
4th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
57
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
VMware ESXi
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of Nutanix AHV Virtualization is 8.1%, up from 7.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware ESXi is 1.1%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Virtualization Software
 

Featured Reviews

Zack Baraci - PeerSpot reviewer
High availability and user-friendly interface enhance manageability
I primarily use the core features of Nutanix AHV Virtualization ( /products/nutanix-ahv-virtualization-reviews ) at the moment. The high availability (HA), replication, and site-to-site replication are quite useful. Additionally, the usual hypervisor management functionalities are beneficial. Nutanix AHV Virtualization delivers a system that is very manageable, with a well-designed user interface. It is easier to manage than VMware in some ways, providing a good level of interaction.
Syed Ali Waqas - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficiently manages development environments with robust network integration
I recommend new users download and evaluate the free version from VMware's website. Once satisfied, they should purchase the professional version for a smooth and secure IT infrastructure. The professional version is cost-effective, allowing one to create multiple servers on a single server. I'd rate the solution ten out of ten.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Educational Organization
8%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How does Nutanix AHV compare with VMware vSphere?
To understand which is better - Nutanix AHV or VMware vSphere - you need to do a product comparison. Both products support hypervisors. However, Nutanix supports some of the most popular ones and m...
What do you like most about Nutanix AHV Virtualization?
Integration is the most valuable feature of the product.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Nutanix AHV Virtualization?
Compared to the competition, the pricing for Nutanix AHV Virtualization is reasonable. Other solutions like Citrix and VMware have seen a significant price increase, whereas Nutanix hasn't increase...
What do you like most about VMware ESXi?
My customers are satisfied with the solution’s performance.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware ESXi?
VMware is shifting to Broadcom, and their prices are becoming more expensive nowadays. The management is considering whether to continue with VMware or switch to other products. I am not sure exact...
What needs improvement with VMware ESXi?
Pricing is a major issue with VMware ESXi as it is becoming more expensive. Many financial companies use VMware, so they should consider working on their pricing model to make it more affordable.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

JetBlue, International Speedway Corporation, SAIC Volkswagen
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Nutanix AHV Virtualization vs. VMware ESXi and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.