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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
6.3
Nutanix AHV dramatically cut costs and optimized efficiency, offering 45% savings, improved scalability, and reduced downtime within three years.
Sentiment score
5.7
VMware ESXi saves time and money initially but may result in higher long-term costs despite improved efficiency.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.8
Nutanix AHV Virtualization support is efficient and knowledgeable, providing proactive solutions and quick issue resolution with high satisfaction.
Sentiment score
7.8
VMware ESXi support is responsive and effective, but some users note delays post-Broadcom acquisition, affecting satisfaction.
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.
Their technical support is good, and I am satisfied with it.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.4
Nutanix AHV Virtualization offers exceptional scalability, allowing easy node addition, minimal downtime, and flexible horizontal and vertical scaling.
Sentiment score
7.9
VMware ESXi offers scalable solutions, efficiently managing virtual environments with excellent vertical scalability, despite some licensing challenges.
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
8.5
Nutanix AHV Virtualization is praised for stability, reliable performance, and seamless management, despite occasional patch delays affecting ratings.
Sentiment score
8.5
VMware ESXi is praised for stability and reliability, with most users rating it highly despite occasional performance issues.
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 needs enhancements in deployment, support, interface, and integration, with focus on stability, pricing, and documentation.
VMware ESXi requires simpler licensing, improved usability, cost reduction, enhanced support, better scalability, and features like remote access.
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.
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.
Providing a mobile application for remote access to ESXi servers would be beneficial.
 

Setup Cost

Nutanix AHV provides cost-effective virtualization with no licensing fees, offering significant savings compared to competitors like VMware and Citrix.
VMware ESXi is often seen as expensive, with high initial and annual costs and a confusing licensing model.
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.
The pricing is expensive, with the cost for customers ranging from $10,000 to $20,000 yearly.
 

Valuable Features

Nutanix AHV Virtualization is praised for its user-friendly interface, cost-effectiveness, automation, and robust disaster recovery features.
VMware ESXi is highly regarded for its reliability, user-friendliness, resource optimization, and efficient management of virtual machines.
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.
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.
Its capability to move virtual machines to physical machines is very efficient for our live environment.
All the features of VMware ESXi are very beneficial, particularly for virtualizing our infrastructure.
 

Categories and Ranking

Nutanix AHV Virtualization
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
VMware ESXi
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of Nutanix AHV Virtualization is 8.2%, up from 6.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware ESXi is 0.6%. 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
Educational Organization
24%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

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: April 2025.
849,190 professionals have used our research since 2012.