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Nutanix AHV Virtualization vs VMware vSphere Foundation 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
7.3
VMware vSphere Foundation enhances server consolidation, scalability, and manageability, though some users haven't fully explored its available features.
In an environment where the infrastructure has to be up for monitoring and controlling physical infrastructure like water plants, it has absolutely returned on its investment.
Server consolidation is one return on investment where we can use one server for multiple workloads.
While the return on investment is not clearly defined, the manageability of multiple servers without needing additional personnel or specialists is beneficial.
 

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
7.1
VMware vSphere Foundation's customer service sees mixed reviews, praised for speed but criticized for language and response issues.
Their engineers are excellent and provide great supportability.
They provide prompt and quality responses.
There is nonstop support available around the world, which allows issues to be resolved continuously without interruption, regardless of whether the problem occurs in the USA, India, or another location.
Now, with Broadcom's management, I would rate it a three out of ten.
Most of the time, VMware operates smoothly without requiring support.
 

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
8.8
VMware vSphere Foundation is praised for efficient scalability, seamless integration, and maximizing server usage, with diverse scalability opinions.
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.
The return on investment is high because we can maximize the use of one server for multiple workloads.
It's straightforward to procure additional licenses, install them on the host and add them to the same cluster.
You can simply add more hosts to your VMware stack seamlessly, scaling up vertically or horizontally.
 

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
8.4
VMware vSphere Foundation is highly stable and efficient, consistently scoring high ratings with 90% user endorsement for performance.
The solution is very stable.
Issues such as patch delays and the OVF format challenge affect its stability rating.
I would give the stability a seven out of ten at the moment, primarily due to the issues I've had with updates.
Stability is optimal.
Frequent updates are required due to constant security challenges and attacks.
It is a standard tool and is considered very stable.
 

Room For Improvement

Nutanix AHV needs enhancements in deployment, support, interface, and integration, with focus on stability, pricing, and documentation.
VMware vSphere Foundation faces challenges with pricing, procurement, and support, worsened by Broadcom acquisition and Oracle compatibility issues.
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.
VMware needs to improve cost efficiency, especially in Pakistan, as customers often seek more affordable solutions.
Recently, VMware shifted its licensing models, and they should streamline it.
It is not legally compliant to use an Oracle database on VMware, which does not support Oracle core-based licensing.
 

Setup Cost

Nutanix AHV provides cost-effective virtualization with no licensing fees, offering significant savings compared to competitors like VMware and Citrix.
Enterprises find VMware vSphere Foundation costly post-Broadcom merger, prompting interest in cheaper alternatives and open-source solutions.
This has been advantageous as it does not require additional licensing costs for the hypervisor, contributing to overall cost savings.
Other solutions like Citrix and VMware have seen a significant price increase, whereas Nutanix hasn't increased as dramatically.
The pricing was reasonable compared to other competitors, though the storage was expensive.
It's expensive, however, the stability it offers is optimal.
In Brazil, we are increasingly using open-source alternatives like Proxmox due to their lower prices in comparison.
vSphere Foundation is considered very expensive, especially when compared to competitive Chinese products.
 

Valuable Features

Nutanix AHV Virtualization is praised for its user-friendly interface, cost-effectiveness, automation, and robust disaster recovery features.
VMware vSphere Foundation provides scalable, reliable infrastructure management with high availability, enhancing hardware visibility and IT efficiency.
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.
vSphere Foundation is valuable due to its scalability, reliability, and ease of management.
VMware provides the tools needed to move environments between private and public clouds seamlessly.
The virtual stack of vCenter, its distributed resources system, high availability engines, and the ability to move VM workloads from one host to another are outstanding.
 

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 vSphere Foundation
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

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.
AshutoshKumar4 - PeerSpot reviewer
Licensing issues and lack of support but manageability is appreciated
I find the manageability and interface of vSphere Foundation to be very good, more understandable, and futuristic compared to open-source alternatives. It provides me with a lot of features that I am comfortable using for virtualization. I manage multiple servers with ease, which is a significant benefit for my organization's virtualization needs.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
26%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
No data available
 

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?
Nutanix offers a lower price compared to other solutions. This has been advantageous as it does not require additional licensing costs for the hypervisor, contributing to overall cost savings.
What needs improvement with VMware vSphere Foundation?
The licensing model is an area for improvement. Recently, VMware shifted its licensing models, and they should streamline it. Now they have time-based and core-based licensing, which may or may not...
What is your primary use case for VMware vSphere Foundation?
I work for a data center as a system administrator. I oversee production and analyze systems. We host our workloads on VMware and virtualized infrastructure.
 

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 vSphere Foundation and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
846,617 professionals have used our research since 2012.