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Proxmox VE vs VMware Workstation comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Proxmox VE
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Server Virtualization Software (1st)
VMware Workstation
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Virtualization solutions, they serve different purposes. Proxmox VE is designed for Server Virtualization Software and holds a mindshare of 18.1%, down 20.7% compared to last year.
VMware Workstation, on the other hand, focuses on Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), holds 17.0% mindshare, up 13.1% since last year.
Server Virtualization Software
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

Toby Champion - PeerSpot reviewer
Ensures a robust, user-friendly virtualization platform with seamless VM management, efficient resource allocation and a strong community for support
Improvements are needed for the API. Currently, there are several features inaccessible through the API, necessitating the use of either the WebUI or the command line interface. While the command line interface suffices, it's apparent that efforts are underway to enhance this aspect. In future releases, one potential feature enhancement could be improved remote screen access, allowing users to connect to the screen of another machine more seamlessly. Additionally, integrating with Terraform or providing better support for Terraform workflows might be beneficial, as there seems to be some lacking in that area. There's a minor inconvenience where you have to switch the license file from the open-source community license to an enterprise license.
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

"It has a good performance and you can cluster it."
"Proxmox VE is very lightweight, and it doesn't take a lot of memory on the device."
"The backup service, which was released recently, and that we are already using, is wonderful."
"The solution's most valuable feature is backups."
"The virtualization is good."
"Proxmox VE is simple to use and it is feature rich. The fact is that it performs,"
"The solution is extremely scalable."
"The feature that I have found most valuable is that its storage container, LVM, and everything else work out of the box."
"The product is stable, very easy to deploy, easy to use, easy to configure, and easy to set up."
"Having ten people working off a single piece of hardware reduces costs."
"The solution's customer service is good."
"The tool’s GUI is very user-friendly."
"The most valuable feature of VMware Player is the ability to snapshot with or without memory."
"VMware Workstation works correctly and has more features compared to Oracle VirtualBox."
"I have found this product excellent for test/dev environments. This is 90% of what I use this product for."
"The technical support is good."
 

Cons

"Proxmox VE needs to make a deal with Veeam. I was also unable to make version upgrades. I have also encountered backup problems."
"Lacking in enterprise features."
"We are using servers individually, and we are looking for a reliable application that allows us to hop between servers with high availability."
"I would like to see more monitoring in the next release of this solution."
"The scalability could be better."
"One issue with Proxmox is that some processes are not automatic. For some processes, you have to do it manually by command line."
"The Windows drivers could be easier (unlike manually installing Ballon, QEMU and optionally SPICE, VIRTio, etc.)"
"The virtualization can be better."
"The price of VMware Workstation could improve."
"Installing VMware Workstation isn't so easy. It's highly complex compared to Windows. I rate it four out of 10 for ease of installation. Setting up a remote desktop only takes a minute or so, but the Workstation itself takes some time."
"The interface is a little wonky and needs to be improved."
"VMware Player should provide a cloud version with no limitations to hardware resources."
"They could include official support for macOS virtualization within VMware Workstation."
"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."
"It would be helpful if VMware Workstation included an in-built monitoring tool for monitoring things."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Proxmox is free."
"Proxmox VE is free of cost."
"To use Proxmox VE there is not a license required. However, you can purchase a support license, which you access, but it doesn't change the functionality of the solution."
"An excellent choice for budget sensitive operations.​"
"The cost is excellent."
"We are using the free community version of Proxmox VE."
"It's an open-source solution that can be used free of cost."
"The only thing you pay for is support and it is between $2,500 and $3,000 a year. It depends on the support plan you choose. Support is optional."
"Licensing costs are paid on a yearly basis."
"The solution is moderately priced. I rate the pricing a six out of ten."
"It is an expensive solution."
"The product has a moderate price."
"Licensing fees are paid on an annual basis."
"The solution’s pricing is moderate."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The tool is not the cheapest."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Proxmox vs ESXi/vSphere: What is your experience?
For me the biggest impact is the cost of licensing in the case of VMware despite its overall intuitiveness and ease of handling and management. However, KVM-based Open Source solutions are becoming...
How does Proxmox VE compare with Hyper-V?
One of the best things about Proxmox VE is that it is open-source and very inexpensive. You get all of the same features as with the more well-known products. Proxmox VE is very easy to deploy - it...
Proxmox VE or KVM?
I use Proxmox VE and have been very happy with it. In my opinion, it is a complete and stable solution with excellent tools for managing servers. It has a lot of different features, and I also love...
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 Workstation primarily to test environments to determine how well a solution will...
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

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Municipality of Trento, SwitchMIA, inDenova, Valmeita City Council, Alpha IT AS, Grupo Inversor Veracruzano S.A.P.I. de C.V. (GRIVER), Laut und Schoen, IT-Services - Hamburg e.K., KMI Learning, Dynacom Tankers Management Ltd., Serwise AG
Akademiska Hus
Find out what your peers are saying about Proxmox, VMware, Microsoft and others in Server Virtualization Software. Updated: March 2025.
844,944 professionals have used our research since 2012.