RHEV vs VMware vSphere comparison

Red Hat and VMware are both solutions in the Server Virtualization Software category. Red Hat is ranked #12 with an average rating of 7.6, while VMware is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.4. Red Hat holds a 3.7% mindshare in SVS, compared to VMware’s 17.8% mindshare. Additionally, 78% of Red Hat users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of VMware users who would recommend it.

RHEV

Read 35 RHEV reviews

5,530 Views
3,993 Comparison Views

78% willing to recommend

VMware vSphere

Read 453 VMware vSphere reviews

30,807 Views
25,323 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

RHEV

VMware vSphere

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

RHEV and VMware vSphere are competing virtualization platforms in the enterprise market. Data indicates VMware vSphere tends to have the upper hand with advanced features and performance that robust enterprises prioritize over cost.

Features: RHEV is appreciated for its open-source infrastructure, effective Linux integration, and cost-saving approach. VMware vSphere boasts features such as advanced resource management, high availability with seamless failover, and comprehensive automation tools that position it as a leader in virtualization capabilities.

Room for Improvement: RHEV could benefit from simplifying its setup process and expanding support services to reduce dependency on specialized expertise. Enhancements in automation and management features would also fortify its offering. For VMware vSphere, addressing its high initial costs by introducing more flexible pricing models, optimizing functionalities for smaller environments, and reducing the complexity of license structures could enhance accessibility and appeal to a broader market.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: VMware vSphere is noted for its streamlined deployment process, extensive documentation, and broad enterprise compatibility. It offers comprehensive support and training resources. RHEV, while known for its flexibility, can be more challenging to deploy and might require deeper expertise, which could lead to increased setup time compared to VMware vSphere.

Pricing and ROI: RHEV is favored for low-cost entry, making it attractive for budget-conscious enterprises looking for open-source solutions. It offers strong initial ROI. VMware vSphere, despite higher costs, is justified by its long-term benefits and comprehensive features that support scalability, which can lead to significant long-term ROI for enterprises needing extensive virtualization capabilities and expect robust, scalable solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed RHEV vs. VMware vSphere Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

RHEV vs. VMware vSphere

March 2025

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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

RHEV

Ranking in Server Virtualization Software

12th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

VMware vSphere

Ranking in Server Virtualization Software

2nd

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

453

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of RHEV is 3.7%, up from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware vSphere is 17.8%, down from 19.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Server Virtualization Software

Featured Reviews

Sujeet-Kumar

Project Manager Cloud Infrastructure at Path Infotech ltd

The solution is scalable and affordable, but it lacks features, and it is not easy to manage

Management of RHEV is not as easy as VMware. Some features do not work. The product does not provide features similar to VMware’s VMotion. After creating the cluster, the VM is moved to another node if we move down. However, the VM does not move the parent node automatically. It has to be moved manually. VMware moves it automatically. RHEV moves it to the parent node only if we restart. Everything can be handled in VMware through the GUI. However, in RHEV, some things can be managed through UI, and others cannot. We have to troubleshoot and use CLI. A few features of the product do not work as well as those in VMware.

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Neeraj Mehra

Manager of Solutions and Support at Esconet Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Streamlines virtualization and has features like high availability and vMotion

The primary use case is for virtualization, including the implementation of vSphere, vCloud Foundation, vCloud Director, and cloud automation with vSphere My customers, particularly SMBs, mainly utilize High Availability (HA), DRS, and vMotion features. The vMotion feature is beneficial for…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"One of the most valuable features of this solution is the popularity of the OS."

"The initial setup is fairly straightforward and well-documented. The process is very similar to its competitors. The success of your setup depends on how well you plan."

"The solution has a good licensing module."

"It's a scalable solution."

"I advise keeping an open mind. It's an excellent solution."

"The solution makes migration easy."

"We find the ease of use of this solution to be invaluable. It is user-friendly and integrates well with other software."

"This solution is very stable. Much more so than similar products."

More RHEV pros

"The pricing of the product is reasonable."

"The fact that we have the ability to easily scale out, and the ability to do maintenance on the underlying hardware without impacting our business applications, are important aspects."

"The most valuable features are its flexibility and the ability to move workload."

"VMware vSphere is a stable platform. We never had any issues with VMware vSphere. Once you deploy it with a stable version of the server or the hardware, there's no issue at all."

"The virtualization, the remote management user interface, and the web console are most valuable."

"The redundancy, the failover, the ability to stay up and running 24/7, all the various tools that are in there, high-availability, DRS, are very critical to us."

"One of the most valuable features of this solution is the ease of deployment. It's also user-friendly and has been on the market for more than a decade, so it's a leading technology in hypervisor solutions."

"It's not a particular feature, really, however, I can say that the solution is just easy to maintain, and makes it easy to backup all those VMs. We can easily save our data and we can deploy VM machines very fast and create the delivery of the server in a pretty simple, dynamic way."

More VMware vSphere pros

Cons

"The support is tricky in a few places. We're facing some challenges within Malaysia where we don't really have the system integrators available who can provide extended support. When we need personnel on-site, we can't get them."

"With RHEV, the cyberattacks should be fewer. I want RHEV to be better protected."

"The UI should be more interactive with additional features."

"My teammates and I often complain that VMware is well-documented and has a large community since it is the de facto standard. I would love to see better documentation and ease of use."

"The availability of technical expertise with the solution may be limited in some areas."

"Configuring the network interfaces is much better in Ubuntu and should be improved."

"We would like the dashboard feature of this solution to be improved, as it is not very detailed at present."

"It would be better to have more patches, especially kernel-level updates, live and online so that we can keep the business up and running during this period."

More RHEV cons

"In the past, little changes have broken things in vSphere. Going from 6.0, which worked perfectly fine on the Mac Pro, there were certain changes in hardware drivers, when 6.5 came out. Some were no longer present or had been deprecated. As a result, it didn't work on the Mac Pro anymore, which was business critical."

"the HTML version of things needs to get a little bit better. The vSphere side of things gets a little difficult to manage; right-click, in some browsers, doesn't work as well as it used to. I'm seeing a little bit of general latency that we didn't used to get with the thick client, although it's getting there."

"One problem that needs fixing is when we run the backup for the servers, the servers become inaccessible to everybody on-site while it is creating a snapshot."

"Its price can be better. It is very expensive."

"It would be useful to have features like micro-segmentation, changing the mix as well as part of vSphere"

"The implementation of VMware vSphere is easy. For integration companies, it's easy, the final client cannot do it alone but for an implementor it's easy."

"vSphere could perhaps be improved by more integration or better security."

"Although vSphere is a nearly perfect product, it does need a little improvement. Datacenter and Cluster structure should be mixed so that the management of clusters would be easier."

More VMware vSphere cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its price depends on the use cases."

"The solution does not require licencing but a subscription is necessary, which is very affordable."

"This is an open-source solution."

"I believe we pay on a yearly basis."

"We buy a license for commercial use, and we also use the free editions."

"We are using the free version of Red Hat."

"We have to pay extra for vulnerability and fault tolerance."

"RHEV offers pricing based on a per-physical-machine licensing model."

More RHEV pricing and cost advice

"vSphere has improved our organization by allowing us to deliver rock solid stability to our clients in a cost competitive fashion."

"The licensing price is fair compared to other similar solutions."

"It is expensive in terms of cost, licensing, and professional services."

"I think it's a fair price. We are using it on the production side, and everything is good from our experience. That's why I would say that the cost isn't too high. However, it would always be nice if it was cheaper."

"Its price could be lower. There is the cost of one license, and then there is the subscription cost for support."

"The price could be lower."

"We pay for the license of VMware vSphere yearly."

"We are using the tool's free version."

More VMware vSphere pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

Thang Le Toan (Victory Lee)

CIO at Robusta Technology & Training

Jan 13, 2015

vSphere vs. RHEV vs. Hyper-V vs. XenServer

We have used the following functions: 1. Hypervisor: to ensure that the virtual server provide web and email services to the company, thus providing a stable operation a with single sign-on integration of an AD server and vCenter. 2. Network and Storage: centralized data server…

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Answers from the Community

Sridhar Battarusetty

VP-Global Supply Chain Management at mobileum

Feb 7, 2024

What are the differences between RHEV and VMware vSphere?

See 2 answers

Anne Cubarrubia

Editor at PeerSpot

Aug 21, 2023

Here is a comparison of the two hypervisors, RHEV (Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization) and VMware vSphere: RHEV Pros: Open source Highly scalable Cost-effective Cons: Not as mature as VMware vSphere Not as widely supported as VMware vSphere VMware vSphere Pros: Mature and widely supported Wide range of features Easy to use and manage Cons: Not open source Can be expensive Some prefer RHEV because it is open-source and cost-effective. However, VMware vSphere may be the better option if you need a hypervisor with a wide range of features and support. As to which solution consumes fewer resources, RHEV is a lighter-weight hypervisor than VMware vSphere, so it consumes fewer resources. However, you must remember that each hypervisor's resource consumption depends on the configuration and workload.

Read full answer

Rajkumar Gera

Vice President, IT Infrastructure ( DC Operations ) at Vodafone Idea Ltd.

Feb 7, 2024

Hi Sridhar, This is Rajkumar Gera, VP IT in one of the Telecom. Below are some of the points, may help you: FEATURE RED HAT ENTERPRISE VIRTUALIZATION VMWARE VSPHERE Key differentiators Open source solution Proprietary solution Purchased via one subscription Multiple levels of functionality sold in editions with different price points Bare-metal performance for virtualized applications Application high availability (Enterprise Plus version only) Prioritized high availability so critical workloads are restarted first Desktop and server virtualization One infrastructure for managing desktops and servers Add-on products for desktop virtualization: VMware Player, VMware Horizon View, VMware Horizon DaaS, and VMware Horizon Mirage Remote access to virtual desktops through SPICE Full support for multimedia applications Management server Included in the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization subscription Requires purchase and license of VMware vCenter and database support Virtual machine density 40 cores: 4,682@288 40 cores: 3,824@234 160 cores: 14,061@864 160 cores: result not available Self-service portal Allows users to provision and manage VMs and templates with a browser Requires the purchase of VMware vCloud Automation Center Integration with OpenStack technology Supports the open Neutron pluggable networking API Supports VMware’s NSX networking plug-in Supports the OpenStack image service for a unified image repository between virtual and cloud platforms Does not support the OpenStack image service

Read full answer

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

50%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

30%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about RHEV?

The initial setup is fairly straightforward and well-documented. The process is very similar to its competitors. The success of your setup depends on how well you plan.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for RHEV?

It's the open source. There's not much cost. It's very minimal comparably. Compared to what I am paying for VMware, it's negligible.

See all answers

What needs improvement with RHEV?

My teammates and I often complain that VMware is well-documented and has a large community since it is the de facto standard. I would love to see better documentation and ease of use. For newcomers...

See all answers

What is IOMMU?

DEEPEN DHULLA did explain well IOMMU. IOMMU has to be activated at the bios level. It exists on Intel and AMD platforms. It is used a lot inside virtualization platforms like VMware VSphere. It pr...

See all answers

Why KVM??? Help please!

We use VMware and KVM. We find that KVM is a lot simpler to use and it provides the virtualization we need for Linux and Windows. For us, VMware does not offer any advantage. Moreover, KVM is free.

See all answers

What is the biggest difference between Nutanix Acropolis and VMware vSphere?

We found the reduced power consumption with Nutanix Acropolis AOS a very attractive feature. We also like the interface that allows you to talk directly to your VM from the present software. We fou...

See all answers

Comparisons

Proxmox VE vs RHEV

Compared 16% of the time

Hyper-V vs RHEV

Compared 10% of the time

KVM vs RHEV

Compared 9% of the time

Nutanix AHV Virtualization vs RHEV

Compared 7% of the time

Oracle VM vs RHEV

Compared 5% of the time

More RHEV Competitors

Hyper-V vs VMware vSphere

Compared 24% of the time

Oracle VM vs VMware vSphere

Compared 13% of the time

Proxmox VE vs VMware vSphere

Compared 13% of the time

KVM vs VMware vSphere

Compared 8% of the time

Citrix XenServer vs VMware vSphere

Compared 6% of the time

More VMware vSphere Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

RHEV

March 2025

Download RHEV product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware vSphere

March 2025

Download VMware vSphere product report

Also Known As

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization

No data available

Overview

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization, or RHEV, is a leading open standard enterprise virtualization management solution. This solution supports virtualization of servers and desktops using the same infrastructure and a single easy-to-use interface.

Because RHEV is based on open standards, it is vendor-independent and a lot more cost effective and flexible than proprietary solutions.

Red Hat

VMware vSphere is a versatile virtualization platform known for its ease of use, flexibility, and high availability. It supports seamless migration, optimal resource allocation, and centralized management, making it highly suitable for diverse infrastructure needs.

VMware vSphere is widely adopted for its virtualization capabilities that enhance hardware efficiency and ensure minimal downtime through features like High Availability and Distributed Resource Scheduler. Despite criticisms about high licensing costs and limited fault tolerance, it remains a preferred choice due to its stability, scalability, and robust integration options. Users appreciate its efficiency in managing virtual machines and hosting enterprise applications, although challenges with web client performance and hardware compatibility are noted. Organizations often look for better integration with cloud services and enhanced automation and scalability.

What are the core features of VMware vSphere?

vMotion: Enables seamless migration of virtual machines without downtime.
Distributed Resource Scheduler: Optimizes resource allocation across hosts.
High Availability: Minimizes downtime by automatically restarting virtual machines.
Centralized Management: Facilitates easy management of virtualized environments.
Advanced Security: Provides robust security measures and compliance features.

What benefits and ROI can businesses look for?

Reduced Operational Costs: Efficiently utilizes hardware, saving on expenses.
Scalability: Easily scales to meet growing business demands.
Business Continuity: Ensures high availability and disaster recovery.
Integration Flexibility: Supports integration with various technologies.

VMware vSphere is implemented across sectors like healthcare, finance, and education for server virtualization, data center management, and private cloud creation. Its use in facilitating business-critical operations ensures high availability and efficient resource use, supporting both development and production environments.

VMware

Sample Customers

Qualcomm and Bonham's Auction House.

Abu Dhabi Ports Company, ACS, AIA New Zealand, Consona, Corporate Express, CS Energy, and Digiweb.

Buyer's Guide

RHEV vs. VMware vSphere

March 2025

Free Report: RHEV vs. VMware vSphere

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