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VMware Fusion Pro vs VMware Workstation comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 6, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

VMware Fusion Pro
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
4th
Average Rating
9.0
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
VMware Workstation
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
2nd
Average Rating
8.8
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2024, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of VMware Fusion Pro is 21.3%, up from 13.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Workstation is 16.7%, up from 13.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

Amit Negi - PeerSpot reviewer
May 29, 2023
Robust software with efficient snapshot and cloning features
The solution helps us install multiple operating systems on a single machine The solution's snapshot feature best captures the machine's current state. Also, its cloning feature allows us to create clones of a single virtual machine. Both features help us with machine backup. The solution is…
SalimAhmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 28, 2023
A tool useful for testing purposes in the production environment that needs to reduce its usage of resources like CPU
I rate the initial setup a six and a half out of ten. The initial setup of the solution is not complicated, but it may not be stable or as good as it should be if you use the tool without VMware Workstation's license or licensed software. The solution is deployed by enabling virtualization on my laptop. The time taken for the deployment depends on the size of your operations. The installation of VMware Workstation only takes around 20 to 30 minutes. For deployment steps, download the free version of VMware Workstation for all the licenses, and then by clicking the next options available after clicking the EXE file, we can install the solution. You get around 60 days to use the free version of the solution, after which you need to pay for VMware Workstation.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product is easy to use and has a simple user interface."
"The most value that it provides is that it is versatile."
"It is a highly stable solution."
"The whole point of it is to run Windows VMs on a Mac. This is the most valuable feature. There is snapshotting, but we don't really use that. The Pro version allows me to actually attach to the Windows ESXi infrastructure at the backend, and I'm able to create a session that I can attach to the VMware hooks at the backend, so one is running a VM, and the whole operating system is running on the actual Mac. The other one is literally a frontend to the VMs that are running in the infrastructure at the backend. These are the two main features I use."
"The product works well."
"The most valuable features of VMware Workstation are the speed of access and quality of upgrade. Those are the more important and pertinent aspects as far as we were concerned. Functionality and features were relevant for the customers. What a customer chose, we had to make sure that it operated."
"The most valuable features of the VMware Workstation solutions are the ESXi and vCenter."
"Technical support is very good."
"Great at solving connection problems."
"The platform’s most valuable feature is snapshot."
"I appreciate the ease of backup and snapshot creation. The ability to revert to previous versions without losing data is very useful for our team."
"I have found this product excellent for test/dev environments. This is 90% of what I use this product for."
 

Cons

"Its installation process could be simpler."
"The way they handle snapshotting can be improved. One time, I moved a machine from one to another, and I tried to pull it up on the second machine, but it didn't work. This was because I had not cleaned up the snapshot before I deleted it and moved it across. So, when I tried to pull it up, it wouldn't let me bring it up. The backups for the VMs themselves can also be improved. I pretty much have to rely on Windows backups and not something on VMware. That's where it needs improvement. I am able to upload from my Fusion into the ESXi easily. I'm able to spin something up on Fusion and push it into the big arena, but the reverse is not as easy, that is, trying to pull something down from that. I would love to have a functionality where I could pull something from the VMware infrastructure into Fusion, but I'm not sure if I can take something from ESXi and pull it into Fusion."
"I would like to see newer and updated cloud functions."
"VMware Fusion's licensing cost needs improvement."
"The dashboard can be improved."
"I have had issues with the virtual network adapters in the past that has taken some time to troubleshoot."
"I would like to see more detailed reporting capabilities, particularly around snapshot activity. It would be helpful to have a summary of changes made prior to deploying an application, allowing us to provide comprehensive reports to our management on a regular basis."
"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."
"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."
"Performance could be improved, it's somewhat clunky."
"The GUI interface could be improved."
"There could be more integration with different tools."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Starting with version 12, it is now free on a Mac for personal use. Fusion Pro has a cost."
"The cost varies depending on the season and whether it is scaled up or scaled down, but I would guess that it's approximately $1,000 per month."
"I rate the product's pricing a seven or eight. It is highly-priced."
"With a VDI solution, there is always extra cost running a VDI solution but it's not for cost purposes anymore. In the beginning, it was to save money on hardware but at the moment it's other aspects that are more important why you should use a VDI solution."
"It is an expensive solution."
"I use the free version of VMware Workstation."
"With all its support and ease of use, VMware Player's pricing is fair."
"VMware is expensive. Licensing can be tricky. For example, I recently had a client running VMware vSphere Essentials and wanted to migrate to a more scalable solution. However, they had no choice but to purchase a completely new license and deploy a completely new instance of VMware."
"The licensing costs are cheap. I pay approximately $100 per year."
"VMware Workstation has a high price than competitors in the market."
"It has the best licensing modules."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
University
12%
Educational Organization
10%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about VMware Fusion?
The product is easy to use and has a simple user interface.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Fusion?
I rate the product's pricing a seven or eight. It is highly-priced.
What needs improvement with VMware Fusion?
The solution could be a little more stable.
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.
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NetApp
Akademiska Hus
Find out what your peers are saying about VMware Fusion Pro vs. VMware Workstation and other solutions. Updated: July 2024.
800,688 professionals have used our research since 2012.