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Citrix XenServer 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

Citrix XenServer
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
Server Virtualization Software (11th)
VMware Workstation
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Virtualization solutions, they serve different purposes. Citrix XenServer is designed for Server Virtualization Software and holds a mindshare of 4.9%, up 4.4% compared to last year.
VMware Workstation, on the other hand, focuses on Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), holds 15.4% mindshare, up 15.3% since last year.
Server Virtualization Software
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

VivekKumar10 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cost efficiency enables significant savings but improvement in support and backup integration is needed for enhanced reliability
In the past, we utilized the live migration feature in Citrix XenServer, but not in this project. This is a new, fresh deployment, so there is no live migration. The support of heterogeneous resource pool in Citrix XenServer depends on the deployment and customer requirements. If a customer requires heterogeneous deployment, we accommodate that. Generally, Citrix XenServer goes in straightforward vanilla deployment because it is majorly used for Citrix farms. Very few customers use it for other products or applications. Intelligent performance optimization is available in this product, but very few customers use it, and those who do aren't using it extensively. I cannot comment extensively on this feature at present.
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

"The most valuable feature is transferring and sharing applications that allow users to move files between devices, including smartphones, tablets, and computers without needing USB cables, internet connections, or data usage."
"Citrix Hypervisor does a great job overall, such as the virtualization of the host. It's very easy to manage the virtual machine, to create, and configure high availability."
"The solution integrates well with other solutions, which makes it really strong as a primary solution to deploy."
"We can easily migrate VMs from one host to another."
"The core function enables multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical server. This maximizes hardware utilization and efficiency."
"Citrix is easy to use and is stable."
"It is user-friendly and easy to deploy, making it an attractive option."
"Citrix XenServer is suitable when working with VDI solutions. It provides essential capabilities and stability, which are crucial."
"The performance is good."
"It is much more mature compared to Nutanix or SimpliVity when it's cross-platform based."
"The features are good."
"The product works well."
"Great at solving connection problems."
"The initial setup is simple and takes only five minutes to complete."
"VMware Workstation is great for migrating and patching operating systems."
"The product's initial setup phase was simple."
 

Cons

"There appear to be very few engineers at Citrix who understand the problems, and we experience considerable delays in support."
"The manageability of the solution needs improvement. It's an extremely bad product to handle."
"The solution is only in English. It would be ideal if it was in Portuguese."
"Citrix needs to improve the hypervisor, specifically in security and performance."
"The product could be faster and licensing options could be improved."
"The marketing of Citrix lacks effectiveness. Although the product is technically competitive, it is not widely known or used due to poor marketing."
"It would be very helpful if I could browse the data store directly in the GUI, similar to VMware and Hyper-V. This feature would be particularly useful when something goes wrong with a virtual machine or virtual disk."
"The interface has to be updated."
"Its price could be better."
"The support can be improved."
"For some virtual machine configurations, you have to go to the text editor and make the configuration changes, which could be improved."
"The product's integration capabilities are an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"The price of VMware Workstation is an area of concern where improvements are needed."
"I would want to see features included that make deployment easier."
"The product is outdated."
"The problem we are facing with stability is that the network adapter causes crashes of the VM when we're using it for developing purposes."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost of this product is not high."
"There are three editions available and I believe they are perpetual licenses."
"There are free and paid versions. The free version is limited in features but not by time limit. The paid version has more features."
"We migrated from VMware to XenCenter to cut costs."
"The pricing and licensing is so important. Customers do consider the price seriously."
"The most valuable feature is the cost; it is a free product."
"Citrix is a good low-cost alternative to VMware, so if budgeting is an issue then I would recommend it."
"This solution is open source, it's free."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"It has the best licensing modules."
"VMware Workstation has a high price than competitors in the market."
"Licensing costs are paid on a yearly basis."
"The pricing is a bit steep in my opinion for testing and there are other options."
"I use the free version of VMware Workstation."
"It is an expensive solution."
"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."
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Comparison Review

VL
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…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
22%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Citrix Hypervisor?
The core function enables multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical server. This maximizes hardware utilization and efficiency.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Hypervisor?
Licensing with Citrix XenServer is very cost-effective. Organizations save substantial money because competing solutions, such as VMware, cost double or triple. If you are using Citrix load only, t...
What needs improvement with Citrix Hypervisor?
In a DC, DR situation, if applications are self-dependent and self-DR replicated, then it works fine. However, if hypervisor-level backup or replication is required, very few backup software option...
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.
 

Also Known As

Hypervisor
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

U.S. Army Shared Services Center, SoftLayer, Educational Services of America, Independent Bank, and SK Telecom.
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