Citrix Hypervisor vs VMware Workstation comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Citrix Hypervisor
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
46
Ranking in other categories
Server Virtualization Software (8th)
VMware Workstation
Average Rating
8.8
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2024, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of Citrix Hypervisor is 5.7%, up from 3.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Workstation is 10.1%, down from 13.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Virtualization Software
Unique Categories:
No other categories found
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
21.3%
 

Featured Reviews

Bunmi Sadiq - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 9, 2023
Open-source and robust with great templates
We primarily use the solution for virtual machines, in order to boost them or back them up. It has high availability as well The product is highly stable and very robust. Most importantly, we can rely on it. It's plug-and-play and we don't have to worry about it. Once you have your infrastructure…
Ajmal Abbas - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 5, 2022
Good features and makes deploying VMs easy but could be more robust
VMware Workstation is used by almost everyone who is trying to test something on their laptop I'm using it for my personal use, for testing. If I want to know how things are working, then I will test it using Workstation. The features are good.  There's not much to deploying a VM, or virtual…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This is a dependable solution for virtualization with a good community for product support."
"Citrix Hypervisor is quick to deploy and easy to manage."
"We can easily migrate VMs from one host to another."
"This solution allows the end users to clone, start, stop, or remotely control their VMs."
"The continued uptime of our virtual machines is good."
"What I like the most is the support of the GPU Graphics and the VM Live migration."
"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."
"I haven't faced any inconveniences working with this solution. It is very easy to use."
"VMware Workstation has tons of third-party support, the largest partner ecosystem. VMware works with a ton of different vendors. They have plugins for almost everything. Other hypervisors lack the flexibility that VMware Workstation offers."
"The product's initial setup phase was simple."
"Technical support is very good."
"VMware Workstation is great for migrating and patching operating systems."
"The simplicity of the deployment and the implementation, and the footprint for the hardware are some of the solution's valuable features."
"VMware Workstation allows you to run a virtual machine."
"I would rate the stability a ten out of ten."
 

Cons

"I am not very sure about how flexible Citrix Hypervisor is with different types of infrastructures. I only know it is flexible with Nutanix, but I am not sure if it is also flexible with others. They can make its integration with other platforms or OEMs easy. They should also make it easy for users to manage their infrastructure. Citrix should make compatibility information related to a hypervisor easily available in a datasheet. Citrix isn't really recognized in this part of the world, and they need to expand their solution and make it more available. There are a lot of customers and companies that are looking for a solution like Citrix, and it should be available in this part of the world. They need to educate people more. Technically, it is good and flexible and has good ability, but it is not as much known as VMware or Microsoft. Their support should also be improved. Currently, if you don't have an updated version, they will not give you the attention."
"There are several areas that need improvement including the stability of the networking stack and networking management."
"The self-service user portal needs to be more granular and be more customizable."
"It needs improvement with the security features."
"The solution should be more flexible and allow for greater customization."
"You need a licensed account to look up technical support."
"Citrix Hypervisor is expensive if you get it as a stand-alone product, so this is one area for improvement. Its price could be cheaper. We also found other areas for improvement in Citrix Hypervisor, for example, we can't use SCIM provisioning, and there are limitations to the size of the HDD. Another area for improvement is the pass-through storage, in particular the removable storage, because that also has limitations where you can't connect to the drive if it is more than one TB."
"The licensing costs are too high on the solution. They should work to make the costs more reasonable."
"Lacks the ability to clone onto another system rather than starting from scratch."
"The solution should provide a guide on its installation."
"I have had issues with the virtual network adapters in the past that has taken some time to troubleshoot."
"The product’s virtual machine data backup feature needs upgrading."
"Its price could be better."
"The product is outdated."
"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 product could provide the features available in Microsoft Hyper-V."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"To subscribe to the paid version with support, it is approximately $6,000 per year."
"While it is free for small networks, the pricing is high if your network grows past a certain size."
"We migrated from VMware to XenCenter to cut costs."
"We used it only for some desktop licenses, so the pricing is great. We used the free licenses for server virtualization."
"Citrix Hypervisor is a licensed product, and customers who buy the Citrix XenDesktop get Citrix Hypervisor for free. If they don't buy the license for Citrix XenDesktop, they'll need to pay for Citrix Hypervisor and its price is high. Pricing is even higher than VMware. The licensing policy for Citrix Hypervisor is good. It's straightforward. The only issue is the price because it's an expensive product."
"There are free and paid versions. The free version is limited in features but not by time limit. The paid version has more features."
"The pricing and licensing is so important. Customers do consider the price seriously."
"Citrix Hypervisor can be fairly expensive."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"VMware Workstation has a high price than competitors in the market."
"Licensing fees are paid on an annual basis."
"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."
"The solution is moderately priced. I rate the pricing a six out of ten."
"VMware Workstation's costs are lifetime."
"The tool is not the cheapest."
"The product has a moderate price."
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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
49%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
5%
Comms Service Provider
4%
Computer Software Company
16%
Government
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

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?
I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten, with one being very inexpensive and ten being very expensive.
What needs improvement with Citrix Hypervisor?
It is a scalable product and provides great benefits for virtualization needs. However, there are a few considerations: * Cost: Citrix Hypervisor can be fairly expensive. * Complexity: There's a le...
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

 

Also Known As

XenServer
No data available
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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