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Azure Stack vs Microsoft Azure VMware comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 15, 2024

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

Azure Stack
Ranking in Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) (2nd)
Microsoft Azure VMware
Ranking in Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms category, the mindshare of Azure Stack is 12.0%, down from 24.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure VMware is 3.7%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Azure Stack12.0%
Microsoft Azure VMware3.7%
Other84.3%
Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

RS
Data Architect at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Unified data platform has improved regulatory compliance but still needs better integration features
It is difficult to say about Azure Stack improvement because I need to revisit and study it again. The pricing is okay, but on the services side, perhaps we need to think about some services, not all. I would not like to see any additional features in the future. To give them more like a 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10, I think they need to improve on the interface, implementation, configuration, and integration with other products, so I rate them an eight. As compared to AWS, they need to add more features. I would like to see operations and storage features, like AI features or security features.
DW
Solutions Area Lead at Tech One Global
Cloud migration has reduced hardware dependence and optimizes security and AI-ready operations
Microsoft Azure VMware is an area that requires attention. I believe the VMware part should eventually merge with Azure as a single Azure platform, moving away from hypervisor-on-hypervisor architecture and instead bringing VMware features into Azure as native capabilities or as VMware-labeled features running in a true cloud environment. Some features should be brought in to achieve this integration. Additional improvements for Microsoft Azure VMware would include integration with Azure Site Recovery and disaster recovery capabilities. The ideal scenario would be VMware as primary with disaster recovery in Azure, connecting in a native manner. These improvements should be delivered as an integrated solution available out of the box rather than as separate components. Integration with other solutions such as Microsoft Site Recovery should encompass Azure native business continuity and disaster recovery with VMware. Microsoft Azure VMware would serve as primary hosting and connect natively to business continuity and disaster recovery capabilities with Azure. This should be available as a native feature.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Azure Active Directory is the most valuable feature."
"Azure Stack integrates well with Microsoft; it's also good for transitioning from an on-premise or hybrid setup to the cloud, and it's seamless."
"Everything is stored under one roof, so there is no need for different licenses for different components."
"I will definitely recommended this solution to others, especially for large companies, because I think it's a wonderful solution."
"I appreciate that all the tools are available natively within Azure. It's all set up nicely. It's all minor."
"The most valuable features are that it is a Hybrid, and we can easily integrate with the Microsoft Public Cloud."
"The most valuable feature is the ease of deployment for services such as SSH, creating a web site, and Azure billing services to measure the consumption of resources."
"You can scale the solution if you need to."
"The integration is very good."
"For new users, if you have a scalable environment where a VMware data center makes sense for your business, I definitely recommend AVS."
"The capabilities are like a lift-and-shift operation for moving existing VMware environments to the cloud. The time for migration onto the cloud has substantially reduced."
"Since organizations are already on VMware, they can lift and shift everything to Microsoft Azure VMware, allowing the data center to be moved as a whole rather than as separate servers."
"Regarding stability, it is like a five-star solution."
 

Cons

"Customers need to consider the Disaster Recovery. Microsoft tech is only providing support to Azure."
"Azure Stack could use some improvement when it comes to seamless support for disaster recovery scenarios of higher availability regarding multi-regions."
"The setup for Azure becomes more complex when you have multiple users. When you have multiple organizations, with multiple users working or using the same solution, data storage needs to be very well separated because of privacy."
"Microsoft is changing the Azure Stack interface all the time, so it's sometimes hard to find the functionality or the service you're looking for. A feature was in one place and now it has moved somewhere else."
"Many resources get created in Azure Stack, and managing those resources can be challenging."
"Azure Stack could be improved with more integration, governance tools, monitor tools, and lift and shift tools."
"The solution is not user friendly. I'd prefer to move over to AWS, which is much easier in this sense."
"I would like to see better support for containers."
"Well, sometimes they release product after product, so it's it's kind of hard to keep an overview of all the different aspects of of the solutions."
"Microsoft Azure VMware is an area that requires attention."
"The only issue is that a small challenge was found regarding the network...to have extended, smooth VLANs and everything else was a little bit complicated."
"Azure VMware needs to cater to smaller enterprises, as it is currently meant for larger entities. One improvement could be more support for mid-sized or scalable environments."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Azure Stack is expensive."
"The pricing falls in the middle. It serves as a mediator between being expensive and being affordable, but it's not exactly cheap either. I would rate it a six out of ten."
"Subscription model customers need not make large expenditures on upfront purchasing."
"Pricing is always a hot topic, so the pricing can always improve."
"Azure Stack is a medium-priced product, so it is not overpriced, but the prices may be higher for certain services."
"Azure is reasonably priced compared to Google Cloud, AWS, or some other cloud giants."
"Price-wise, AWS might be relatively cheaper compared to Azure, but the deployment on Azure is much easier."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"To be honest, the tool comes at a high price."
"The solution is very competitive."
"The mandatory requirements, such as a minimum of three nodes, make it expensive. The customers need to sign up for approximately $20,000 per month."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
University
15%
Government
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business33
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise26
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Azure Stack?
I am not really aware about Azure Stack's integration capabilities with my existing IT investments; my technical team would know more about it.I think Azure Stack is a bit expensive, but it is defi...
What is your primary use case for Azure Stack?
I lead the pre-sales at my office, so I focus on the overall operational aspect of it. If you ask me about the technicalities, I might not be able to answer you.I mostly deal with Office 365 and De...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure VMware?
The pricing is high, rated around nine to 9.5 out of ten. The mandatory requirements, such as a minimum of three nodes, make it expensive. The customers need to sign up for approximately $20,000 pe...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure VMware?
Microsoft Azure VMware is an area that requires attention. I believe the VMware part should eventually merge with Azure as a single Azure platform, moving away from hypervisor-on-hypervisor archite...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Azure VMware?
People are moving to Microsoft Azure VMware primarily due to reducing on-premises hardware dependencies. One key factor is VMware licensing, and another is hardware costs. Hardware prices are incre...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Weblink, Fathym, Sage, CFD Support Ltd, The UberCloud Inc.
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Stack vs. Microsoft Azure VMware and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.