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Citrix XenServer vs RHEV comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
RHEV
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
12th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of Citrix XenServer is 4.2%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of RHEV is 2.4%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Virtualization Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Citrix XenServer4.2%
RHEV2.4%
Other93.4%
Server Virtualization Software
 

Featured Reviews

Geert Vandevelde - PeerSpot reviewer
ICT Diensthoofd - Head of ICT at Azwest
Consolidating user access boosts productivity by simplifying navigation
The most helpful features of Citrix XenServer are that you can consolidate everything onto one web page. For our use case, this is probably the easiest solution because there are many different software applications running in our environment. The benefits from using Citrix include increased productivity, as users don't have to search for what they need to open. They can see everything in one place instead of having numerous links in Chrome or on their home page. They simply go to our Citrix page and see everything they need. We can also specify access permissions per user, so they only get the software they require. If users have lists or reports they need to create, we can add the icons on Citrix, and they can open them directly. Everything is in the same place, so they don't have to search for anything anymore. This is the biggest productivity increase.
Mike Neuliep - PeerSpot reviewer
Linux Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Has supported virtualization projects in side jobs but has required workarounds due to lack of maintenance
In my opinion, the best features of RHEV are that it is a real hypervisor and it is free, so it performs better than VMware. I have used the live migration feature in the past with RHEV. There is a free clone of it that is based on the open source. Live migration is a nifty feature if your app is not highly available and you need to do maintenance on a machine. You can migrate the VM off of it, do your maintenance, and move it back when you are done. RHEV has a high availability architecture with a built-in monitoring feature where you could see machines other than the one you are operating on. I tend to implement high availability not so much in RHEV, but by using standard application high availability strategies. Red Hat has another product specifically for high availability.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The core function enables multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical server. This maximizes hardware utilization and efficiency."
"We were able to create a very inexpensive (nearly free) cluster of VM hosts."
"The solution's security is its most valuable aspect."
"Ability to move your virtual machines from one host to another."
"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."
"As far as stability, I haven't had a problem; I highly recommend the product and I think it deserves good feedback as to stability."
"Provides an excellent free virtualization suite compared to other servers and has top performance for Windows and Linux OS."
"The most valuable feature of this product is that its scripting can automate procedures."
"Technically, the main reason why I'm using Red Hat is because of its stability."
"I advise keeping an open mind. It's an excellent solution."
"When any organization needs end-to-end infrastructure deployment, configuration management, and automation, then RHEV is the best fit."
"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."
"One of the most valuable features of this solution is the popularity of the OS."
"Customers are moving to open source and Red Hat is the leader in this particular space, and I think customers feel more confident running Red Hat Virtualization than VMware."
"The solution has a good licensing module."
"We find the ease of use of this solution to be invaluable, as it is user-friendly and integrates well with other software."
 

Cons

"New versions removed the option to automatically start a virtual machine on power-up."
"It can be useful to have a web management program because we have to install our client-server. We have to properly manage the host, if we had administration tools through a web interface it would be a benefit."
"Bigger footprint than VMware, along with dependence on Linux in Dom."
"I find that the features in Citrix Hypervisor are not as rich as with VMware."
"Citrix needs to improve the hypervisor, specifically in security and performance."
"The graphics user interface is pretty bad."
"We'd like them to add more automation to the product."
"The product could be faster and licensing options could be improved."
"We should improve how we manage storage domains and make more comprehensive control available through the command line."
"RHEV can improve by keeping pace with new features and new enhancements. They should not be halted or delayed innovation because over the past quarter the enhancements have not been as fast as they have been previously."
"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."
"We'd like it if it would be possible on Red Hat Virtualization to possibly connect two or three VMs to the same disk."
"I would love to see better documentation and ease of use."
"RHEV is not improving because it has been discontinued. It has been discontinued for years."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This solution is open source, it's free."
"There is a license required to use this solution. You need a license on every server, but the license is more for support than anything else. The cost is not expensive, it is a fraction of the cost of VMware. When you look at the cost overall and features, Citrix Hypervisor has a very attractive offering."
"While it is free for small networks, the pricing is high if your network grows past a certain size."
"Citrix Hypervisor can be fairly expensive."
"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 used it only for some desktop licenses, so the pricing is great. We used the free licenses for server virtualization."
"To subscribe to the paid version with support, it is approximately $6,000 per year."
"The most valuable feature is the cost; it is a free product."
"This product has a variety of licensing options available. However, the level of licensing, and therefore the cost of licensing, is dependent on the number of servers being utilized."
"Its price depends on the use cases."
"I believe we pay on a yearly basis."
"We buy a license for commercial use, and we also use the free editions."
"It's a budget product as far as I'm concerned. It's way cheaper than any of its competitors. The only thing cheaper than Red Hat is that the people who take the Red Hat code clone it and then self-support it."
"The price of RHEV is high. It is an open-source solution, the price should be less. The price should not be on par with a solution, such as VMware. It's not more or equal to VMware, it's less, but the difference should be more substantial."
"The solution does not require licencing but a subscription is necessary, which is very affordable."
"We are using the free version of Red Hat."
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Comparison Review

VL
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…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise18
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise12
 

Questions from the Community

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?
There could be improvements in Citrix XenServer, but I cannot think of any at the moment. Overall, we are very happy with it.
What is your primary use case for Citrix Hypervisor?
Our main use case for Citrix XenServer is to monitor and ensure everything is functioning properly with Citrix and that all users can access the system. It is primarily used for monitoring since Ci...
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.
What needs improvement with RHEV?
RHEV is not improving because it has been discontinued. It has been discontinued for years. I would love to get back into RHEV, but the job market is difficult and no one is hiring. RHEV is designe...
What is your primary use case for RHEV?
I have done some consulting where I used RHEV, taking on side jobs to run virtual machines in the financial industry for a startup. The last time I used RHEV was in my home lab, but that has been d...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Hypervisor
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

U.S. Army Shared Services Center, SoftLayer, Educational Services of America, Independent Bank, and SK Telecom.
Qualcomm and Bonham's Auction House.
Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix XenServer vs. RHEV and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,924 professionals have used our research since 2012.