CloudStack vs Zesty comparison

Apache and Zesty are both solutions in the Cloud Management category. Apache is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.7, while Zesty is ranked #23 with an average rating of 9.5. Apache holds a 5.1% mindshare in CM, compared to Zesty’s 0.3% mindshare. Additionally, 93% of Apache users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Zesty users who would recommend it.

CloudStack

Read 31 CloudStack reviews

1,938 Views
1,445 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Zesty

Read 2 Zesty reviews

206 Views
70 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

CloudStack

Zesty

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

CloudStack and Zesty are competing products in the cloud management space. Users generally prefer Zesty for its advanced features, even though CloudStack may offer more favorable pricing and support.

Features: CloudStack focuses on scalability and integration capabilities, making it suitable for enterprises needing flexible cloud solutions. It provides strong infrastructure management and scalability for extensive integration options. Zesty offers automation, cost-optimization, and efficiency in cloud management, appealing to businesses seeking effective resource management.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Zesty provides streamlined deployment with strong customer support, ensuring assistance during integration. Contrarily, CloudStack requires more technical expertise for deployment but is supported by a large community and abundant resources, offering a more traditional setup experience.

Pricing and ROI: CloudStack generally presents a lower setup cost and provides consistent ROI through its open-source model, attracting budget-conscious organizations. Zesty demands a higher initial investment but offers higher ROI due to its cost-saving features and resource management efficiency, delivering more value over time.

To learn more, read our detailed CloudStack vs. Zesty Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

CloudStack vs. Zesty

June 2025

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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

CloudStack

Ranking in Cloud Management

11th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Zesty

Ranking in Cloud Management

23rd

Average Rating

9.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Cost Management (8th)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Cloud Management category, the mindshare of CloudStack is 5.1%, down from 5.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zesty is 0.3%, down from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Management

Featured Reviews

Wido Den Hollander

Community Ambassador at 42on

A solution that strikes a balance between user-friendliness, scalability, and stability

The market keeps changing, and so does technology. I think that container technology in CloudStack is an area that needs to be improved. Regarding container technology, Kubernetes is something many people want to use and something which, as of now, many are using currently. However, there is still room for improvement in Kubernetes, particularly with networking functionality and network virtualization. When it comes to what needs to be improved in CloudStack, I would say that it should stay the way it is currently. It should continue being a stable product that people can rely on since many may be inclined to follow the latest trends and hype, which is not always good for a solution's stability. It is crucial to prioritize stability, which is a key factor that companies seek. In my view, the platform could benefit from adding more metrics. More metrics would offer more insights and data on the platform's performance, utilization, and usage. Overall, I believe that having more metrics available would be highly desirable.

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Jeffery Smith

Vice President at Centro, Inc.

Effortless cost management with automated instance adjustment and helpful support

There are different resource types that we would like to leverage and get reserved instances for, such as RDS instances. Currently, no mechanism within Zesty allows this, but this may be due to AWS limitations. Another point is that Zesty needs to react to any changes AWS makes, but they have been proactive in their communication regarding material impacts.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"When compared to OpenStack, CloudStack is also an open-source platform that is continuously improving its features and capabilities with each new version release. Having worked with CloudStack 4.7, 4.14, and most recently, 4.17, I have noticed significant enhancements in the platform's features and customer experience, such as the introduction of a new user interface in the latest release. Notably, the latest versions have made major improvements to VM live migrations, making them more efficient and effective."

"Valuable features include that it is a user-friendly portal, VPN P2S and S2S possibilities, and it's easy to manage accounts and limits."

"You can build your own cloud and make it customizable with APIs."

"The most valuable feature from my point of view is access to environment via console through separate browser window."

"You can use a single API to get things done, rather than multiple APIs on multiple modules."

"CloudStack, by default, gives us a zone-based setup which makes it easier to manage datacenters located in different geographical areas."

"Key features include stability, centralized management design that scales well, and transparent interoperability with different hypervisors and manufacturers.."

"My company could implement a lot of customizations and integration with load balancers and DNS. When we started using CloudStack, we didn't have that integration, so we developed that. We could fix anything missing in the solution."

More CloudStack pros

"The turnkey aspect of Zesty is very valuable."

"One of the reasons we decided to onboard Zesty was that it started supporting Windows instances."

Cons

"VPN P2S is cutting all connections except the CloudStack environment for the user when he is connected. I would like to have VPN like Cisco's AnyConnect."

"It would be a good to have more specific error messages within administration processes (e.g. problem with creating new instance)."

"It would be great to have a couple of “external” networks for VPC and have the possibility, for each domain, to choose they type of “external” network."

"The area of Apache CloudStack that could stand the most improvement is the functionality/features around the virtual routers. They can be somewhat cumbersome to deal with at times and are the least stable piece of the product."

"From time to time there is a bug in calculating limits of resources for customer domain/account. Maybe it’s a problem with 4.9.2."

"The product does not have an easily implementable payment gateway."

"A technology upgrade is one item which could be improved upon a lot."

"The user can't upload SSH keys from the UI. We have to use the API for this, and it is not always convenient."

More CloudStack cons

"There are different resource types that we would like to leverage and get reserved instances for, such as RDS instances."

"I would like to get RDS-reserved instances that I could buy and sell, but that's a limitation on AWS."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The Apache CloudStack is open source, so you do not have licenses to purchase."

"As far as I know, CS is still free of charge. If you want to pay some money, Citrix Cloud Platform is based on CS, I think. As for hypervisors – everything as usual, you need to pay for VMware and vCenter. As for XenServer, recently they changed the free feature list, so you may need to pay some money to get useful features like XenMotion."

"Give an effort to planning. If possible, contract a specialized consultant company for the initial setup and knowledge transfer."

"There is no license, so the product is free unless you are buying professional technical support services."

"The solution is open-source and free."

"CloudStack is an open source solution, so you don't need to pay anything for it. When our company develops something specially for CloudStack, it is donated to the Apache Software Foundation and provided to anyone that wants to use it."

"It is a 100% open-source solution needing just an Apache license. Also, there are no hidden fees to be paid."

"CloudStack is an open-source product."

"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

21%

Educational Organization

10%

University

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Real Estate/Law Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about CloudStack?

The initial implementation process was quite good.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CloudStack?

CloudStack is open-source, so there is no cost apart from learning. Billing solutions, if outsourced, come at a moderate cost.

See all answers

What needs improvement with CloudStack?

CloudStack lacks a billing solution which would complete it as a full 360-degree product. Additionally, more themes and drag-and-drop interfaces could enhance the user experience. Improved document...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zesty?

Their pricing is brilliant. It is a percentage of what they save us by using reserved instances. If they save us $25,000, they might charge five percent of that, which is work we wouldn't do on our...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Zesty?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Zesty?

We predominantly use Zesty to manage our spend in AWS, specifically around reserving instances for our compute workload. Our workload is dynamic, and it would be cumbersome and difficult for us to ...

See all answers

Comparisons

OpenNebula vs CloudStack

Compared 72% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs CloudStack

Compared 9% of the time

Sangfor HCI - Hyper Converged Infrastructure vs CloudStack

Compared 5% of the time

VMware Cloud Director vs CloudStack

Compared 5% of the time

VMware Aria Automation vs CloudStack

Compared 4% of the time

More CloudStack Competitors

Spot vs Zesty

Compared 100% of the time

More Zesty Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

CloudStack

June 2025

Download CloudStack product report

Buyer's Guide

Cloud Management

May 2025

Download Zesty product report

Also Known As

Vmops, Cloud.com

No data available

Overview

Apache CloudStack is open source software designed to deploy and manage large networks of virtual machines, as a highly available, highly scalable Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud computing platform.

Apache

Zesty is used for optimizing cloud infrastructure costs, automating resource scaling, providing real-time visibility into spending, and managing unused resources efficiently. It helps maintain budget control while scaling operations, making cloud deployment cost-effective.

Zesty offers a comprehensive approach to cloud cost management, focusing on real-time optimization, resource scaling automation, and spending visibility. Designed to reduce wastage and ensure efficient cloud operations, it integrates seamlessly with existing systems, providing detailed analytics and actionable insights. Users find Zesty's intuitive dashboard and effective cost-saving tools instrumental in maintaining budget control. However, improvements are needed in performance speed, functionality, and support responsiveness. Limited customization options and insufficient onboarding resources also present challenges for new users.

What are Zesty's key features?

Real-time optimization: Continuously adjusts resources to minimize costs.
Automated resource management: Scales resources automatically based on demand.
Intuitive dashboard: Offers user-friendly interface for easy monitoring and management.
Detailed analytics: Provides insights into spending and resource usage.
Seamless integration: Fits smoothly with existing systems without disruption.
Scalability: Supports efficient resource allocation as operations expand.
Customer support: Available for assistance, although sometimes noted as unresponsive.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Cost reduction: Significant savings by minimizing unnecessary cloud expenses.
Efficiency: Automation reduces manual intervention and improves resource management.
Budget control: Enhanced visibility into spending helps maintain financial oversight.
Time savings: Streamlined operations free up time for other strategic tasks.
Improved scalability: Supports growth without compromising performance or costs.

Zesty is implemented across industries that demand efficient cloud cost management and resource optimization. For tech companies, it streamlines scalability and supports rapid growth without ballooning costs. Financial services use it for budget control and to maintain operational efficiency. Educational institutions benefit from its ability to manage large-scale deployments economically. Each industry finds Zesty's automation and analytics crucial for staying competitive and maintaining lean operations.

Zesty

Sample Customers

GreenQloud, Exoscale, TomTom, ASG, PC Extreme, ISWest, Grid'5000

Walkme, Wiz, Gong, Grubhub, Singular

Buyer's Guide

CloudStack vs. Zesty

June 2025

Free Report: CloudStack vs. Zesty

Find out what your peers are saying about CloudStack vs. Zesty and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.

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