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46,701 views|38,652 comparisons
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Read 12 KVM reviews
42,447 views|30,740 comparisons
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Mar 29, 2022

We performed a comparison between Hyper-V and KVM based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below

  • Ease of Deployment: Users of both Hyper-V and KVM report that the initial setup and deployment of both products is straightforward and fast.

  • Features: Hyper-V users report that it is stable, scalable, high performing, and user-friendly. Several Hyper-V users say that the product demands a high amount of memory. KVM users say that the solution is easy to manage and secure but needs to improve its scalability.

  • Pricing: Hyper-V users say that the solution is inexpensive. KVM is open-source and therefore free of charge.

  • Service and Support: Hyper-V users are, for the most part, satisfied with the level of support they receive. KVM is open-source and does not provide official support. There are several companies that offer paid support for the KVM platform. In addition, there is an active KVM open-source community.

Comparison Results: Hyper-V is the clear winner in this comparison it is easy to install, robust and high performing. Hyper-V, as a Microsoft product, also offers stable and ongoing customer support.

To learn more, read our detailed Hyper-V vs. KVM Report (Updated: September 2023).
735,226 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The initial setup was very easy.""It's a very manageable product.""It's good for what it does. If you have a small or medium-scale acclimatization, it's an excellent solution.""The restore function of the virtual server is valuable to me.""The initial setup of Hyper-V is far easier than VMware.""This is the best solution for customers with budget constraints.""The solution has good scalability.""The most valuable feature of Hyper-V is the replica service."

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"The most helpful aspect of KVM is the fact that the interface is so minimal. It includes just what you need to set up the VMs and manage them, and it's very simple to do so.""The initial setup was very easy.""It offers a high-availability environment.""I have found KVM to be scalable.""Documentation and problem-solving troubleshooting are the most valuable features. Performance (when fine-tuned and with "special" HW) is awesome, equal to or more than other enterprise closed-source solutions.""What I like most about KVM is that it's very easy to use. Everything is built-in, even when writing command lines.""The key aspect is that the KVM directly interacts with the Kronos. There's no clear indication of indirect communication with Kronos. It is not linked to Kronos, and interaction is straightforward without any intermediaries.""There is a strong emphasis on availability, and they have numerous API interfaces for distributed storage and the solution is quite known for its openness."

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Cons
"The solution should improve its native integration with other public cloud solutions.""Hyper-V doesn't have a lot of features and is limited compared to other virtualization software.""In terms of performance, when compared to VMware, it is much slower.""We've had many issues with Hyper-V's stability, including resource crunches and memory leakage.""If I want to create a cluster of around five to 10 physical servers Hyper-V does not get integrated with any kind of virtual sense, such as vSense.""Hyper-V isn't a lightweight solution like VMware. Management could be more straightforward. Even as far as disk management tools are concerned, it would be better if that could be made simpler. The same applies to performance.""Hyper-V could benefit with improvements to their management interface.""They could work on lowering the cost of the solution."

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"We are not getting good support from KVM, and it is not that user-friendly.""In our setup, we do not have any dashboards or orchestration, and it is hard to manage. We have 25 gig network cards, but the software driver we have only supported 10 gigs.""Some things are pretty basic, and they could be more robust with more detail.""The main drawback in the solution is probably disaster recovery.""The grid interface of KVM needs improvement. It could be more beautiful, especially when compared to VMware.""KVM is very difficult to manage and run on daily operations.""I believe KVM offers a unified answer, while ProxMark addresses orchestration. KVM lacks orchestration. If the aim is to centrally oversee multiple KVMs – let's say to freeze them – a centralized management solution is absent.""The networking with wireless devices needs improvement."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "I think I'm okay with the cost. There are no monthly or yearly costs or additional costs."
  • "I recommend Hyper-V to customers with budget constraints."
  • "The licensing costs depend on the environment you have. If you have an environment of less than 10 or 30 VMs, It's nice to have a Hyper-V, but if you have more than 100 or 200, I would recommend using VCenter, VMware virtualization, especially for an on-premise solution."
  • "Hyper-V is more cost-effective for the size of our business One of the Hyper-V's biggest advantages over VMware is the cost. We are a small business, so Hyper-V allowed us to virtualize everything we need without breaking the bank."
  • "Licensing needs to be a lot easier to manage with Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware is easier."
  • "Hyper-V is free when you buy Windows Server. You only have to pay for engaging in the management aspect in System Center."
  • "There is a license to use this solution and it is an annual purchase."
  • "Hyper-V is free-of-charge."
  • More Hyper-V Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "We had some problems with the licensing."
  • "KVM is priced reasonably."
  • "There is no cost involved in the use of KVM, as it is open source."
  • "KVM is free."
  • "KVM is an open-source product that works well for us."
  • "I have no information on the cost of KVM because I downloaded it for the lab and not for production. It's free, but I don't know if that's the case for people using it in a production environment."
  • "One only needs a subscription to Oracle Linux. So, it's cheaper with Oracle Linux's subscription. It is not very expensive. In short, the solution is open source, and you need only a subscription."
  • "The solution is extremely cheap in China."
  • More KVM Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:KVM is better. But let's just look at the software instead of judging. Hyper-V was a free solution from Microsoft to virtualize Server or Client OS as it is a feature on Windows Server since 2008… more »
    Top Answer:One of the best things about Proxmox VE is that it is open-source and very inexpensive. You get all of the same features as with the more well-known products. Proxmox VE is very easy to deploy - it… more »
    Top Answer:The solution is highly scalable.
    Top Answer:KVM scales better, orchestration better, performs better and supports a wider range of hardware and, also, you can implement at ZERO cost and with a very powerful web interface for management, from… more »
    Top Answer:Small support team, small cluster, low core count, use VMware products Large support team, large clusters with many cores, use KVM. KVM scales better, orchestration better, performs better and… more »
    Top Answer:Far from being an expert, my opinion is that the positive sides of KVM are: Lower costs and open-source which gives the abilities to customize it according to the specific needs of each customer.
    Ranking
    Views
    46,701
    Comparisons
    38,652
    Reviews
    35
    Average Words per Review
    415
    Rating
    7.7
    Views
    42,447
    Comparisons
    30,740
    Reviews
    11
    Average Words per Review
    464
    Rating
    8.4
    Comparisons
    Proxmox VE logo
    Compared 34% of the time.
    Oracle VM VirtualBox logo
    Compared 13% of the time.
    VMware Workstation logo
    Compared 12% of the time.
    Oracle VM logo
    Compared 10% of the time.
    VMware vSphere logo
    Compared 9% of the time.
    Learn More
    KVM
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    Overview

    Hyper-V is a hardware virtualization tool that allows users to create virtual computer environments with multiple operating systems on a single physical server. Each virtual machine has computer parts, such as memory, processor, storage, and networking, and acts like a standard computer - running its own operating system and software programs. Each component of the virtual machine can be configured to meet your specific requirements.

    Hyper-V creates a cost-effective, stable, and productive server virtualization environment by running multiple operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, and more, in parallel on one machine or server. Each virtual machine runs in its own isolated space, which means you can run many virtual machines simultaneously but independently of each other. This helps prevent problems such as a crash affecting the other workloads and enables different users to separately access various systems.

    Benefits of Hyper-V

    • Simplify application testing: With Hyper-V you can easily add and remove operating systems from your virtual machines, enabling you to run and test your applications on each of them all from one single computer.

    • Minimize resource usage and scalability: Virtual machines are easier to manage than physical hardware and less expensive. You can also maximize your server use by allocating its resources more efficiently than you can with physical hardware alone.

    Hyper-V key features:.

    • Replication and migration: Hyper-V can replicate virtual machines for backups onto different sites. Hyper-V also provides a migration tool for moving a virtual machine from one Hyper-V host to another without causing any downtime.

    • Remote connection: Hyper-V’s remote connectivity tool allows administrators to remotely access a virtual machine.

    • Security: Hyper-V keeps virtual machines secure from malware attacks, unauthorized access, and data breaching attempts.

     Reviews from Real Users

    Hyper-V stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Several major ones are its flexibility, its replication capabilities, and the fact that its virtual machines utilize a small amount of resources..

    Liam L., the owner of a tech services company, writes, “It is actually very low on resources. It doesn't use many resources. It is also very easy to tailor. You can change things like the amount of memory and storage on the fly. It is very stable and reliable. I like its replication feature, which is very good. It is also very easy to move the virtual machines across push servers without any difficulty. Its performance is also very good. Now with this pandemic, a lot of workers are working from home. A lot of workers have been using laptops as their desktop computers, and they would remote into a virtual PC. There is no difficulty, and they can't tell the difference between this and the real one. It is much easier to manage.”

    Kevin E. an IT director at Homeland Technology Group, LLC, notes, “We've probably seen a 50 percent speed increase on our SQL server. Hyper-V has also significantly reduced our downtimes with faster boot-up and reboot. If we have to reboot a server, there is maybe two or three minutes of downtime. When we were on a bare-metal server, it could be five to ten minutes due to the total boot time.”

    KVM stands for Kernel-based Virtual Machine, which is an open-source virtualization technology that is embedded in Linux. KVM allows users to seamlessly transform their Linux system into a hypervisor that, in turn, will enable a host machine to run numerous, isolated virtual environments or virtual machines (VMs).

    KVM is part of Linux. Users with Linux 2.6.20 or newer already have KVM. As KVM is already a component of the current Linux code, it automatically improves with every new Linux fix, feature, or upgrade. So KVM users are always current and up to date.

    KVM automatically transforms Linux to a type -1 (bare-metal) hypervisor. All hypervisors need operating system components, such as a process scheduler, I/O stack, device drivers, memory manager, and more, to run a VM. KVM already has these components embedded, as it is part of the Linux kernel. Each VM is generated as a basic Linux proces,s which is maintained by the standard Linux scheduler, with dedicated hardware such as a graphics adapter, memory, disks, network card, and CPUs.

    KVM Key Features:

    KVM has many valuable key features. Some of its most useful features include:

    • Storage: KVM has the ability to use any storage protocol supported by Linux, including network-attached storage (NAS) and some local disks. Multipath I/O can be utilized to provide redundancy and improve storage. Disk images use thin provisioning, ensuring storage is used on demand. KVM is also able to use shared file systems, enabling VM images to be shared on multiple hosts.
    • Hardware: KVM is able to use a vast number of Linux-certified supported hardware platforms. As hardware vendors routinely contribute to kernel improvement, the most up-to-date hardware features are generally quickly added to the Linux kernel.
    • Memory: KVM effectively utilizes the memory management features of Linux, such as kernel same-page emerging and non-uniform memory access. The memory of a VM can easily be switched, supported by large volumes for improved performance, then backed by a disk file or shared.
    • Migration: KVM actively supports live migration so users have the ability to move any running VM between physical hosts with no downtime.
    • Security: KVM uses a blend of secure virtualization (SVirt) and security-enhanced Linux (SELinux) for improved VM security and isolation. SELinux determines security boundaries surrounding VMs. sVirt expands SELinux’s processes, permitting Mandatory Access Control (MAC) security to be used for guest VMs and preventing any manual labeling issues.

    Reviews from Real Users

    “The most helpful aspect of KVM is the fact that the interface is so minimal. It includes just what you need to set up the VMs and manage them, and it's very simple to do so. KVM, as a native virtualization solution, is a complete and fully adequate system for small businesses that need to reduce costs, and also to make maintenance easier. “ - Georges E., Business Engineer and Consultant at All-Tech

    “The most valuable feature of KVM is the hypervisor environment and how we can configure it with ease. Additionally, the interface is intuitive.” Sonu S., Senior Solution Architect at Micro Focus

    Offer
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    Learn more about KVM
    Sample Customers
    Large customer base from all industries, all over the world. Two major Hyper-V customers are Telefonica and EmpireCLS.
    MediaWiki, Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia, Wikivoyage, Wikidata, Wikiversity, Commons
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Computer Software Company10%
    Outsourcing Company9%
    Energy/Utilities Company9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization29%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Comms Service Provider8%
    Government7%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company23%
    Energy/Utilities Company15%
    Aerospace/Defense Firm15%
    Manufacturing Company15%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Comms Service Provider11%
    Government8%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business48%
    Midsize Enterprise26%
    Large Enterprise27%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise37%
    Large Enterprise43%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business54%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise34%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business26%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise57%
    Buyer's Guide
    Hyper-V vs. KVM
    September 2023
    Find out what your peers are saying about Hyper-V vs. KVM and other solutions. Updated: September 2023.
    735,226 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Hyper-V is ranked 3rd in Server Virtualization Software with 38 reviews while KVM is ranked 4th in Server Virtualization Software with 12 reviews. Hyper-V is rated 7.6, while KVM is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Hyper-V writes "It's a low-cost solution that enabled us to shrink everything down into a single server ". On the other hand, the top reviewer of KVM writes "Reduces OpEx and is easy to maintain, along with low memory usage and a minimal interface". Hyper-V is most compared with VMware vSphere, VMware Workstation, Proxmox VE, Oracle VM VirtualBox and Citrix Hypervisor, whereas KVM is most compared with Proxmox VE, Oracle VM VirtualBox, VMware Workstation, Oracle VM and VMware vSphere. See our Hyper-V vs. KVM report.

    See our list of best Server Virtualization Software vendors.

    We monitor all Server Virtualization Software reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.