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Hyper-V vs Oracle VM VirtualBox comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.0
Organizations save costs with Hyper-V by reducing physical server needs and IT expenses, compared to VMware.
Sentiment score
5.3
Oracle VM VirtualBox offers quick ROI by reducing costs and streamlining processes, with users reporting high satisfaction and time savings.
It saves us money compared to VMware because we still need to pay Microsoft licenses, but in addition to that we need to pay for VMware for virtualization.
IT Professional at NIPOS
You need only one physical server that can host several virtualized servers within the same physical server instead of having multiple physical servers.
Network and Infrastructure Manager at Sonysugar
I did not perform any long-term stress tests, just for a couple of hours or days on every application.
Technical Officer at ADN Telecom
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.9
Hyper-V support receives mixed feedback; generally positive but varies due to factors like regional availability and direct contact challenges.
Sentiment score
7.7
VirtualBox users prefer online documentation and community support over Oracle's support, which is seen as capable but slow.
Technical support from Microsoft is excellent, rated ten out of ten.
Vice President Hybrid Cloud Operations at Accenture
The technical support for Hyper-V is excellent
Head it at Ace Designers Limited
The technical support is very good
Manager of Systems at Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology
Their forum and documentation is more than enough for technical support.
Technical Officer at ADN Telecom
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.4
Hyper-V is highly scalable, enabling effective growth across environments, with some challenges but generally favorable user perception.
Sentiment score
7.2
Oracle VM VirtualBox is valued for scalable environments, though hardware limitations and memory overhead can impede performance.
There is a redundancy cost for high availability because data are stored mirroring on two nodes.
IT Professional at NIPOS
Hyper V can support over two hundred virtual processors and around 12 TB of memory.
Vice President Hybrid Cloud Operations at Accenture
The scalability of Hyper-V is great; I would rate it nine out of ten.
Head it at Ace Designers Limited
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
Users praise Hyper-V for stability, despite occasional backup and performance issues, with Windows updates impacting stability more than VMware.
Sentiment score
7.1
Oracle VM VirtualBox is generally stable but faces occasional issues, especially on Windows, rated around eight for stability.
Automation is unavailable, and reporting is difficult.
Software Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Frequent Windows updates can impact stability compared to VMware ESXi.
Vice President Hybrid Cloud Operations at Accenture
We have stable performance, but we see some glitches with some snapshots on Linux boxes in Linux virtual machines.
IT Professional at NIPOS
The snapshot functionality in Oracle VM VirtualBox is effective for management purposes.
Chief Executive Officer at Kipustec
 

Room For Improvement

Users seek Hyper-V improvements in cloning, virtualization, cost, security, RAM, interface, compatibility, networking, and cross-platform management.
Oracle VM VirtualBox users desire better networking, stability, resource management, and enhanced integration with diverse hardware and remote solutions.
In performance, it is hard to tell what is a weak spot in the solution or in our architecture or hardware.
IT Professional at NIPOS
All the actions are manual, and if customization is needed, it is difficult with Hyper-V.
Software Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
In future updates, I would like to see improvements in reporting and a resolution to some security weaknesses.
Technical Manager at OAK integrated System Pvt Ltd
Having some kind of API to maintain Oracle VM VirtualBox would be beneficial.
Technical Officer at ADN Telecom
 

Setup Cost

Hyper-V is free with Windows Server, but additional management tools and scale affect overall cost-effectiveness compared to competitors.
Oracle VM VirtualBox provides a free version popular for cost-effectiveness, with enterprise licensing seen as expensive by some.
Hyper-V is completely free and requires no licensing fee.
Software Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Hyper-V's licensing costs are lower compared to VMware, making it cost-effective for smaller workloads.
Vice President Hybrid Cloud Operations at Accenture
Until 2019, Hyper-V was a cost-effective solution because it was available as a free product.
Manager of Systems at Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology
In the enterprise scenario, all software solutions, including Oracle VM VirtualBox, are expensive.
Chief Executive Officer at Kipustec
 

Valuable Features

Hyper-V offers cost-effective virtualization with dynamic memory, live migration, PowerShell automation, and seamless Windows integration for enterprises.
Oracle VM VirtualBox is free, versatile, and easy to use, ideal for testing, education, and stable multi-platform virtualization.
It is completely free, which is a significant advantage.
Software Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
We switched to Hyper-V because it was lower cost than paying for high availability in VMware.
IT Professional at NIPOS
I have seen return on investment with Hyper-V because it is both time-saving and cost-effective.
Network and Infrastructure Manager at Sonysugar
The guest OS compatibility was tremendous because I used Oracle VM VirtualBox on Linux and ran Windows applications on top of that, working seamlessly.
Technical Officer at ADN Telecom
Its snapshot functionality helps with backup management.
Chief Executive Officer at Kipustec
 

Categories and Ranking

Hyper-V
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
145
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Oracle VM VirtualBox
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of Hyper-V is 17.2%, up from 14.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle VM VirtualBox is 5.7%, down from 8.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Virtualization Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Hyper-V17.2%
Oracle VM VirtualBox5.7%
Other77.1%
Server Virtualization Software
 

Featured Reviews

Tomas Basus - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Professional at NIPOS
Virtualization has reduced licensing costs and improved integration but still needs better performance insight
Integrations bring the biggest benefit to us. We use half of our virtual machines that are Microsoft, so it works better hosted in Hyper-V compared to VMware. Clustering and failover capabilities in the product help with our availability. It helped because we switched to Hyper-V because it was lower cost than paying for high availability in VMware. We need Microsoft licenses for virtual machines, so it costs less than buying two solutions for that. We have data center editions, so it did not cost us additional money compared to paying for high availability from VMware. I think it helped a little, but not so different compared to VMware regarding security and bandwidth optimization.
Tanvir Siddique - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Officer at ADN Telecom
Easily accesses open solutions with seamless compatibility for testing and development
The most valuable feature is the seamlessness. When I install a Linux operating system, I can use Windows applications through Oracle VM VirtualBox seamlessly. There are many applications that work only on Windows. For desktop testing purposes, I used Oracle VM VirtualBox, and it works fine. The guest OS compatibility was tremendous because I used Oracle VM VirtualBox on Linux and ran Windows applications on top of that, working seamlessly.
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Comparison Review

it_user234735 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technology Consultant, ASEAN at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
May 10, 2015
Hyper-V 2012 R2 vs. VMware vSphere 5.5
I was won with Hyper-V 2012R2 recently and the table below based on customer RFP (edited). This articles all about technical, there is not related with TCO/ROI, licensing cost, “political”, etc. Another to noted is the Windows Server 2012 licenses is based on 2 socket CPU, meanwhile…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
University
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business70
Midsize Enterprise37
Large Enterprise46
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business32
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise17
 

Questions from the Community

How does KVM compare with Hyper-V?
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 a...
How does Proxmox VE compare with Hyper-V?
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...
What do you like most about Hyper-V?
The initial setup is not difficult at all. It is very easy.
How does KVM compare to Oracle VM VirtualBox?
KVM is easy to use, stable and flexible. It is mature and very fast. It is an affordable open-source solution that is easy to set up and manage. It offers very good security. It has a virtual manag...
What do you like most about Oracle VM VirtualBox?
The product’s most valuable feature is the ability to manage multiple operating systems through one application.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle VM VirtualBox?
Maintenance is not necessary because I did not use it for heavy loads.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Large customer base from all industries, all over the world. Two major Hyper-V customers are Telefonica and EmpireCLS.
Airbus, Colorado State University, SCS Africa, Wolf Medical Systems.
Find out what your peers are saying about Hyper-V vs. Oracle VM VirtualBox and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
880,315 professionals have used our research since 2012.