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Hyper-V vs Oracle VM VirtualBox vs VMware Workstation comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 find Hyper-V cost-effective, citing savings on hardware, electricity, and maintenance, with quick value realization and efficiency.
Sentiment score
5.3
Oracle VM VirtualBox offers quick ROI by reducing costs and streamlining processes, with users reporting high satisfaction and time savings.
Sentiment score
1.0
VMware Workstation enhances cost savings, enabling efficient application testing and integration, resulting in improved job performance and satisfaction.
You need only one physical server that can host several virtualized servers within the same physical server instead of having multiple physical servers.
I did not perform any long-term stress tests, just for a couple of hours or days on every application.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.0
Hyper-V customer service receives mixed reviews, with satisfactory support often relying on Microsoft documentation and online resources.
Sentiment score
7.7
VirtualBox users prefer online documentation and community support over Oracle's support, which is seen as capable but slow.
Sentiment score
2.9
VMware Workstation's customer service is mixed, with varying responsiveness and reliance on community resources after HP acquisition.
Technical support from Microsoft is excellent, rated ten out of ten.
The technical support for Hyper-V is excellent
The technical support is very good
Their forum and documentation is more than enough for technical support.
On a scale of one to 10, I would rate their support or customer service a two or three since they never did anything.
The documents provided for Workstation were not hard to understand.
It's a very special way of working with VMware Workstation.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.5
Hyper-V scalability depends on licensing and infrastructure, with mixed reviews but praised for new features and resource allocation.
Sentiment score
7.2
Oracle VM VirtualBox is valued for scalable environments, though hardware limitations and memory overhead can impede performance.
Sentiment score
6.7
VMware Workstation is versatile, supporting multiple VMs, though opinions vary on scalability for larger operations and single installations.
Hyper V can support over two hundred virtual processors and around 12 TB of memory.
The scalability of Hyper-V is great; I would rate it nine out of ten.
VMware Workstation is scalable enough for larger companies, though it requires some skills.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
Hyper-V is stable with dependable performance, though updates and I/O tasks can cause occasional instability and resource issues.
Sentiment score
7.1
Oracle VM VirtualBox is generally stable but faces occasional issues, especially on Windows, rated around eight for stability.
Sentiment score
7.8
VMware Workstation is highly reliable, with improved stability post-v6, though minor virtual network issues may occur in specific scenarios.
Automation is unavailable, and reporting is difficult.
Frequent Windows updates can impact stability compared to VMware ESXi.
The snapshot functionality in Oracle VM VirtualBox is effective for management purposes.
The problem we are facing with stability is that the network adapter causes crashes of the VM when we're using it for developing purposes.
 

Room For Improvement

Hyper-V needs better user management, disaster recovery, interfaces, security, automation, cloud integration, and scalability for improved user experience.
Oracle VM VirtualBox users desire better networking, stability, resource management, and enhanced integration with diverse hardware and remote solutions.
VMware Workstation needs performance, usability, and cost improvements, enhanced stability, better documentation, and streamlined integration and scalability.
Hyper-V should ensure the features of VMware are covered within its platform.
Hyper-V could be improved by implementing the same set of features that other tools provide.
In future updates, I would like to see improvements in reporting and a resolution to some security weaknesses.
Having some kind of API to maintain Oracle VM VirtualBox would be beneficial.
Eventually, we had to get some licenses with Broadcom, and all the costs went up dramatically.
We faced challenges with backup due to limitations in the free version, requiring us to switch to a paid version.
The problem we are facing with stability is that the network adapter causes crashes of the VM when we're using it for developing purposes.
 

Setup Cost

Hyper-V is cost-effective, especially for small enterprises, but additional costs can arise with management tools and licenses.
Oracle VM VirtualBox provides a free version popular for cost-effectiveness, with enterprise licensing seen as expensive by some.
VMware Workstation is pricey but offers integration benefits with cost-saving opportunities through sales and varies by user needs.
Hyper-V is completely free and requires no licensing fee.
Hyper-V's licensing costs are lower compared to VMware, making it cost-effective for smaller workloads.
Until 2019, Hyper-V was a cost-effective solution because it was available as a free product.
In the enterprise scenario, all software solutions, including Oracle VM VirtualBox, are expensive.
 

Valuable Features

Hyper-V provides cost-effective virtualization with dynamic memory, live migration, seamless Azure integration, and an intuitive management interface.
Oracle VM VirtualBox is free, versatile, and easy to use, ideal for testing, education, and stable multi-platform virtualization.
VMware Workstation offers user-friendly virtualization, multi-OS operation, and superior testing flexibility, outperforming alternatives like Oracle VirtualBox.
It is completely free, which is a significant advantage.
I have seen return on investment with Hyper-V because it is both time-saving and cost-effective.
It offers the stability needed for non-enterprise data centers and has improved over time.
Its snapshot functionality helps with backup management.
The guest OS compatibility was tremendous because I used Oracle VM VirtualBox on Linux and ran Windows applications on top of that, working seamlessly.
VMware Workstation works correctly and has more features compared to Oracle VirtualBox.
VMware will just create a new machine immediately if we have a problem.
Simply being able to run several Windows PCs with different development environments has had the largest impact on our operational efficiency.
 

Mindshare comparison

Server Virtualization Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Hyper-V14.8%
Proxmox VE16.7%
VMware vSphere16.5%
Other52.0%
Server Virtualization Software
Server Virtualization Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Oracle VM VirtualBox6.1%
Proxmox VE16.7%
VMware vSphere16.5%
Other60.7%
Server Virtualization Software
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
VMware Workstation14.5%
VMware Fusion Pro18.6%
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)13.0%
Other53.9%
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

Ananth Narayana Rao - PeerSpot reviewer
Cost-effective and good for small workloads while addressing update-driven challenges is needed
I use Azure Monitor and other monitoring solutions to support clients in Accenture's managed services. We support multiple environments, primarily on cloud platforms like Azure and AWS, and also on-premises environments with operating systems like Windows, Linux, and Solaris, among others…
Tanvir Siddique - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Shambhu Narayan  Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
An easy-to-manage solution that has really good customer support compared to other market players
VMware Workstation makes it easy to manage all the resources that we are handling. VMware Workstation has reduced our infrastructure cost. If someone wants machines, I can create them easily using the solution. VMware Workstation is easier to manage than other workstations like Oracle Workstation. VMware Workstation is an easy-to-manage solution, and its support is really good compared to other market players. Overall, I rate VMware Workstation an eight out of ten.
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Comparison Review

it_user234735 - PeerSpot reviewer
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
15%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business68
Midsize Enterprise37
Large Enterprise46
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business32
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise17
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business32
Midsize Enterprise15
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 ...
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 featu...
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...
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.
Which VMware solution would you go with - Workstation or vSphere?
VM Workstation’s setup is so easy, you can use it almost instantly, it works well with Windows and Linux. We like VM ...
What do you like most about VMware Workstation?
The product is stable, very easy to deploy, easy to use, easy to configure, and easy to set up.
What needs improvement with VMware Workstation?
The product's integration capabilities are an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required.
 

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.
Akademiska Hus
Find out what your peers are saying about Proxmox, VMware, Microsoft and others in Server Virtualization Software. Updated: September 2025.
867,953 professionals have used our research since 2012.