Hyper-V vs VMware vSphere comparison

Cancel
You must select at least 2 products to compare!
Microsoft Logo
46,701 views|38,652 comparisons
VMware Logo
42,690 views|35,633 comparisons
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Apr 28, 2022

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

  • Ease of Deployment: Users of both solutions report that the initial setup and deployment is straightforward and fast.

  • Features: Users of both products are happy with their stability and scalability.

    Hyper-V users report that it performs well and is user-friendly but utilizes a high amount of memory and resources.

    VMware VSphere users say it is flexible and easy to use and has good virtualization, and fast data recovery. A few VMware VSphere users say that the solution should improve its security and monitoring features.
  • Pricing: Hyper-V users agree that it is a low-cost solution, whereas most VMware VSphere users feel it is an expensive product.

  • Service and Support: Most users of both solutions report being satisfied with the level of the support they receive.

  • ROI: Both Hyper-V and VMware VSphere users are satisfied with the ROI.

Comparison Results: VMware VSphere is the winner in this comparison. It is easy to deploy, reliable, robust, and has excellent customer support. Hyper-V does come out on top in the pricing category, however.

To learn more, read our detailed Hyper-V vs. VMware vSphere Report (Updated: September 2023).
734,678 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 replication, creation, and import wizard, as well as the integration with reporting tools, are the most useful features.""It's good for what it does. If you have a small or medium-scale acclimatization, it's an excellent solution.""I value the simplicity of configuration because it has worked as expected for my client.""It's a very manageable product.""The restore function of the virtual server is valuable to me.""The solution has good scalability.""The most valuable feature of Hyper-V is the replica service.""I like the functionality."

More Hyper-V Pros →

"Its stability and manageability are valuable.""VMware vSphere has a lot of features that are valuable, such as multiple clusters, VM mobility, VDI, and virtual desktop.""The most valuable feature of this solution is vMotion.""Its scalability potential is good.""I definitely like the stability, performance and ease-of-use.""The enterprise direction is very complete and the data center provides almost everything you need.""The most valuable feature of VMware vSphere is the ability to work in a big system infrastructure.""It is a very dependable solution. Its performance is very good, and it is also easy to manage and implement."

More VMware vSphere Pros →

Cons
"The weakness of Hyper-V is in its interaction with iSCSI protocols.""The biggest problem with Hyper-V is that the virtual machines are mostly running on top of the Windows Server, so we often need to reboot the machine and virtual machines when updating the host level. That's why we prefer VMware. It's much easier to patch the host. Also, Hyper-V has security vulnerabilities. It's easy to attack and compromise the host.""Security, computing balance, and taking snapshots could be improved. Features like DRS and memory ballooning could be added.""Failure capabilities are insufficient for disaster recovery.""The solution is lacking in numerous features and lacks flexibility.""Hyper-V doesn't have a lot of features and is limited compared to other virtualization software.""The technical support is good but it could improve by being faster.""Some of the interfaces need improvements, like the virtual switch or virtual VLAN interfaces."

More Hyper-V Cons →

"The solution should be more secure.""It lacks a snapshot feature.""When we talk about the overall private cloud stack, I would prefer for it be a lot more seamless.""In terms of what could be improved, we do face some bugs when cloning the virtual machine - it fails sometimes.""VMware vSphere could improve on the automation features and the ease of use of the solution in many areas, such as the interface. However, VMware is doing lots of great things.""Archiving, exporting, and backing up need to be improved for this solution, because they're slower than expected.""The solution could be cheaper and less expensive.""The monitoring is not good in vSphere, many times you have latency or you cannot find what you want. The events should be improved."

More VMware vSphere Cons →

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 don't have an active subscription. We have a prepaid or permanent license."
  • "Our customers incur a yearly licensing fee, one of three or five years, in fact."
  • "In my opinion, the price is not cheap, not it is expensive. It's average."
  • "Our customers have the option of paying the licensing fee when they purchase the solution or renting it from us."
  • "We pay our licensing fees on a yearly basis."
  • "The solution comes with a yearly subscription license."
  • "The price is not an issue for our mid-sized or large-sized customers, but it can be expensive for our smaller customers."
  • "I'm satisfied with the VMware vSphere price. They have a bundle that is priced well. However, any advantage feature is very costly."
  • More VMware vSphere Pricing and Cost Advice →

    report
    Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Server Virtualization Software solutions are best for your needs.
    734,678 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    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:DEEPEN DHULLA did explain well IOMMU. IOMMU has to be activated at the bios level. It exists on Intel and AMD platforms. It is used a lot inside virtualization platforms like VMware VSphere. It… more »
    Top Answer:We use VMware and KVM. We find that KVM is a lot simpler to use and it provides the virtualization we need for Linux and Windows. For us, VMware does not offer any advantage. Moreover, KVM is free.
    Top Answer:We found the reduced power consumption with Nutanix Acropolis AOS a very attractive feature. We also like the interface that allows you to talk directly to your VM from the present software. We found… more »
    Ranking
    Views
    46,701
    Comparisons
    38,652
    Reviews
    35
    Average Words per Review
    415
    Rating
    7.7
    Views
    42,690
    Comparisons
    35,633
    Reviews
    57
    Average Words per Review
    415
    Rating
    8.9
    Comparisons
    Learn More
    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.”

    VMware vSphere is a powerful and complete server virtualization platform that allows its users to create and manage virtual data centers and machines. VMware vSphere is designed to help IT departments set up and run applications using the most cost-effective computer resources. By using vSphere, organizations save the time and energy necessary for purchasing infrastructure and software and reduce ongoing maintenance and operational burdens on IT teams.

    Infrastructure administrators and network operators can access and manage the vSphere server by using a web-based cross-platform client application or via the vSphere client tool provided with vSphere. 

    VMware vSphere provides visibility into VMs and enables its users to carry out operations to manage VMs. This includes tasks such as:

    • Powering VMs on and off
    • Launching the VM console
    • Shutting down guest operating systems
    • Settings configurations
    • Taking system snapshots

    VMware vSphere Benefits

    Some of the benefits of using VMware vSphere include: 

    • Reduced costs: Since VMware applications are run on a server, it is not necessary to spend large amounts of your organization’s money on hardware, software, and infrastructure.
    • Increased productivity and customer satisfaction: VMware is able to operate multiple complex processes simultaneously. With all your applications being managed and run on the cloud, downtime, failures, and application errors are rare. VMware easily scales up and down to meet your computing needs. The high availability that VMware provides allows your IT staff to focus on other issues and keeps your customers satisfied with the service they receive.
    • Unlimited access to your VMs: VMware’s user-friendly cloud-based interface allows any employee to work from any location at any time.
    • Enhanced security: VMware’s security tools deliver full visibility into your entire system. This keeps your applications and data more secure, in any type of environment. VMware provides multiple protective tools including antiviruses and anti-malware, as well as backup and recovery services.

    VMware vSphere Features

    Below is a list of some of VMware vSphere’s key features:

    • Transferable virtual machine images: Export and import virtual machine images from your local environment. This gives users the ability to set up and configure their systems locally and only upload them to the server once everything is working properly. VM images can be moved back and forth between vendors, ensuring that your company is never tied up to a specific cloud vendor.
    • User-friendly interface: Using VMware’s intuitive console, you can easily create, manage, share, and deploy virtual machines.
    • API integration: VMware’s APIs support integration with third-party applications for data protection, multipathing, and disk array solutions.
    • Distributed power management: Automate efficiency by continuously optimizing server power consumption within each cluster.

    Reviews from Real Users

    VMware vSphere stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. A few major ones are its virtualization abilities, its flexibility and availability, and its user-friendly interface.

    Felix D., an Automation project administrator, DCS, I&E at Centennial Cayman Corp, writes, “The connectivity is fantastic, and many functions can run together in one server. If you need to scale, we can continue to add components or modules. It's a beautiful virtual solution that has many advantages over physical hardware, where you have to use devices and wiring to connect all your projects.”

    Offer
    Learn more about Hyper-V
    Learn more about VMware vSphere
    Sample Customers
    Large customer base from all industries, all over the world. Two major Hyper-V customers are Telefonica and EmpireCLS.
    Abu Dhabi Ports Company, ACS, AIA New Zealand, Consona, Corporate Express, CS Energy, and Digiweb.
    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
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Energy/Utilities Company10%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Retailer6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization26%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Government7%
    Financial Services Firm6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business48%
    Midsize Enterprise26%
    Large Enterprise27%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise37%
    Large Enterprise43%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business30%
    Midsize Enterprise24%
    Large Enterprise46%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise34%
    Large Enterprise46%
    Buyer's Guide
    Hyper-V vs. VMware vSphere
    September 2023
    Find out what your peers are saying about Hyper-V vs. VMware vSphere and other solutions. Updated: September 2023.
    734,678 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Hyper-V is ranked 3rd in Server Virtualization Software with 38 reviews while VMware vSphere is ranked 2nd in Server Virtualization Software with 56 reviews. Hyper-V is rated 7.6, while VMware vSphere is rated 9.0. 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 VMware vSphere writes "Strong performance, works well with large infrastructures but it is quite expensive". Hyper-V is most compared with VMware Workstation, Proxmox VE, Oracle VM VirtualBox, KVM and Citrix Hypervisor, whereas VMware vSphere is most compared with Proxmox VE, VMware Workstation, Oracle VM, KVM and Nutanix AHV Virtualization. See our Hyper-V vs. VMware vSphere 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.