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Hyper-V vs VMware Workstation comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

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

Hyper-V
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
143
Ranking in other categories
Server Virtualization Software (3rd)
VMware Workstation
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Virtualization solutions, they serve different purposes. Hyper-V is designed for Server Virtualization Software and holds a mindshare of 14.1%, down 14.5% compared to last year.
VMware Workstation, on the other hand, focuses on Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), holds 15.4% mindshare, up 15.3% since last year.
Server Virtualization Software
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…
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We can perform maintenance on equipment during the day because we can live migrate all of the machines from one server to another."
"There are two very good things about this product including licensing and stability."
"My understanding is it's easy to set up."
"The replication, creation, and import wizard, as well as the integration with reporting tools, are the most useful features."
"The solution allows us to take advantage of our physical environment."
"I like the functionality."
"The initial setup of Hyper-V is far easier than VMware."
"The initial setup is very easy."
"VMware Player helps you to virtualize and install Ubuntu or any other operating system, even on a Windows laptop."
"The product's initial setup phase was simple."
"Technical support is very good."
"The features are good."
"The initial setup is simple and takes only five minutes to complete."
"It's really easy to build testing environments with VMware Player."
"VMware Workstation is easy to manage and understand."
"I would rate the stability a ten out of ten."
 

Cons

"In terms of performance, when compared to VMware, it is much slower."
"There's room for improvement in Hyper-V. One area I've personally encountered issues with is live migration. Sometimes during live migrations, the process gets stuck in a certain state. This can happen with replication as well. It's not necessarily a major problem, but at times, the error messages aren't very informative. They don't clearly explain why the migration failed."
"I am using this solution with E-Notes. I heard that there will be future improvements in integration of the E-notes systems. This would be very helpful."
"There is a problem with high-availability if the load is too high."
"There needs to be more functionality overall in the Hyper-V manager."
"When it comes to Hyper-V the worst thing is it's based on the Windows operating system. For the installation of Hyper-V, you're supposed to install the right operating system. For me, it's strange."
"Virtualizing Linux isn't as easy as virtualizing Windows."
"I think the setup for the Virtual Network Manager could be improved."
"For some virtual machine configurations, you have to go to the text editor and make the configuration changes, which could be improved."
"VMware Workstation’s scalability could be improved."
"The support can be improved."
"The GUI interface could be improved."
"The solution should provide a guide on its installation."
"They could add more integration between them, and compatibility with the standard virtualization format."
"The price of VMware Workstation could improve."
"The solution freezes sometimes."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is not an issue for us because we have a licensing agreement with Microsoft. So we are given an 80% discount."
"It's not expensive."
"Hyper-V is free when you buy Windows Server. You only have to pay for engaging in the management aspect in System Center."
"I think I'm okay with the cost. There are no monthly or yearly costs or additional costs."
"It is one of the cheapest products in the market."
"We chose this solution because of the pricing and the simplicity of the product."
"Hyper-V is expensive."
"The price is quite fair. It is not too expensive."
"With all its support and ease of use, VMware Player's pricing is fair."
"The pricing is a bit steep in my opinion for testing and there are other options."
"I use the free version of VMware Workstation."
"I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten, with ten being expensive."
"The product has a moderate price."
"VMware Workstation is an expensive solution in Asian countries."
"VMware Workstation is an expensive tool. I rate the product's price a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is a high price, and ten is a low or good price."
"VMware Workstation's costs are lifetime."
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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
Educational Organization
18%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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.
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 Workstation primarily to test environments to determine how well a solution will...
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.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Large customer base from all industries, all over the world. Two major Hyper-V customers are Telefonica and EmpireCLS.
Akademiska Hus
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