KVM vs Nutanix AHV Virtualization comparison

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Read 38 KVM reviews
36,025 views|26,719 comparisons
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Aug 28, 2022

We performed a comparison between KVM and Nutanix AHV 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 KVM and Nutanix AHV report that their initial setup and deployment is straightforward and fast.

  • Features: KVM users say that the solution’s user-interface makes management easy and has many CLI options but that it lacks high availability across clusters. Nutanix AHV reviewers say it is stable, scalable, and provides good virtual machine backups. Some users note that the solution uses a lot of storage.

  • Pricing: KVM and Nutanix AHV are both open-source solutions and are therefore free of charge.

  • Service and Support: Since KVM and Nutanix AHV are free products, they do not offer customer support. There are several companies that offer paid support for these platforms.

Comparison Results: KVM has a slight edge in this comparison. It received higher marks for its user interface than Nutanix AHV did.

To learn more, read our detailed KVM vs. Nutanix AHV Virtualization Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,386 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
"Our production servers are running in Linux, and this solution supports that environment well.""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.""If you are a Linux desktop user, KVM is the solution to go with if you have to start virtual machines with Linux or other operating systems with almost zero extra configuration needed.""This solution is open source and easy to configure.""A very reliable solution which can be used for x86 architecture virtualization with reasonable overhead.""The GUI interface makes the management of KVM easier than ever before.""The KVM service is well managed with a central policy interface.""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."

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"It is the simple non-consideration we get with this product that's great. It just works.""It is a stable solution. I haven't faced stability issues in the solution.""Simplicity is the most valuable feature.""The solution is user-friendly and provides good virtual machine backups. The user interface gets updated when there is a new release.""Integration is the most valuable feature of the product.""You don't need any other instruments for control, AHV. You only need to look at the prism to control all infrastructure.""The most valuable aspect of this solution is that you don't need to pay for it, it's free, as opposed to paying for a VMware license.""The solution is stable."

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Cons
"In KVM, snapshots and cloning are areas where there could be a little more sophistication, like VMware.""The grid interface of KVM needs improvement. It could be more beautiful, especially when compared to VMware.""We are not getting good support from KVM, and it is not that user-friendly.""Some things are pretty basic, and they could be more robust with more detail.""Business continuity features need to be added.""The main drawback in the solution is probably disaster recovery.""The initial setup of this solution is more difficult than some of the competing products and it could be improved.""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."

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"There is no web interface with AHV.""The price of Nutanix AHV Virtualization could improve.""The solution's pricing could be improved.""The solution should work to improve its stability.""Adding even more integrations would be an improvement.""In terms of improvement, I think that they could have more partnerships with providers.""To face no complications in our company, we had to switch off virtual machines one after the other before heading to Nutanix platform and going to edge services to switch off and turn off everything, making it a challenging process for me.""Lacks integration with the cloud or other solutions."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "​It is free and can be run from your laptop, if needed, unlike VMware.​"
  • "It is cheaper than other competitors like VMware or Hyper-V."
  • "It is cheaper than other solutions out there on the market."
  • "This solution came with the Linux license."
  • "This solution is an open-source, free platform with paid support."
  • "It is free for everyone."
  • "The price is fair compared to others. But in our local market, it's a problem to get budget approval from management. That's why they are trying to get those products so we can give them the price benefit. But if you consider the international market or other products, it's sometimes better than their price."
  • "We had some problems with the licensing."
  • More KVM Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The most valuable feature of this solution is that there is no licensing fee."
  • "AHV is free, it's an open-source solution."
  • "Some of the features required additional licenses."
  • "We don't have to pay extra for Acropolis because it is built into Nutanix."
  • "The price of the solution is fair and if you want support there are additional fees."
  • "The price of the solution can always be lower. However, the price of the solution is reasonable."
  • "Nutanix AHV is free."
  • "The price of Nutanix AHV is reasonable."
  • More Nutanix AHV Virtualization Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    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.
    Top Answer:To understand which is better - Nutanix AHV or VMware vSphere - you need to do a product comparison. Both products support hypervisors. However, Nutanix supports some of the most popular ones and more… more »
    Top Answer:Integration is the most valuable feature of the product.
    Top Answer:The solution’s pricing is relatively fair. It could be improved, though.
    Ranking
    Views
    36,025
    Comparisons
    26,719
    Reviews
    13
    Average Words per Review
    444
    Rating
    8.5
    Views
    16,354
    Comparisons
    10,052
    Reviews
    22
    Average Words per Review
    568
    Rating
    8.6
    Comparisons
    Learn More
    KVM
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    Overview

    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

    Nutanix AHV is a secure, enterprise-grade solution for intuitive virtualization and container management. It streamlines operations and simplifies management for all your workloads and environments.
    Sample Customers
    MediaWiki, Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia, Wikivoyage, Wikidata, Wikiversity, Commons
    JetBlue, International Speedway Corporation, SAIC Volkswagen
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company27%
    Aerospace/Defense Firm13%
    Manufacturing Company13%
    Energy/Utilities Company13%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Comms Service Provider12%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    Government8%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company33%
    Financial Services Firm24%
    Retailer10%
    Comms Service Provider10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization27%
    Computer Software Company14%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    Manufacturing Company6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business53%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise33%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business26%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise56%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business32%
    Midsize Enterprise32%
    Large Enterprise36%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise37%
    Large Enterprise45%
    Buyer's Guide
    KVM vs. Nutanix AHV Virtualization
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about KVM vs. Nutanix AHV Virtualization and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    KVM is ranked 4th in Server Virtualization Software with 38 reviews while Nutanix AHV Virtualization is ranked 6th in Server Virtualization Software with 44 reviews. KVM is rated 8.0, while Nutanix AHV Virtualization is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of KVM writes "Delivers good performance because of kernel-based virtualization". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Nutanix AHV Virtualization writes "Lightweight, integrates well, and the technical support is responsive". KVM is most compared with Proxmox VE, Oracle VM VirtualBox, Hyper-V, VMware vSphere and RHEV, whereas Nutanix AHV Virtualization is most compared with Proxmox VE, VMware vSphere, Hyper-V, Citrix Hypervisor and Oracle VM. See our KVM vs. Nutanix AHV Virtualization 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.