We performed a comparison between KVM and VMware Workstation based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Server Virtualization Software solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
"This solution is open source and easy to configure."
"KVM is stable."
"Very cost-effective."
"I like that it's easy to manage. It's also more powerful when it comes to security than others. That point of view is the one consideration. The other consideration is that it's cost-effective."
"The GUI interface makes the management of KVM easier than ever before."
"If you prefer command-line, there are all kinds of command-line options."
"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."
"I have found KVM to be scalable."
"Technical support is very good."
"The most valuable features of VMware Workstation are the speed of access and quality of upgrade. Those are the more important and pertinent aspects as far as we were concerned. Functionality and features were relevant for the customers. What a customer chose, we had to make sure that it operated."
"We are able to simultaneously run multiple operating systems in a single machine and have virtually no performance hit."
"The most valuable features of VMware Workstation are the DirectX support, you can run Microsoft Hyper-V in virtual environments which is good for me to test different installations. Additionally, you can set up different VLANs, and overall it is a complete solution."
"VMware Workstation is great for migrating and patching operating systems."
"It is much more mature compared to Nutanix or SimpliVity when it's cross-platform based."
"The performance is good."
"Great at solving connection problems."
"One thing that maybe could be improved is making it easier to scale. It needs to be more clear on how to scale the storage space for virtual machines."
"Its resource usage can be improved."
"There are some issues with the graphics and some software that is very complex."
"One problem I have is that it's not very scalable when it comes to resizing the VM disk dimensions. For example, if you have initially set a virtual drive to 10 GB and you want to upgrade it to 15 GB, it's not that easy."
"In our setup, we do not have any dashboards or orchestration, and it is hard to manage. We have 25 gig network cards, but the software driver we have only supported 10 gigs."
"I have previously used VMware and KVM is easier to use. However, they both have their strengths depending on their use cases. They are mostly equal. One of VMware's advantages is it has better support."
"Lacks high availability across clusters as well as support for Apache CloudStack."
"Business continuity features need to be added."
"The interface is a little wonky and needs to be improved."
"VMware Workstation has some network limitations which could improve, it is not as flexible as VMware NSX. Additionally, it could support operating systems better. I only run some Linux versions and Windows at the moment but it would be nice to be able to take whatever operating system you want and run it."
"It could have more platforms and CPUs."
"The GUI interface could be improved."
"Installing VMware Workstation isn't so easy. It's highly complex compared to Windows. I rate it four out of 10 for ease of installation. Setting up a remote desktop only takes a minute or so, but the Workstation itself takes some time."
"The price should be reduced."
"My experience with Workstation is limited, so I don't know all the functionalities of this tool. Maybe Workstation could add some more compatibility with other vendors."
"I would want to see features included that make deployment easier."
KVM is ranked 4th in Server Virtualization Software with 10 reviews while VMware Workstation is ranked 3rd in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) with 12 reviews. KVM is rated 7.6, while VMware Workstation is rated 8.8. The top reviewer of KVM writes "Reduces OpEx and is easy to maintain, along with low memory usage and a minimal interface". On the other hand, the top reviewer of VMware Workstation writes "Easy to use, powerful virtualization capabilities, and good performance". KVM is most compared with Proxmox VE, Oracle VM VirtualBox, Hyper-V, VMware vSphere and Oracle VM, whereas VMware Workstation is most compared with VMware vSphere, Hyper-V, Oracle VM VirtualBox, VMware Fusion and Proxmox VE.
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.
