Microsoft Azure VMware vs VMware Cloud Foundation comparison

Microsoft Azure VMware vs. VMware Cloud Foundation

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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

Microsoft Azure VMware

Ranking in Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms

10th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

VMware Cloud Foundation

Ranking in Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) (10th)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure VMware is 3.6%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Cloud Foundation is 17.4%, down from 22.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
VMware Cloud Foundation	17.4%
Microsoft Azure VMware	3.6%
Other	79.0%

Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms

Featured Reviews

DhammikaWeerakoon

Solutions Area Lead at Tech One Global

Cloud migration has reduced hardware dependence and optimizes security and AI-ready operations

Microsoft Azure VMware is an area that requires attention. I believe the VMware part should eventually merge with Azure as a single Azure platform, moving away from hypervisor-on-hypervisor architecture and instead bringing VMware features into Azure as native capabilities or as VMware-labeled features running in a true cloud environment. Some features should be brought in to achieve this integration. Additional improvements for Microsoft Azure VMware would include integration with Azure Site Recovery and disaster recovery capabilities. The ideal scenario would be VMware as primary with disaster recovery in Azure, connecting in a native manner. These improvements should be delivered as an integrated solution available out of the box rather than as separate components. Integration with other solutions such as Microsoft Site Recovery should encompass Azure native business continuity and disaster recovery with VMware. Microsoft Azure VMware would serve as primary hosting and connect natively to business continuity and disaster recovery capabilities with Azure. This should be available as a native feature.

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Narasimha Reddy Illuri

VMware Administrator at Infosys

There is progress in performance and stability, but further advancements are needed for end-user satisfaction

VMware Cloud Foundation's best features include its advanced capabilities, security purposes, and performance levels. The solution offers efficient licensing options. Previously, vSphere essential was available, but now it has moved to VMware Cloud Foundation 8.0. It includes advanced features such as lifecycle manager, patching level, and cluster level patching options. The solution now offers auto-deployment of VMs. Previously, I had to use the content library, right-click, and create VMs manually. With VMware Cloud Foundation, auto-deployment is possible by simply right-clicking and assigning a specific DHCP IP, enabling physical to vCenter level communication for automatic VM deployment. The workload portability feature in VMware Cloud Foundation provides good workload balance. For instance, in a cluster level with four to five ESXi hosts, each host has minimum resources allocated for CPU and memory, resulting in significantly reduced utilization at the VMware Cloud Foundation level.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"For new users, if you have a scalable environment where a VMware data center makes sense for your business, I definitely recommend AVS."

"The capabilities are like a lift-and-shift operation for moving existing VMware environments to the cloud. The time for migration onto the cloud has substantially reduced."

"The integration is very good."

"Regarding stability, it is like a five-star solution."

"Since organizations are already on VMware, they can lift and shift everything to Microsoft Azure VMware, allowing the data center to be moved as a whole rather than as separate servers."

"Overall, I rate VMware Cloud Foundation a nine out of ten."

"They have in release 4.0 features from vSphere and Cloud Suite. It's a complete data center."

"The most valuable feature is the ease of migrating from on-premises infrastructure when transitioning away from older systems."

"I'm able to deploy many platforms like AWS, Google Cloud, Oracle, and Azure on VMware."

"VMware Cloud Foundation provides us with the vSphere dashboard through which we can manage, monitor, schedule, and spin up your virtual machines. We can manage, monitor, and get reports of your infrastructure."

"The tool's UI is great."

"The mission aspect of the solution is the most valuable feature."

"The initial setup is straightforward and easy."

More VMware Cloud Foundation pros

Cons

"Microsoft Azure VMware is an area that requires attention."

"Well, sometimes they release product after product, so it's it's kind of hard to keep an overview of all the different aspects of of the solutions."

"Azure VMware needs to cater to smaller enterprises, as it is currently meant for larger entities."

"The only issue is that a small challenge was found regarding the network...to have extended, smooth VLANs and everything else was a little bit complicated."

"Azure VMware needs to cater to smaller enterprises, as it is currently meant for larger entities. One improvement could be more support for mid-sized or scalable environments."

"There is room for improvement in customer service and support."

"The platform needs improvement in terms of troubleshooting."

"From a stability perspective, there may be some issues."

"There may be room for improvement in the resource allocation feature."

"I would like to be able to connect the APIs."

"The deployment is clumsy and complex. There are too many things that need to be done in order to deploy."

"The customization has room for improvement."

"The solution's log management could be improved because the logs don't provide enough information."

More VMware Cloud Foundation cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is very competitive."

"To be honest, the tool comes at a high price."

"The mandatory requirements, such as a minimum of three nodes, make it expensive. The customers need to sign up for approximately $20,000 per month."

"If our customer has the option to buy a server for $4,000 or $5,000, but VMware asks for two-person licensing $7,000 to $8,000, which is more than the hardware price. So sometimes, the customer cannot pay for it because it's too expensive."

"VMware Cloud Foundation is expensive compared to one of its competitors."

"This solutuion can be expensive for small and medium-sized companies."

"The solution’s pricing could be improved and made more flexible."

"The tool's price is slightly on the higher side, but I guess you think there is no one-to-one comparison with other tools. The licensing part has become easier, while earlier, it was quite complex."

"It is quite expensive."

"The pricing of VMware Cloud Foundation could improve, it is expensive."

"The licensing is expensive compared with Hyper V and Unitech's platform."

More VMware Cloud Foundation pricing and cost advice

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885,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

University

14%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	27

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure VMware?

The pricing is high, rated around nine to 9.5 out of ten. The mandatory requirements, such as a minimum of three nodes, make it expensive. The customers need to sign up for approximately $20,000 pe...

What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure VMware?

What is your primary use case for Microsoft Azure VMware?

People are moving to Microsoft Azure VMware primarily due to reducing on-premises hardware dependencies. One key factor is VMware licensing, and another is hardware costs. Hardware prices are incre...

What do you like most about VMware Cloud Foundation?

VMware Cloud Foundation provides us with the vSphere dashboard through which we can manage, monitor, schedule, and spin up your virtual machines. We can manage, monitor, and get reports of your inf...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Cloud Foundation?

The price for VMware Cloud Foundation is not cheap, as the market is competitive with AWS cloud. When comparing prices of both clouds, AWS is cheaper because they offer a free section for practice....

What needs improvement with VMware Cloud Foundation?

In VMware Cloud Foundation, areas that have room for improvement include the experience between VMware Cloud Foundation and the cloud. I prefer working with the cloud due to my study with the archi...

Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) vs Microsoft Azure VMware

Comparisons

Compared 35% of the time

Azure Stack vs Microsoft Azure VMware

Compared 26% of the time

VMware Cloud on AWS vs Microsoft Azure VMware

Compared 23% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs Microsoft Azure VMware

Compared 15% of the time

More Microsoft Azure VMware Competitors

Azure Stack vs VMware Cloud Foundation

Compared 24% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs VMware Cloud Foundation

Compared 11% of the time

Microsoft Azure vs VMware Cloud Foundation

Compared 9% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) vs VMware Cloud Foundation

Compared 9% of the time

Amazon AWS vs VMware Cloud Foundation

Compared 7% of the time

More VMware Cloud Foundation Competitors

Product Reports

Microsoft Azure VMware

Download Microsoft Azure VMware product report

VMware Cloud Foundation

Download VMware Cloud Foundation product report

Overview

Microsoft Azure VMware provides a seamless integration of VMware environments into Azure, offering enterprises an efficient way to extend workloads and optimize their IT infrastructure. This facilitates a native VMware experience within Azure, ideal for scaling and modernizing services.

Azure VMware enables businesses to leverage existing investments in VMware tools and skills while taking advantage of Azure's scalability and global reach. Users find it valuable for disaster recovery, datacenter extension, and application modernization. It supports consistent operations and reduces complexity by simplifying operations and cutting IT costs. Additionally, users appreciate its ability to integrate with other Azure services for increased functionality and performance.

What are the key features of Microsoft Azure VMware?

Hybrid Platform: Integrates on-premise VMware tools with Azure for consistent management.
Scalability: Easily scale VMware-based applications leveraging Azure's infrastructure.
Disaster Recovery: Offers robust solutions for backup and recovery scenarios, ensuring business continuity.
Flexibility: Supports various VMware workloads, optimizing performance and costs.

What benefits should you evaluate in reviews?

Cost Efficiency: Potential for reduced IT expenses by utilizing cloud resources for scaling.
Time Savings: Streamlines operations time with easy management and deployment.
Seamless Integration: Preserves existing investment in VMware tools and skills.
Enhanced Security: Utilizes Azure's comprehensive security features to protect workloads.

In industries like healthcare and finance, Microsoft Azure VMware is implemented to enhance datacenter capacities and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. Its ability to integrate with existing resources allows companies to transition workloads without significant disruption, providing a flexible and scalable solution that supports innovation while maintaining operational continuity.

Microsoft

VMware Cloud Foundation makes it easy to deploy and run a hybrid cloud. VMware Cloud Foundation provides integrated cloud infrastructure (compute, storage, networking, and security) and cloud management services to run enterprise applications in both private and public environments.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

ricoh, dell technologies, sky

Microsoft Azure VMware vs. VMware Cloud Foundation