NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays vs VAST Data comparison

NetApp and VAST Data are both solutions in the All-Flash Storage category. NetApp is ranked #26 with an average rating of 9.5, while VAST Data is ranked #32. NetApp holds a 0.7% mindshare in AFS, compared to VAST Data’s 2.2% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of NetApp users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of VAST Data users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays and VAST Data are advanced storage solutions designed to enhance performance and scalability. NetApp seems to have the upper hand in support and pricing, while VAST Data stands out for its innovative feature set.

Features: NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays are known for reliability and high performance in data-heavy environments, efficient storage management capabilities, and consistent workload handling. VAST Data is praised for scalability, unique architecture allowing massive data capacity, and faster access times.

Room for Improvement: Users suggest improvements for NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays in areas of flexibility, advanced functionality, and complexity during upgrades. VAST Data could improve documentation quality, address stability issues during peak operations, and enhance overall reliability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays have a straightforward deployment process and dependable customer service, with responsive support teams. VAST Data also offers easy deployment and notable customer service, though some users experience response delays.

Pricing and ROI: NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays are considered cost-effective with good value and satisfactory ROI due to robust performance. VAST Data, perceived as more expensive, is regarded worth the price for enhanced features and scalability, offering strong long-term ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays vs. VAST Data Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays vs. VAST Data

September 2025

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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

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the All-Flash Storage category, the mindshare of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is 1.0%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays is 0.7%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VAST Data is 2.2%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

All-Flash Storage Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Pure FlashArray X NVMe	1.0%
NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays	0.7%
VAST Data	2.2%
Other	96.1%

All-Flash Storage

Featured Reviews

Jaehoon Oh

Chief Technology Officer at Lambda256

Supports efficient storage management through volume snapshots and offers reliable non-disruptive upgrades

I have no specific improvements to suggest for Pure FlashArray X NVMe at this time. The performance statistics could be enhanced. I can see the performance statistics in the Pure Storage console, but it does not show the performance by 4K byte unit. It displays IOPS and bandwidth, but IOPS is about real use, and I want to know how many IOPS are currently running in 4K byte units. I cannot see that IOPS because most storage systems report their performance by 4K byte unit. I want to see Pure Storage performance by 4K byte unit to compare with other storage or other internal NVMe SSD.

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Tayo Olubanke

Managing Director at GCET

Offers flexibility and top-notch technology

You can go to bed peacefully if you have a NetApp. If you have NetApp within your data center, you get to know about power failure if you are using it. Your NetApp will still come alive. Even if it does not come alive, I can say that it is not like other tools when it comes to dealing with power failure. The tool is affordable, and the technology is top-notch. It is the only technology that has software for what we call inline compression and deduplication. All the products under NetApp are aiming to use AI. I know that you can achieve whatever you want to do with NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays. I rate the tool a nine out of ten.

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Alan Powers

HPC CTO at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Stability-wise, a device that has been up and running for years

The failover capability and resiliency are some of the solution's valuable features. The big thing is resilience because it has richer coding in it, so multiple devices can't fail. Also, one can still access a number of CBoxes that can allow one to access their file system. Once a device fails, it fails the transparency of the end-user, and it just starts using another resource. The encryption capability, the snapshots, along with a whole bunch of features make the tool valuable. VAST Data keeps adding more and more features all the time.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The tool's valuable features are speed, security, data compression, and reliability. Its data compression feature is the best that we have ever seen. It helps us to save money and resources."

"Pure FlashArray X NVMe will quickly overcome all the hurdles you face, including network and latency issues."

"Pure FlashArray X NVMe has low latency and high Ops. It is an evergreen model."

"The database workloads are pretty fast because I frequently move data from here to there."

"Pure FlashArray X NVMe helps to improve our processing speed. It is user-friendly and easy to use."

"What I really like about this program, is that it is easy to use and easy to configurate."

"The most valuable features of Pure FlashArray X NVMe are its superior performance compared to other flash tiers, as well as its ease of use, with an intuitive user interface that is simple to deploy and use."

"Overall stability is very good. It is a very stable solution."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pros

"We use it for our VDI environment, and have not had any complaints with it."

"The hardware and software of NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays are easy for us to use."

"I like the performance aspect of EF Series. It basically provides everything that we are looking for as a solution, very low latency and very high performance."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is its speed."

"The most valuable feature is the ability to set a specific margin of performance to a specific workload."

"The product's initial setup phase can be managed easily and completed in 20 to 30 minutes. It is one of the fastest storage tools that you can implement."

"The benefits are better up-time, better response time."

"The management of it is very simple. that is the most valuable feature."

More NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays pros

"This has been one of the most reliable storage systems that I have ever used."

"The solution is useful for machine learning and scientific applications, including computer simulations."

Cons

"I would like to see some AI features that would allow arrays to intelligently identify threats or unusual behavior in the data pattern and give an alert."

"Right now, the box itself is just strictly working as a backend storage system. It would be fantastic if we could access it directly like a NAS device through network access or SIS drives. I think they have an interface, but I am not sure how good it is. If we could address a box directly on the network without having to go through a server, it would be great. The replication schemas could be improved. We are not using replication on the storage level right now. We use a different type of replication. If their replication would be as good as the one that we have, I would probably run the replication schema because it might be faster, but I don't know that for a fact. So, I cannot say that they have good replication. All I can say is that they need to inform us better."

"Efficiency improvements would always be welcome, but I'm not sure if they could get more efficient."

"We would like to see more visibility into garbage collection and CPU performance in the GUI."

"Many options to check performance, like read, writes, random writes, and random reads, are missing in Pure FlashArray X NVMe."

"We've seen that when we create a POD in synchronous mode, it increases the latency."

"It feels more suitable for small and medium-sized businesses rather than enterprises."

"The software layer has to improve."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe cons

"Their problems are on the software and the controlling of the storage where they lack segmentation and federation."

"I've observed an issue when creating a new storage solution with NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays."

"I’d like to see bigger, faster, better hardware, of course. I think that is the way the hardware is trending anyway; bigger, faster CPU, better software, fewer bugs, all that stuff. T"

"I would like to have the ability to replicate data between All Flash and other NetApp storage systems."

"The pricing could be cheaper and it should have documentation in more languages, specifically, Russian."

"The dashboard could be simplified."

"The management interface, while very reliable, it seems a little old now and could maybe use a little modernization."

"Its pricing should be better. Its price is competitive, but they need to improve the pricing. They have different licensing models, which they need to improve. My expectation was cloud integration, which they have, but it is a different license. Therefore, people cannot enjoy it. If I want to use it, I need to pay extra. There is a cost involved for everything, but it should reach everyone. It is similar to having a Rolls-Royce, but you need to pay extra for the key. If you want the key, you need to pay."

More NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays cons

"The read/write ratio is an area in the solution with some flaws and needs improvement."

"The write performance could be improved because it is less than half of the read performance."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Given its price, Pure is not the first option."

"The tool's pricing is cheap; I rate it a six to seven out of ten. Most of our sales are not subscription-based. We sell the hardware, and customers keep using it. They only renew the service part annually. The support can be a bit pricey, but the solution is more cost-effective than anything else out there."

"Pretty much everything that you need is licensed when you buy the product. Licensing to me is different than the maintenance cost, but they can bleed into one another. We buy the product, and we expect three years of support bundled into what we negotiate on our storage arrays. I would start to see maintenance costs going into the fourth year, but we're not there yet."

"As far as the licensing costs, everything is included in the license."

"Pure FlashArray X NVMe’s pricing is cheaper than other products."

"We pay approximately $50,000 USD per year in licensing fees."

"They can tout the functionality and cutting edge technology that they have, but that's where the price tag comes in. The cost is high, but I think as they grow their business and get more customers that it will probably go down a little bit."

"The product is expensive."

More Pure FlashArray X NVMe pricing and cost advice

"Its cost-effectiveness is a major selling point. Compared to other storage vendors, the EF-Series offers excellent value for its price. It's truly a leading product in the industry."

"They need to improve its pricing. The storage market is dying. So, they need to improve the price because it should reach all people. NetApp is one of the top ones, and they are charging a little bit of royalty as compared to other storage solutions."

"This solution is not available to many users because the cost is very expensive."

"One has to opt for a perpetual-based licensing model for one year or three years. After three years, you need to renew the license."

"NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays is an expensive product."

"Most of my customers pay for the license on a yearly basis. It can be expensive depending on the capacity number."

"he price point that we're getting is very competitive in the market. Since we are buying in such a large quantity, they gave us a huge discount."

"The pricing is comparable with other competitors and similar in mid-range solutions, and for high range solutions, it would depend on our requirements or needs."

More NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays pricing and cost advice

"We acquired VAST Data as a one-time, capital purchase."

"Price-wise, VAST Data is not the cheapest, not the most expensive one."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Performing Arts

12%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	12
Midsize Enterprise	10
Large Enterprise	18

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

Pure FlashArray X NVMe helps to improve our processing speed. It is user-friendly and easy to use.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

The price of Pure FlashArray X NVMe is very expensive, though I do not know the actual price because I am using the E...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Pure FlashArray X NVMe?

I have no specific improvements to suggest for Pure FlashArray X NVMe at this time. The performance statistics could ...

See all answers

What do you like most about NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays?

Considering the cost, I find NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays to be the best storage available in the market.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays?

One has to opt for a perpetual-based licensing model for one year or three years. After three years, you need to rene...

See all answers

What needs improvement with NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays?

The support of the product is an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required. I want NetApp's supp...

See all answers

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Comparisons

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Compared 34% of the time

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Compared 22% of the time

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Compared 20% of the time

NetApp ASA vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Compared 13% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

Compared 12% of the time

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NetApp AFF vs VAST Data

Compared 11% of the time

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Compared 9% of the time

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Compared 8% of the time

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Compared 8% of the time

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs VAST Data

Compared 7% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Pure FlashArray X NVMe

September 2025

Download Pure FlashArray X NVMe product report

Buyer's Guide

NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays

September 2025

NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays report

Download NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays product report

Buyer's Guide

NVMe All-Flash Storage Arrays

October 2025

Download VAST Data product report

Also Known As

Pure FlashArray//X NVMe, Pure FlashArray//X, FlashArray//X

NetApp EF540, NetApp EF-Series

No data available

Overview

Pure Storage FlashArray//X is the world’s first enterprise-class, all-NVMe flash storage array. It represents a new class of storage – shared accelerated storage, which is a term coined by Gartner – that delivers major breakthroughs in performance, simplicity, and consolidation.

Pure Storage

The NetApp EF560 all-flash array is an all-SSD storage system for applications that demand extremely high levels of performance and reliability. Requiring just 2U of rack space, the EF560 all-flash array combines extreme IOPS, microsecond response times, and up to 12GBps of bandwidth with leading, enterprise-proven availability features.

NetApp

Innovation to break decades of data storage trade-offs.

VAST Data

Sample Customers

Fremont Bank, Judson ISD, The Nielsen Company

RP Data, Western Oregon University, Toei Animation

Norwest Venture Partners, General Dynamics Information Technology, Ginkgo Bioworks

Buyer's Guide

NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays vs. VAST Data

September 2025

Free Report: NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays vs. VAST Data

Find out what your peers are saying about NetApp EF-Series All Flash Arrays vs. VAST Data and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

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