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Nutanix Flow Network Security vs VMware NSX comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

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

Nutanix Flow Network Security
Ranking in Microsegmentation Software
5th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
VMware NSX
Ranking in Microsegmentation Software
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
105
Ranking in other categories
Network Virtualization (2nd), Cloud and Data Center Security (2nd), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (8th), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (7th), Network Automation (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Microsegmentation Software category, the mindshare of Nutanix Flow Network Security is 6.0%, down from 8.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware NSX is 16.5%, down from 22.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Microsegmentation Software
 

Featured Reviews

Gus Thompson - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers great integration capabilities and helps design a disaster recovery plan
My company is still determining how the product has improved network visibility. My organization is still actively developing the product. There are many things my company is doing in the background to make sure that our VMs come up. My company deals with Nutanix Cross Hypervisor Disaster Recovery, so we are moving from an ESXi or VMware to Nutanix AHV, meaning that my company is crossing over from hypervisor technologies and leveraging Nutanix to maintain the networks at our DR facility. The most valuable feature of the product in enhancing the security posture stems from the micro-segmentation provided by the product, but I think that it is a functionality in its early stages. The product's micro-segmentation features are being developed to be made robust against technologies such as NSX from VMware and other hypervisor-dependent technologies such as Guardicore. I can't say that the product has given my company any additional features yet, but we hope that the tool will provide us with additional functionalities in the future. The product's micro-segmentation features seem to be on par with the other technologies in the market when it comes to its ability to isolate workloads. I haven't noticed any improvements in my company due to the automation capabilities of the product, especially since everything is done manually in our organization because we know the application very well, and we also know how we want to protect it. I am sure the product has automatic features, but we haven't used them in our company. There has been a positive impact due to the integration capabilities of the product with the other solutions in our company's IT infrastructure. I recommend the product to those who plan to use it, especially those who use Nutanix AHV as a hypervisor. It would be a good choice to work with the account rep in your company so that you can get a system engineer to help you walk through the majority of the deployment and setup phases since the documentation has certain shortcomings. I rate the overall tool a ten out of ten.
MagdyRaafat - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced security and streamlined management drive efficient connectivity
Open source is a standard solution where you take a gray box or white box and put the software from your end. You can do programming with Ansible and make the network work in the software-defined mode, providing automation and management capabilities. I am currently working with VMware. It integrates easily with everything and can work with any system. When discussing micro-segmentation, it enhances security, providing more secure data in your data center while allowing for extra layers of security outside your data center. If you have an ACI, there is communication between locations, keeping your data secure in your data center and throughout the path it takes, such as to SD-WAN or the cloud. I work with cloud solutions including AWS, Azure, GCP, and private cloud. My overall rating for VMware NSX is 8.5 out of 10.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Nutanix Flow Network Security is a simple solution that is usable, easy to understand, and easy to deploy."
"We appreciate the fact that this solution allows us to segregate two virtual machines that are in the same cluster."
"They also introduced that they develop API first and the rest follows."
"It is a very stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"Flow Network Security's most valuable features are user-friendliness, the console, and policy creation."
"It allows for policies that enable complete visibility and traffic control."
"Nutanix Flow has a lot of data protection features. It's also valuable for operations and management. It's a big solution that works well with different solutions and is suitable for most business cases."
"The network view was excellent as it allowed us to expand the server view and visualize all connections it made within the environment. This was particularly useful in identifying the path of our data and not just its location within the data center."
"The most valuable features are ease of use and user interface."
"The stability is great. That's one of the things that we can quantify and leverage through NSX, because it's less complex. We have the availability to manage multiple things at the same time. You can identify problems before they manifest."
"The most valuable feature of VMware NSX is the DFW (distributed firewall)"
"Provides protection for virtual machines."
"Technically, VMware NSX is more advanced technology-wise when compared to others. We have been studying it and so far, so good. We know that the NSX product is superior when it comes to software virtualized networks. </p> <p>If you are looking to work with new and future technologies, then NSX is one of the best options. It costs less for power consumption since it will be a virtual network and not a pure physical network that consumes more energy."
"The microsegmentation allows me to sleep at night. My job is reducing risk, plugging security holes, and working with the automated layer security. Even if somebody spins up a new server, it has to have a tag in NSX."
"The most valuable feature of VMware NSX is the load balancing and routing of firewall rules. Many of the features are beneficial."
"The most valuable feature of VMware NSX is the ease of use and its user friendly. For example, it is simple to change the subnet masks."
 

Cons

"The documentation offered by the product is an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"I would rate Flow Network Security's stability seven out of ten - it could be improved."
"Nutanix Flow's networking features could use some improvement. Also, I don't know if it's currently supporting load balancing or not."
"For customers who are running Nutanix Flow and AHV, the largest area for improvement is in the disaster recovery environments. To automate the populate of rules from one side to the other side in case of disaster you report everything on the disaster recovery site, and you have all the rules automatically applied. This was something that was being built when I left Nutanix. It might already be available. Additionally, the usability of the rules editor could improve."
"The most difficult part is the configuration of the initial blueprints."
"While the graphical interface of Nutanix Flow Network Security could have been improved, and some of the reporting features needed extra work, the product's features were similar to VMware's NSX. The difference lay more in the presentation and user interface."
"We would like the reporting functionality of this solution to be improved."
"The solution’s pricing could be improved."
"They have to work more and more on the integration for public cloud services and have cyber security platform integration."
"The network-extending capabilities for the physical environment need improvement."
"In the next release, they should enhance the visual interface. With NSX-T, it's difficult to communicate between the public cloud and the container."
"VMware NSX provides a lot of automation capabilities, but there is still room for improvement."
"I would like to have automating reporting built into common service management platforms, such as JIRA, Serviceaide, and ServiceNow."
"The feature it can improve is essentially application-based load balancing with intelligent load distribution for applications that require redundancy and high availability."
"If you're worried that NSX is too complex, I would tell you to take another look. If you compare NSX to a similar solution you might find it to be a bit more complex. Usually, the guy that comes in to implement NSX isn't the network guy and will lack the knowledge for the program. He can lack the knowledge for this program and will therefore think it's complex. You need somebody with network experience."
"Quite a complex solution."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Flow Network Security is available on a three-year license, with annual renewals of the maintenance fee."
"There are different licensing models."
"This model is very accessible to implement."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."
"In comparison to other options available in the market, I would rate their pricing as very competitive, probably a two or three out of ten for cost."
"There is an annual subscription to use this solution. There is a 60-day trial to use the solution, it gives you time to decide if you want to continue using the solution."
"The product is available for free use."
"The price of this product is too high."
"There is a license required for this solution, we pay annually."
"This solution requires a licence."
"The subscription is on a yearly basis."
"VMware has a subscription and perpetual license. In the New Year, they're changing many things about the licensing model. Previously, NSX was licensed according to the number of sockets inside the appliance, so we bought VMware licenses based on that. However, that may have changed this year. We are still contacting the vendors to understand the new licensing strategy."
"VMware NSX is a cheaper product compared to its competitor, Cisco."
"The price is significantly high and it can be a hurdle for many potential users."
"Pricing and licensing could be improved as we are a government entity. Lower pricing could always help."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Healthcare Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Nutanix Flow?
Nutanix Flow Network Security is a simple solution that is usable, easy to understand, and easy to deploy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Nutanix Flow?
There are different models like Nutanix AOS Pro or Ultimate license. The prices are different, but it's not in the same price range as Cisco ACI, for example.
What needs improvement with Nutanix Flow?
Last time I used it, it was not handy to see or to analyze traffic logs. As a Check Point partner as well, we have some more expectations to log in. Probably, it's possible to forward all the traff...
What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?
There are some very major differences between both the Products and to name a few. -Cisco ACI have physical network gear (9K Switches) where the Code runs in ACI Policy Mode &amp; the UCS server wh...
What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?
Once you know your way around the Cisco ecosystem, using Cisco ACI is not so difficult. It is a global product, so when you change one interface, changes are automatically reflected on every switch...
What do you like most about VMware NSX?
The product has valuable features for security and network extension.
 

Also Known As

Nutanix Flow Microsegmentation
VMware Nicira, Lastline Defender
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

JetBlue, International Speedway Corporation, Volkswagen SAIC, Brighton and Hove City Council, Foresters Financial, Janus International Group, Cloud Comrade, Serco
City of Avondale, Lumeta, Kroll Ontrack, Heartland Payment Systems, Baystate Heallth, Exostar, Tribune Media, iGATE, NTT Communications, Synergent, California Natural Resources Agency, Bloomington Public Schools, Columbia Sportswear, Join Experience S.A, Schuberg Philis
Find out what your peers are saying about Nutanix Flow Network Security vs. VMware NSX and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
862,452 professionals have used our research since 2012.