Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Oracle VM VirtualBox vs VMware Workstation comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Oracle VM VirtualBox
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
Server Virtualization Software (7th)
VMware Workstation
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Virtualization solutions, they serve different purposes. Oracle VM VirtualBox is designed for Server Virtualization Software and holds a mindshare of 6.5%, down 9.8% compared to last year.
VMware Workstation, on the other hand, focuses on Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), holds 17.2% mindshare, up 14.8% since last year.
Server Virtualization Software
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

Tanvir Siddique - PeerSpot reviewer
Easily accesses open solutions with seamless compatibility for testing and development
The most valuable feature is the seamlessness. When I install a Linux operating system, I can use Windows applications through Oracle VM VirtualBox seamlessly. There are many applications that work only on Windows. For desktop testing purposes, I used Oracle VM VirtualBox, and it works fine. The guest OS compatibility was tremendous because I used Oracle VM VirtualBox on Linux and ran Windows applications on top of that, working seamlessly.
Shambhu Narayan  Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
An easy-to-manage solution that has really good customer support compared to other market players
VMware Workstation makes it easy to manage all the resources that we are handling. VMware Workstation has reduced our infrastructure cost. If someone wants machines, I can create them easily using the solution. VMware Workstation is easier to manage than other workstations like Oracle Workstation. VMware Workstation is an easy-to-manage solution, and its support is really good compared to other market players. Overall, I rate VMware Workstation an eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's a pretty good product in terms of monitoring."
"I think VirtualBox has good stability because I use it in an environment with several resolutions."
"This product is very user-friendly and easy to use."
"Oracle VM VirtualBox has a platform where the support team responds to frequently asked questions by its users. Every time I have had issues with Oracle VM VirtualBox, I always get a solution from Oracle's online platform or GitHub."
"I like that it is free and runs on Linux/Ubuntu - I wouldn't use any other solution. I am able to perform small developing tests."
"Oracle VM Virtualbox is easy to use and does not require much training."
"The solution's most valuable feature is its stability."
"It's very simple to use."
"We can undo some changes using the snapshot feature."
"I have found this product excellent for test/dev environments. This is 90% of what I use this product for."
"The tool’s GUI is very user-friendly."
"Technical support is very good."
"The product is stable, very easy to deploy, easy to use, easy to configure, and easy to set up."
"We initially intended to work with Hyper-V because we are selling a virtual appliance and thought our customers would want to run that on Hyper-V."
"VMware Workstation allows multiple operating systems in the same physical machine."
"I would rate the stability a ten out of ten."
 

Cons

"The user interface needs to be improved."
"It should have the functionality where if I move the mouse away from one screen, the context changes automatically."
"Oracle VM VirtualBox doesn't work properly with an antivirus tool."
"The user interface needs to be improved."
"This solution needs improvement with the business continuity planning, disaster and recovery management and using centralized data storage."
"Oracle VM VirtualBox is not flexible, It's not like VMware."
"The solution lacks some open source remote administration tools. The reload of individual virtual machine definitions through the vboxweb service (via its API) without restarting it and the access to shared storage (to use teleport functions) need to be improved."
"There are a few bugs that need to be updated."
"There could be more integration with different tools."
"Performance could be improved, it's somewhat clunky."
"VMware Player isn't downgradable, so if you have a later set of VMs, you need to upgrade it or figure out a workaround."
"The problem we are facing with stability is that the network adapter causes crashes of the VM when we're using it for developing purposes."
"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."
"The big issue that we've always had with VMware, was the disparity between what was presented for a Windows-based client and a Linux-based client. The Windows client was always two or three releases ahead of the Linux client. We always wanted VMware to change and improve the feature sets between the client connector on Linux and on Windows."
"I would want to see features included that make deployment easier."
"The network configuration was not as easy as it could be and could take less time. We faced challenges with backup due to limitations in the free version, requiring us to switch to a paid version."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This is an open-source product and it can be used free of charge."
"Oracle should consider reducing the cost of the product."
"There are no licensing fees."
"No licensing is required as it is open-source."
"Available for free use"
"The solution is free."
"The product is free to use."
"Everything is free within limitations. Once you go over a certain level of usage you have to license the product."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"It is an expensive solution."
"The solution's pricing is almost the same as what Google Cloud, AWS, or Microsoft would charge you."
"It has the best licensing modules."
"The tool is not the cheapest."
"The solution’s pricing is moderate."
"The product has a moderate price."
"VMware Workstation has a high price than competitors in the market."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Server Virtualization Software solutions are best for your needs.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Educational Organization
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How does KVM compare to Oracle VM VirtualBox?
KVM is easy to use, stable and flexible. It is mature and very fast. It is an affordable open-source solution that is easy to set up and manage. It offers very good security. It has a virtual manag...
What do you like most about Oracle VM VirtualBox?
The product’s most valuable feature is the ability to manage multiple operating systems through one application.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle VM VirtualBox?
Maintenance is not necessary because I did not use it for heavy loads.
Which VMware solution would you go with - Workstation or vSphere?
VM Workstation’s setup is so easy, you can use it almost instantly, it works well with Windows and Linux. We like VM Workstation primarily to test environments to determine how well a solution will...
What do you like most about VMware Workstation?
The product is stable, very easy to deploy, easy to use, easy to configure, and easy to set up.
What needs improvement with VMware Workstation?
The product's integration capabilities are an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Airbus, Colorado State University, SCS Africa, Wolf Medical Systems.
Akademiska Hus
Find out what your peers are saying about Proxmox, VMware, Microsoft and others in Server Virtualization Software. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.