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

Pure Storage FlashBlade vs VMware Software Defined Storage comparison

Pure Storage and VMware are both solutions in the Software Defined Storage (SDS) category. Pure Storage is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.8, while VMware is ranked #15 with an average rating of 8.5. Pure Storage holds a 4.4% mindshare in SDS, compared to VMware’s 1.2% mindshare. Additionally, 94% of Pure Storage users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of VMware users who would recommend it.
Pure Storage FlashBlade
Read 38 Pure Storage FlashBlade reviews
  • 5,202 Views
  • 780 Comparison Views
94% willing to recommend
VMware Software Defined Sto...
Read 7 VMware Software Defined Storage reviews
  • 316 Views
  • 275 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report
Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between Pure Storage FlashBlade and VMware Software Defined Storage based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Software Defined Storage (SDS) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE REPORT
To learn more, read our detailed Pure Storage FlashBlade vs. VMware Software Defined Storage Report (Updated: July 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Pure Storage FlashBlade vs. VMware Software Defined Storage
July 2025
Download the complete report
Helped 865,484 peers since 2012

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 Storage FlashBlade
Ranking in Software Defined Storage (SDS)
8th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
38
Ranking in other categories
All-Flash Storage (15th), File and Object Storage (8th)
VMware Software Defined Sto...
Ranking in Software Defined Storage (SDS)
15th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Software Defined Storage (SDS) category, the mindshare of Pure Storage FlashBlade is 4.4%, up from 4.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Software Defined Storage is 1.2%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Software Defined Storage (SDS)
 

Featured Reviews

Eric Black - PeerSpot reviewer
The ability to leverage multi-tenancy along with immutability is a huge benefit for us
The only thing I feel FlashBlade is missing is the SOS API. If it had SOS API, that would put it well over the top. Veeam Backup specifically has started to streamline their API, and they are doing that with SOS API. They have optimized it. Any of the S3 devices out there that support this SOS API can have far more API calls at once. On our side, that translates to better restoration. With SOS API, it can leverage far more restorations at a single given time or read from the device in simple terms. That results in maximizing the output and throughput from the device itself.
Read full review
MohammadJundiah - PeerSpot reviewer
Data security and performance excel but integration and licensing need improvement
I used Nutanix for its hyper-converged infrastructure capabilities and VMware Site Recovery for disaster recovery.  Additionally, I worked with VMware Software Defined Storage both internally and with partners to consolidate servers into one solution The most valuable features of VMware Software…
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

"The most valuable feature is Safe Mode."
"It helps simplify our storage, because the user interface is very simple and the installation is easy."
"The initial setup was straightforward. If you know how to plug in power and network you're pretty much qualified. They were on site to configure the network, the box to fit into our network architecture. Other than that, we self-managed from there."
"Among its most appealing features are its ease of handling and minimal maintenance requirements."
"The ease of deployment and management has helped us simplify our storage. We also do not have to worry about capacity management as much. A lot of these things are native to Pure Storage."
"We have integrated it with VMware. The integration process is pretty good. Especially with VMware, it helps with the capacity of it."
"We can capacity plan at a greater level than we used to."
"It performs well and it is also very fast."
More Pure Storage FlashBlade pros
"This is an easy-to-use product for adding flexibility to your storage solution."
"The single management panel is the main feature that is wonderful for the customer."
"The solution is simple to configure and provides good performance and less footprint."
"The best part of the solution is that you can actually scale up to a large number of operating systems without additional hardware."
"The most valuable features of the solution are that it is easy to deploy and the support is really good."
"VMware Software Defined Storage gives higher availability against data corruption."
"The most valuable features of VMware Software Defined Storage are scalability, high availability, and performance."
"The most valuable features of VMware Software Defined Storage are scalability, high availability, and performance."
 

Cons

"Pure Storage FlashBlade should improve on more cloud integration."
"Its configuration should be easier."
"I would like to see the licensing fees improved as well as the price per terabytes."
"The documentational aspect of FlashBlade needs improvement."
"To improve FlashBlade, some analysts suggest enhancing its handling of relational database management systems and SQL queries."
"Compared to, for example, Hitachi NAS, the solution is not mature at all. It's just in its infancy as far as technology goes."
"I want efficiency. FlashBlade doesn't have efficiency now."
"File storage needs a lot of improvement. Mainframe connectivity also needs improvement because it requires additional components to be integrated with Pure Storage FlashBlade. If you want to keep your backup data, then this becomes an even more expensive solution because Pure Storage FlashBlade will not be able to meet your backup needs."
More Pure Storage FlashBlade cons
"It doesn't have the ability to be deployed on any kind of hardware and network connectors."
"I'd like to see improved hardware compatibility"
"Simplifying the licensing model and making it cheaper would improve the solution."
"There is room for more integrations and plugins into more storages."
"The solution has some limitations in terms of replication to remote sites or cloud infrastructure, which need improvement."
"The license model of the product is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"VMware Software Defined Storage should include a shared database on a standard version."
"The performance is not as good as some competing products and reporting can be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I have seen ROI. It has allowed me to increase the density of my VMs without having to purchase anything additional."
"It's a costly solution, but Pure Storage FlashBlade doesn't require additional licenses. All of the software is combined into one bundle."
"The price is a little high."
"I feel that the price could always be lowered."
"I understand that it is competitively priced compared to other brands."
"Our customers have seen a reduction in TCO."
"The price of this solution could be made more affordable."
"Our licensing is renewed annually."
More Pure Storage FlashBlade pricing and cost advice
"I believe there is a yearly licensing fee of around $2000 - $5000. I don't think there are additional costs above that but it depends on the type of infrastructure you're booting."
"VMware Software Defined Storage is a slightly expensive solution."
"The product is quite expensive and is among the most expensive for this type of solution."
"The solution is very expensive."
"A single socket costs you around US $6,000 for three years. At a minimum, you have a three load cluster for a medium or enterprise-scale company. It can get quite expensive because you're likely to need four to six sockets on the other side. It comes to around $30,000."
report
See which vendors are best for you
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Software Defined Storage (SDS) solutions are best for your needs.
See recommendations
865,484 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Pure Storage FlashBlade?
The tool's most valuable feature is its fast performance, especially in handling snapshots. It helps during power outages when we need to quickly move data between different data centers. It ensure...
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Pure Storage FlashBlade?
The pricing of Pure Storage FlashBlade is expensive compared to other products I used from other companies in the past, but one benefit is that they have built-in ransomware protection. Approximate...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Pure Storage FlashBlade?
I believe there is not much improvement needed because they have everything we need, but the interface is a little bit complex to understand. You have to understand it more deeply because it's hard...
See all answers
What do you like most about VMware Software Defined Storage?
VMware Software Defined Storage gives higher availability against data corruption.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Software Defined Storage?
The price of VMware Software Defined Storage is on the pricey side, rated four out of five in cost. There is room for improvement in simplifying and reducing the licensing cost.
See all answers
What needs improvement with VMware Software Defined Storage?
There is room for more integrations and plugins into more storages. More automation, such as using Playbook on Ansible or other automation tools, would be very helpful. Simplifying the licensing mo...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs Pure Storage FlashBlade Logo
Dell PowerScale (Isilon) vs Pure Storage FlashBlade
Compared 19% of the time
MinIO vs Pure Storage FlashBlade Logo
MinIO vs Pure Storage FlashBlade
Compared 10% of the time
Red Hat Ceph Storage vs Pure Storage FlashBlade Logo
Red Hat Ceph Storage vs Pure Storage FlashBlade
Compared 10% of the time
Pure Storage FlashArray vs Pure Storage FlashBlade Logo
Pure Storage FlashArray vs Pure Storage FlashBlade
Compared 10% of the time
VAST Data vs Pure Storage FlashBlade Logo
VAST Data vs Pure Storage FlashBlade
Compared 9% of the time
More Pure Storage FlashBlade Competitors
IBM Spectrum Scale vs VMware Software Defined Storage Logo
IBM Spectrum Scale vs VMware Software Defined Storage
Compared 40% of the time
DataCore SANsymphony vs VMware Software Defined Storage Logo
DataCore SANsymphony vs VMware Software Defined Storage
Compared 33% of the time
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs VMware Software Defined Storage Logo
Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs VMware Software Defined Storage
Compared 28% of the time
More VMware Software Defined Storage Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Pure Storage FlashBlade
August 2025
Pure Storage FlashBlade reportDownload Pure Storage FlashBlade product report
Buyer's Guide
VMware Software Defined Storage
July 2025
VMware Software Defined Storage reportDownload VMware Software Defined Storage product report
 

Also Known As

No data available
VMware SDS
 

Overview

FlashBlade is the industry’s most advanced scale-out storage for unstructured data, powered by a modern, massively parallel architecture to consolidate complex data silos (like backup appliances and data lakes) and accelerate tomorrow’s discoveries and insights.

Pure Storage

VMware software-defined storage is a simple, yet intelligent, storage data center architecture that aligns with business and application demands—eliminating static, purpose-built and inefficient hardware with dynamic, agile and automated solutions.

VMware
 

Sample Customers

ServiceNow, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Dominos, Man AHL
Helse Nord, Sky
Buyer's Guide
Pure Storage FlashBlade vs. VMware Software Defined Storage
July 2025
Free Report: Pure Storage FlashBlade vs. VMware Software Defined Storage
Find out what your peers are saying about Pure Storage FlashBlade vs. VMware Software Defined Storage and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
DOWNLOAD NOW
865,484 professionals have used our research since 2012.
See our Pure Storage FlashBlade vs. VMware Software Defined Storage report.
See our list of best Software Defined Storage (SDS) vendors.

We monitor all Software Defined Storage (SDS) 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.