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Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs VMware NSX comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 6, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.0
Red Hat Ansible Automation minimizes setup time, lowers costs, boosts efficiency, scales well, and supports enterprises effectively.
Sentiment score
6.8
VMware NSX enhances infrastructure efficiency, CAPEX savings, cybersecurity, and ROI, but initial costs and security effectiveness have mixed reviews.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.2
Red Hat Ansible Automation's support is generally satisfactory, with users often utilizing community resources and varying experiences with technical support.
Sentiment score
6.6
VMware NSX customer service is praised for efficiency and expertise, but improvements in accessibility and responsiveness are desired.
I have not escalated any questions to the Red Hat support team regarding Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, as their modules are professional and complete.
The Ansible sales and technical support services need significant improvement.
They were always helpful.
The technical support from VMware NSX deserves a rating of seven out of ten.
Our technicians have a good support experience from the company.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform scales well for varying server sizes, offering adaptable and manageable automation for diverse environments.
Sentiment score
7.7
VMware NSX is praised for its scalability, robust performance, and efficient network integration, despite some complexity in scaling.
Ansible can face scalability issues, such as limitations when trying to scale up infrastructure.
There is a high level of satisfaction with its ability to scale.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is stable and reliable, scoring high in user feedback despite minor module glitches.
Sentiment score
8.1
VMware NSX is highly stable, with strong performance, scalability, and frequent updates addressing most bugs and integration concerns.
The stability of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is excellent, deserving a 10 out of 10 rating.
For stability, I would rate VMware NSX as a nine out of ten.
 

Room For Improvement

Red Hat Ansible needs better scalability, GUI improvements, improved orchestration, and enhanced integration, documentation, and automation execution speed.
VMware NSX faces challenges in costs, complexity, and user satisfaction, needing enhancements in automation, scalability, and security features.
The dashboarding capabilities should be improved by bringing CMP (Cloud Management Platform) into Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform.
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform could improve by creating modules for upcoming AI and ML tech stacks.
More detailed dashboards would be beneficial because there is a lack of dashboards on Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform.
The initial configuration and integration within our existing environment were not easy.
The licensing model is expensive and could be more flexible, especially after Broadcom bought VMware.
The pricing for the product is another area for improvement as I'm not satisfied nowadays.
 

Setup Cost

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform offers flexible pricing based on usage, with costs for advanced features and tailored licensing options.
VMware NSX is viewed as costly, with complex licensing and high initial costs, particularly impacting smaller organizations.
The pricing is high, and since I'm not using all functionalities, it would be better if the price depended on the functionalities used.
The cost of combining Red Hat Developer Hub and Ansible is extremely high, which presents a significant challenge with the Red Hat product.
It is free and open-source for testing or small labs.
The cost of VMware NSX is considered high.
There is room for improvement in terms of pricing.
VMware NSX is a little higher in price compared to the competition.
 

Valuable Features

Red Hat Ansible automates tasks with agentless architecture, YAML configs, community support, and a user-friendly interface via Ansible Tower.
VMware NSX offers enhanced security, seamless management, and flexibility with automation, scalability, and integration for cloud and on-premises solutions.
The agentless architecture of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, using the SSH key, makes it passwordless and allows us to push configurations with one click, creating a major advantage.
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is easy to integrate.
It makes it simple to develop Ansible playbooks and roles, which aids in simplifying my daily administrative tasks.
You're building a scalable solution, a secure solution, and a stable end-to-end solution; these are the main measurable benefits VMware NSX provides to the users.
The micro-segmentation feature is beneficial for adhering to strict security regulations from our security department.
The most powerful feature of VMware NSX is the micro-segmentation that allows us to separate the different protocols our application works with.
 

Categories and Ranking

Red Hat Ansible Automation ...
Ranking in Network Automation
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
71
Ranking in other categories
Release Automation (3rd), Configuration Management (1st)
VMware NSX
Ranking in Network Automation
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
105
Ranking in other categories
Network Virtualization (2nd), Cloud and Data Center Security (3rd), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (7th), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (9th), Microsegmentation Software (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Network Automation category, the mindshare of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is 18.1%, down from 23.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware NSX is 3.7%, down from 5.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Automation Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform18.1%
VMware NSX3.7%
Other78.2%
Network Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Sudhir Kumar Tiwari - PeerSpot reviewer
Have managed thousands of servers with streamlined configuration processes
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is very helpful due to passwordless integration and the ability to interact with multiple servers at once, which is especially advantageous when dealing with thousands of servers. The integration aspect of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform has optimized my IT ecosystem significantly by consolidating multiple tools, such as a CI/CD pipeline with Jenkins, where we validate everything, including testing and SonarQube code quality. The agentless architecture of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, using the SSH key, makes it passwordless and allows us to push configurations with one click, creating a major advantage. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform's main benefit is that it allows us to push configurations to multiple servers without manually visiting each one, maintaining efficiency.
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.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
20%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise48
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business33
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise68
 

Questions from the Community

What is the difference between Red Hat Satellite and Ansible?
Red Hat Satellite has proven to be a worthwhile investment for me. Both its patch management and license management have been outstanding. If you have a large environment, patching systems is much ...
How does Ansible compare to Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (SCCM)?
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager takes knowledge and research to properly configure. The length of time that the set up will take depends on the kind of technical architecture that your org...
What do you like most about Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform?
The most valuable features of the solution are automation and patching.
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 & 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

Ansible
VMware Nicira, Lastline Defender
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

HootSuite Media, Inc., Cloud Physics, Narrative, BinckBank
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 Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs. VMware NSX and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
867,370 professionals have used our research since 2012.