RHEV vs VMware vSphere comparison

Red Hat and VMware are both solutions in the Server Virtualization Software category. Red Hat is ranked #13 with an average rating of 7.8, while VMware is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.4. Red Hat holds a 3.4% mindshare in SVS, compared to VMware’s 16.4% mindshare. Additionally, 79% of Red Hat users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of VMware users who would recommend it.

RHEV

Read 36 RHEV reviews

4,043 Views
4,043 Comparison Views

79% willing to recommend

VMware vSphere

Read 456 VMware vSphere reviews

26,125 Views
22,729 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

RHEV

VMware vSphere

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 27, 2025

RHEV and VMware vSphere are two leading platforms in the virtualization category. While RHEV demonstrates an advantage in pricing and support, VMware vSphere stands out with its extensive feature set, appealing to enterprises that need comprehensive virtualization solutions.

Features: RHEV integrates well with open-source environments, offers simple resource management, and includes SELinux for enhanced security. VMware vSphere is recognized for its high scalability, the vMotion feature for seamless movement of virtual machines, and advanced memory management capabilities.

Room for Improvement: RHEV could benefit from enhanced third-party software integration, a more intuitive user interface, and broader community support. VMware vSphere might improve by reducing its complexity for beginners, streamlining its licensing costs, and providing more flexibility in storage options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: RHEV is known for a straightforward deployment process and accessible support, benefiting from its compatibility with open-source systems. VMware vSphere, while complex to deploy, offers robust support resources helping organizations during the setup and ongoing management phases.

Pricing and ROI: RHEV is cost-effective with lower setup costs, making it attractive to budget-conscious businesses. VMware vSphere involves higher initial expenses but often justifies the cost within enterprise environments needing detailed virtualization support alongside a robust ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed RHEV vs. VMware vSphere Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

RHEV vs. VMware vSphere

July 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 865,164 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

RHEV

Ranking in Server Virtualization Software

13th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

VMware vSphere

Ranking in Server Virtualization Software

2nd

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

456

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of RHEV is 3.4%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware vSphere is 16.4%, down from 20.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Server Virtualization Software

Featured Reviews

Sujeet-Kumar

Project Manager Cloud Infrastructure at Path Infotech ltd

The solution is scalable and affordable, but it lacks features, and it is not easy to manage

Management of RHEV is not as easy as VMware. Some features do not work. The product does not provide features similar to VMware’s VMotion. After creating the cluster, the VM is moved to another node if we move down. However, the VM does not move the parent node automatically. It has to be moved manually. VMware moves it automatically. RHEV moves it to the parent node only if we restart. Everything can be handled in VMware through the GUI. However, in RHEV, some things can be managed through UI, and others cannot. We have to troubleshoot and use CLI. A few features of the product do not work as well as those in VMware.

Read full review

Neeraj Mehra

Manager of Solutions and Support at Esconet Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Streamlines virtualization and has features like high availability and vMotion

The primary use case is for virtualization, including the implementation of vSphere, vCloud Foundation, vCloud Director, and cloud automation with vSphere My customers, particularly SMBs, mainly utilize High Availability (HA), DRS, and vMotion features. The vMotion feature is beneficial for…

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

"Customers are moving to open source and Red Hat is the leader in this particular space. I think customers feel more confident running Red Hat Virtualization than VMware."

"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution."

"We find the ease of use of this solution to be invaluable. It is user-friendly and integrates well with other software."

"This solution is very stable. Much more so than similar products."

"Technically, the main reason why I'm using Red Hat is because of its stability."

"Stability and speed are the most valuable aspects."

"One of the most valuable features of this solution is the popularity of the OS."

"The price is the solution's most valuable aspect. It's much cheaper than, for example, VMware."

More RHEV pros

"The solution is easy to use, user-friendly interface and has high availability features. When comparing it to other solutions it is more robust."

"It stands out as a comprehensive and advantageous solution, providing a full package that effectively caters to our needs for managing our private cloud."

"The most valuable features for us are HA, DRS, and SDRS."

"The solution is user-friendly. It is easy to convert, create, and manage systems."

"The built-in encryption of vSphere really helps us to secure our customers, especially customers in the medical field who need to be HIPAA compliant. Being able to encrypt the VM itself helps out a ton."

"The redundancy, the failover, the ability to stay up and running 24/7, all the various tools that are in there, high-availability, DRS, are very critical to us."

"VMware vSphere is rated at ten on a scale of one to ten. It is a perfect solution."

"The fact that we have the ability to easily scale out, and the ability to do maintenance on the underlying hardware without impacting our business applications, are important aspects."

More VMware vSphere pros

Cons

"We hope that Red Hat can produce a paradigm edition. We are looking for paradigm computing and paradigm storage. Its scalability can be improved. It is not easy to scale, and we hope that Red Hat can provide a more scalable system. They should also provide local service and support. Our customers are looking for a good software vendor to provide professional services."

"While everything needs improvement in some way, I have no specifics."

"Specifically, enhancements in managing virtual machine migrations, cloning, and the creation of different VMs could further optimize its functionality."

"With RHEV, the cyberattacks should be fewer. I want RHEV to be better protected."

"This solution could be more secure."

"In comparison to VMware, this solution isn't as stable. We're testing it right now, and we're not trusting the stability of the product."

"Customers are not aware of this solution, they can improve by providing more awareness and solution availability."

"The solution has a very small lifecycle."

More RHEV cons

"The only improvement that is needed that come to mind are improvements in the vRealize Automation and vRealize Operations management simplicity."

"The pricing of VMware vSphere needs significant improvement. Although the product is very strong and includes all necessary features, the high pricing drives many customers to avoid using it."

"It is not easy to upgrade VMware vSphere from an old version to a new version."

"The biggest thing to improve is to have more self-service in the portals. I would like to receive more help through the web interface."

"Here in Egypt, we would like everything free. So if you give us the license for free, we would be thrilled."

"I would like to start to using NSX in the next release."

"There are some challenges around ESXi hosts — converting them into VMs."

"We previously had a hard time using tech support."

More VMware vSphere cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This is an open-source solution."

"Its price depends on the use cases."

"It's a budget product as far as I'm concerned. It's way cheaper than any of its competitors. The only thing cheaper than Red Hat is that the people who take the Red Hat code clone it and then self-support it."

"This product has a variety of licensing options available. However, the level of licensing, and therefore the cost of licensing, is dependent on the number of servers being utilized."

"I would say the price is acceptable."

"We have to pay extra for vulnerability and fault tolerance."

"RHEV offers pricing based on a per-physical-machine licensing model."

"The price of RHEV is high. It is an open-source solution, the price should be less. The price should not be on par with a solution, such as VMware. It's not more or equal to VMware, it's less, but the difference should be more substantial."

More RHEV pricing and cost advice

"I did a comparison between physical server to virtual. There was a point in time where we would size out a virtual server to be a massive size, then we'd buy a physical server of the equivalence. We saved somewhere around 20 percent going virtual, as opposed to the physical equivalent."

"The pricing is reasonable and you are able to purchases licencing for certain time frame intervals, monthly, yearly etc."

"Our licensing fees on paid on a yearly basis and the pricing is fine."

"It is expensive in terms of cost, licensing, and professional services."

"Its licensing is typically yearly. From a value standpoint, it's worth it."

"I think the licensing cost depends on the number of users."

"It's a pricey solution."

"VMware licensing and pricing are a bit more expensive compared to others, like Hyper-V. However, you get what you pay for."

More VMware vSphere pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Server Virtualization Software solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

865,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Comparison Review

Thang Le Toan (Victory Lee)

CIO at Robusta Technology & Training

Jan 13, 2015

vSphere vs. RHEV vs. Hyper-V vs. XenServer

We have used the following functions: 1. Hypervisor: to ensure that the virtual server provide web and email services to the company, thus providing a stable operation a with single sign-on integration of an AD server and vCenter. 2. Network and Storage: centralized data server…

Read full review

Answers from the Community

Sridhar Battarusetty

VP-Global Supply Chain Management at mobileum

Feb 7, 2024

What are the differences between RHEV and VMware vSphere?

See 2 answers

Anne Cubarrubia

Editor at PeerSpot

Aug 21, 2023

Here is a comparison of the two hypervisors, RHEV (Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization) and VMware vSphere: RHEV Pros: Open source Highly scalable Cost-effective Cons: Not as mature as VMware vSphere Not as widely supported as VMware vSphere VMware vSphere Pros: Mature and widely supported Wide range of features Easy to use and manage Cons: Not open source Can be expensive Some prefer RHEV because it is open-source and cost-effective. However, VMware vSphere may be the better option if you need a hypervisor with a wide range of features and support. As to which solution consumes fewer resources, RHEV is a lighter-weight hypervisor than VMware vSphere, so it consumes fewer resources. However, you must remember that each hypervisor's resource consumption depends on the configuration and workload.

Read full answer

Rajkumar Gera

Vice President, IT Infrastructure ( DC Operations ) at Vodafone Idea Ltd.

Feb 7, 2024

Hi Sridhar, This is Rajkumar Gera, VP IT in one of the Telecom. Below are some of the points, may help you: FEATURE RED HAT ENTERPRISE VIRTUALIZATION VMWARE VSPHERE Key differentiators Open source solution Proprietary solution Purchased via one subscription Multiple levels of functionality sold in editions with different price points Bare-metal performance for virtualized applications Application high availability (Enterprise Plus version only) Prioritized high availability so critical workloads are restarted first Desktop and server virtualization One infrastructure for managing desktops and servers Add-on products for desktop virtualization: VMware Player, VMware Horizon View, VMware Horizon DaaS, and VMware Horizon Mirage Remote access to virtual desktops through SPICE Full support for multimedia applications Management server Included in the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization subscription Requires purchase and license of VMware vCenter and database support Virtual machine density 40 cores: 4,682@288 40 cores: 3,824@234 160 cores: 14,061@864 160 cores: result not available Self-service portal Allows users to provision and manage VMs and templates with a browser Requires the purchase of VMware vCloud Automation Center Integration with OpenStack technology Supports the open Neutron pluggable networking API Supports VMware’s NSX networking plug-in Supports the OpenStack image service for a unified image repository between virtual and cloud platforms Does not support the OpenStack image service

Read full answer

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about RHEV?

The initial setup is fairly straightforward and well-documented. The process is very similar to its competitors. The success of your setup depends on how well you plan.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for RHEV?

It's the open source. There's not much cost. It's very minimal comparably. Compared to what I am paying for VMware, it's negligible.

See all answers

What needs improvement with RHEV?

The RHEV management plane could be improved, particularly the management interface. Something more similar to a Google, Amazon, or Azure interface might attract people to use its management interfa...

See all answers

What is IOMMU?

DEEPEN DHULLA did explain well IOMMU. IOMMU has to be activated at the bios level. It exists on Intel and AMD platforms. It is used a lot inside virtualization platforms like VMware VSphere. It pr...

See all answers

Why KVM??? Help please!

We use VMware and KVM. We find that KVM is a lot simpler to use and it provides the virtualization we need for Linux and Windows. For us, VMware does not offer any advantage. Moreover, KVM is free.

See all answers

What is the biggest difference between Nutanix Acropolis and VMware vSphere?

We found the reduced power consumption with Nutanix Acropolis AOS a very attractive feature. We also like the interface that allows you to talk directly to your VM from the present software. We fou...

See all answers

Comparisons

Proxmox VE vs RHEV

Compared 27% of the time

Hyper-V vs RHEV

Compared 11% of the time

KVM vs RHEV

Compared 10% of the time

Nutanix AHV Virtualization vs RHEV

Compared 7% of the time

Oracle VM vs RHEV

Compared 5% of the time

More RHEV Competitors

Hyper-V vs VMware vSphere

Compared 30% of the time

Oracle VM vs VMware vSphere

Compared 14% of the time

Proxmox VE vs VMware vSphere

Compared 13% of the time

KVM vs VMware vSphere

Compared 7% of the time

Citrix XenServer vs VMware vSphere

Compared 6% of the time

More VMware vSphere Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

RHEV

August 2025

Download RHEV product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware vSphere

July 2025

Download VMware vSphere product report

Also Known As

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization

No data available

Overview

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization, or RHEV, is a leading open standard enterprise virtualization management solution. This solution supports virtualization of servers and desktops using the same infrastructure and a single easy-to-use interface.

Because RHEV is based on open standards, it is vendor-independent and a lot more cost effective and flexible than proprietary solutions.

Red Hat

VMware vSphere is a versatile virtualization platform known for its ease of use, flexibility, and high availability. It supports seamless migration, optimal resource allocation, and centralized management, making it highly suitable for diverse infrastructure needs.

VMware vSphere is widely adopted for its virtualization capabilities that enhance hardware efficiency and ensure minimal downtime through features like High Availability and Distributed Resource Scheduler. Despite criticisms about high licensing costs and limited fault tolerance, it remains a preferred choice due to its stability, scalability, and robust integration options. Users appreciate its efficiency in managing virtual machines and hosting enterprise applications, although challenges with web client performance and hardware compatibility are noted. Organizations often look for better integration with cloud services and enhanced automation and scalability.

What are the core features of VMware vSphere?

vMotion: Enables seamless migration of virtual machines without downtime.
Distributed Resource Scheduler: Optimizes resource allocation across hosts.
High Availability: Minimizes downtime by automatically restarting virtual machines.
Centralized Management: Facilitates easy management of virtualized environments.
Advanced Security: Provides robust security measures and compliance features.

What benefits and ROI can businesses look for?

Reduced Operational Costs: Efficiently utilizes hardware, saving on expenses.
Scalability: Easily scales to meet growing business demands.
Business Continuity: Ensures high availability and disaster recovery.
Integration Flexibility: Supports integration with various technologies.

VMware vSphere is implemented across sectors like healthcare, finance, and education for server virtualization, data center management, and private cloud creation. Its use in facilitating business-critical operations ensures high availability and efficient resource use, supporting both development and production environments.

VMware

Sample Customers

Qualcomm and Bonham's Auction House.

Abu Dhabi Ports Company, ACS, AIA New Zealand, Consona, Corporate Express, CS Energy, and Digiweb.

Buyer's Guide

RHEV vs. VMware vSphere

July 2025

Free Report: RHEV vs. VMware vSphere

Find out what your peers are saying about RHEV vs. VMware vSphere and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

865,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our RHEV vs. VMware vSphere report.

See our list of best Server Virtualization Software vendors.

We monitor all Server Virtualization Software 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.