RHEV vs VMware vSphere comparison

Red Hat and VMware are both solutions in the Server Virtualization Software category. Red Hat is ranked #12 with an average rating of 7.6, while VMware is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.3. Red Hat holds a 3.6% mindshare in SVS, compared to VMware’s 16.5% mindshare. Additionally, 78% of Red Hat users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of VMware users who would recommend it.

RHEV

Read 35 RHEV reviews

4,990 Views
3,735 Comparison Views

78% willing to recommend

VMware vSphere

Read 454 VMware vSphere reviews

27,394 Views
22,987 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

RHEV

VMware vSphere

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

RHEV and VMware vSphere are well-known virtualization platforms in competitive data center management. VMware vSphere appears to have an advantageous position because of its extensive feature set and perceived value relative to its higher price, while RHEV remains appealing due to competitive pricing and robust support.

Features: RHEV has strong security, scalability, and efficient resource management suitable for open-source settings. VMware vSphere includes comprehensive high-availability features, mature disaster recovery tools, and advanced network management which are attractive for companies seeking advanced virtualization.

Room for Improvement: RHEV could enhance ease of use, further integration options, and improve initial deployment processes to lower technical hurdles. VMware vSphere might benefit from reduced complexity in licensing options, enhanced cost efficiency, and further simplification of its comprehensive management tools.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: VMware vSphere is known for its straightforward deployment, extensive documentation, and dependable customer support. RHEV, as an open-source platform, offers flexibility but can require significant technical knowledge, which might increase setup complexities for some businesses.

Pricing and ROI: RHEV is attractive for its low setup costs, providing a favorable ROI thanks to cost-efficient open-source solutions. VMware vSphere, although expensive initially, offers substantial long-term ROI due to its rich features that optimize operational efficiencies, thus balancing the investment for those seeking high performance.

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

Buyer's Guide

RHEV vs. VMware vSphere

April 2025

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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

12th

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

7.1

Number of Reviews

454

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of RHEV is 3.6%, up from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware vSphere is 16.5%, 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.

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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…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is stable."

"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."

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

"The platform is scalable, allowing for the installation of multiple nodes."

"The most valuable feature of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization is its pricing."

"What they provide is way beyond the essential requirements of customers."

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

"It is easy to deal with when comes to application migration and its compatibility with the multiple component applications."

More RHEV pros

"It is easy to manage the solution. It is scalable and very stable."

"The vMotion in particular I think is the most valuable because this feature provides migrations of virtual machines in case you want to run do maintenance."

"VMware vSphere has useful tools for management and support."

"The solution has many valuable features. Virtualization is flexible and it has simple clustering. However, the most important feature is the ability to move between VMs. The vMotion features are very good."

"The product has good scalability."

"It is absolutely simple and efficient to manage. We can bring in people who have never been exposed to vSphere or virtualized environments and they're still able to support it from a server standpoint. The training time as well as the adoption rate, for a junior technician or somebody coming right out of college, is very good."

"We scale it both vertically and hortizonally. We have many data centers on it."

"The UI is very intuitive, you don't have to spend hours before you figure it out. All in all, compared to other environments, like Hyper-V, we find vSphere a lot more user-friendly and intuitive to use."

More VMware vSphere pros

Cons

"A few features of the product do not work as well as those in VMware."

"The UI should be more interactive with additional features."

"There is not any proper documentation on the site to reference."

"I would love to see better documentation and ease of use."

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

"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."

"The solution has a very small lifecycle."

"It would be better to have more patches, especially kernel-level updates, live and online so that we can keep the business up and running during this period."

More RHEV cons

"Pricing is starting to get a little high-end."

"It is pricey for small business."

"Technical support could be faster in terms of response times."

"The installation can take a long time, they need to improve on the simplicity and length of the installation."

"The solution could be a bit more user-friendly."

"Integration with different platforms could be improved."

"In addition, I think they should come up with a backup feature which is more product enrichment-based. It should be a full-fledged backup solution. It just is not there right now."

"I would like them to move into having a containerized application to manage the vCenter."

More VMware vSphere cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are using the free version of Red Hat."

"I would say the price is acceptable."

"Its price depends on the use cases."

"We buy a license for commercial use, and we also use the free editions."

"The solution does not require licencing but a subscription is necessary, which is very affordable."

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

"I believe we pay on a yearly basis."

"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."

More RHEV pricing and cost advice

"The licensing cost is strictly based on the number of CPUs that your hosts have."

"I find it highly expensive."

"The pricing is too expensive. The reason why we implemented Hyper-V is because of the licensing costs. They are way too high."

"It's a monthly subscription model."

"The licensing has become cheaper over time."

"There is an annual cost for the use of this solution. The price is a little high in developing countries. If they were able to reduce the price they would receive more customers now and even more in the future."

"Pricing is a little bit on the higher side, compared to other products."

"Our customers typically use permanent licenses, not subscription-based. However, there are subscript-based licenses."

More VMware vSphere pricing and cost advice

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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…

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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

Educational Organization

41%

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

27%

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

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?

My teammates and I often complain that VMware is well-documented and has a large community since it is the de facto standard. I would love to see better documentation and ease of use. For newcomers...

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 18% of the time

Hyper-V vs RHEV

Compared 10% of the time

KVM vs RHEV

Compared 9% of the time

Nutanix AHV Virtualization vs RHEV

Compared 7% of the time

Oracle VM vs RHEV

Compared 4% of the time

More RHEV Competitors

Hyper-V vs VMware vSphere

Compared 23% 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 8% of the time

VMware Workstation vs VMware vSphere

Compared 6% of the time

More VMware vSphere Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

RHEV

May 2025

Download RHEV product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware vSphere

April 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

April 2025

Free Report: RHEV vs. VMware vSphere

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

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