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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 17.3% 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
  • 5,335 Views
  • 3,875 Comparison Views
78% willing to recommend
VMware vSphere
Read 454 VMware vSphere reviews
  • 29,259 Views
  • 24,243 Comparison Views
94% willing to recommend
 

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.

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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
35
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 April 2025, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of RHEV is 3.6%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware vSphere is 17.3%, down from 19.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Virtualization Software
 

Featured Reviews

Sujeet-Kumar - PeerSpot reviewer
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 - PeerSpot reviewer
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

"The solution is overall very good with all the facilities. It is user friendly, easy to configure, has documentation, and support is available."
"The price is the solution's most valuable aspect. It's much cheaper than, for example, VMware."
"The solution has a good licensing module."
"Technically, the main reason why I'm using Red Hat is because of its stability."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the support portal."
"One of the most valuable features of this solution is the popularity of the OS."
"When you purchase RHEV, you are essentially buying a subscription license. This license can be integrated with various client types, including these integrations with the subscription."
"This solution is very stable. Much more so than similar products."
More RHEV pros
"We saved a lot of time and hardware with this solution. It also prevents fewer incidents."
"This solution is very stable. It's scalable and simple to set up."
"The tool makes virtualization easy. It was free, and we could profit from its GUI. It helps to manage VMs easily."
"The most valuable feature would be enhanced, what we call, Linked Mode to link our disaster recovery site to our primary site across different vCenters, without being required to be broken apart. Meaning, we have identity management and the actual vCenter servers split. We can actually do embedded now, thanks to vSphere 6.7."
"What I like about it is being able to see my entire organization, especially with some of the newer enhanced links. All of my data centers show up in one view and I can see every server that's running. I also get performance statistics so if there are issues, major problems going on, I can see them."
"The most valuable features for us are DRS, VMotion, and, of course, some of the analytics that we were able to define to quantify our workloads and tell us how we are able to make our data center more efficient."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its performance."
"I don't see any challenges in using this product."
More VMware vSphere pros
 

Cons

"While everything needs improvement in some way, I have no specifics."
"A few features of the product do not work as well as those in VMware."
"I heard that there are big differences between Red Hat eight and seven, but it's still quite difficult for me to judge it. I found it a bit more difficult to manage than version seven, which was much easier. In term of features, though, it is still not yet clear which is better. I have no clear idea of which features need to be changed at the moment."
"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."
"We should improve how we manage storage domains and make more comprehensive control available through the command line."
"The solution could use network virtualization."
"Specifically, enhancements in managing virtual machine migrations, cloning, and the creation of different VMs could further optimize its functionality."
"The solution should be made more user-friendly."
More RHEV cons
"I'd like to get rid of the Flash Client. There are still some things we need to go in there and use it for, some plugins and other things aren't supported in the HTML5."
"Where I think there is room for improvement is in the HTML5 interface in vCenter. What it lacks, for me, is integrating to VMware's other products, especially NSX."
"As we introduce the DevOps culture, we need to make sure that the principles and tools used to support this approach can be easily integrated and interoperated with the vSphere environment with no (or less) redundancy in tools and functionality."
"Its price should be better. Their support should also be more customer-friendly, and they should train people like us so that we know more about the latest technologies and features. If there is some program and drive from their side to teach us, it is definitely going to help us. Pricing and support are the most important features for mid-level companies. We are not implementing this solution for big tech companies."
"There are certain tools the can't run in parallel and occasionally, in those instances, we have trouble migrating customers from one source to our data center."
"vSphere could perhaps be improved by more integration or better security."
"The biggest pain point is probably the firmware management of the underlying hardware. It could be a lot better."
"It would be useful to have features like micro-segmentation, changing the mix as well as part of vSphere"
More VMware vSphere cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution does not require licencing but a subscription is necessary, which is very affordable."
"Its price depends on the use cases."
"We buy a license for commercial use, and we also use the free editions."
"Price-wise, RHEV is okay, in my opinion."
"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."
"RHEV offers pricing based on a per-physical-machine licensing model."
"I would say the price is acceptable."
"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."
More RHEV pricing and cost advice
"We pay for the license of VMware vSphere yearly."
"It could be cheaper."
"VSphere is an expensive solution."
"My advice when it comes to pricing is that pricing is a bummer, especially when it comes to SnS coverage."
"The product is worth what you pay for it. I definitely feel like I"m getting good value."
"We are spending less on buying bigger machines, which are overprovisioned. Thus, the ROI is found in consolidation and cost savings."
"The pricing is a bit complex."
"It's a pricey solution."
More VMware vSphere pricing and cost advice
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Comparison Review

VL
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

SB
Feb 7, 2024
Feb 7, 2024
What are the differences between RHEV and VMware vSphere?
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 o...
See 2 answers
Anne Cubarrubia - PeerSpot reviewer
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
RG
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
45%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Educational Organization
27%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

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

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Compared 17% of the time
Hyper-V vs RHEV Logo
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Compared 10% of the time
KVM vs RHEV Logo
KVM vs RHEV
Compared 9% of the time
Nutanix AHV Virtualization vs RHEV Logo
Nutanix AHV Virtualization vs RHEV
Compared 6% of the time
Oracle VM vs RHEV Logo
Oracle VM vs RHEV
Compared 5% of the time
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Hyper-V vs VMware vSphere Logo
Hyper-V vs VMware vSphere
Compared 24% of the time
Oracle VM vs VMware vSphere Logo
Oracle VM vs VMware vSphere
Compared 14% of the time
Proxmox VE vs VMware vSphere Logo
Proxmox VE vs VMware vSphere
Compared 13% of the time
KVM vs VMware vSphere Logo
KVM vs VMware vSphere
Compared 8% of the time
Citrix XenServer vs VMware vSphere Logo
Citrix XenServer vs VMware vSphere
Compared 6% of the time
More VMware vSphere Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
RHEV
April 2025
RHEV reportDownload RHEV product report
Buyer's Guide
VMware vSphere
March 2025
VMware vSphere reportDownload 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
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