RHEV vs VMware vSphere Foundation comparison

Red Hat and Broadcom are both solutions in the Server Virtualization Software category. Red Hat is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.3, while Broadcom is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.4. Red Hat holds a 2.4% mindshare in SVS, compared to Broadcom’s 0.7% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of Red Hat users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 83% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

RHEV

Read 37 RHEV reviews

3,545 Views
3,510 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

VMware vSphere Foundation

Read 15 VMware vSphere Foundation reviews

761 Views
761 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

RHEV

VMware vSphere Foundation

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 6, 2024

RHEV and VMware vSphere Foundation compete in the virtualization market. Data comparisons indicate VMware vSphere Foundation has the upper hand with its advanced features, outweighing its cost compared to RHEV, which is perceived favorably in pricing and support.

Features: RHEV offers open-source flexibility, integration capabilities, and customization, appealing to smaller or open-source-focused operations. VMware vSphere Foundation provides scalability, advanced virtualization capabilities, and a robust feature set suitable for complex IT infrastructures and enterprise-level deployments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: VMware vSphere Foundation is recognized for its structured deployment model and comprehensive support network, which aids smoother installations in larger organizations. RHEV features a more straightforward deployment process that suits teams with specific open-source expertise, though its support framework often relies on community resources compared to VMware's vendor-driven assistance.

Pricing and ROI: RHEV is known for its cost-effective setup and potential for higher ROI, especially when leveraging its open-source nature to reduce expenses. VMware vSphere Foundation's initial setup costs are higher, but its powerful toolset is viewed as a valuable investment for fully integrated and scalable virtualization solutions.

To learn more, read our detailed RHEV vs. VMware vSphere Foundation Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

RHEV vs. VMware vSphere Foundation

March 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 885,311 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

11th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

VMware vSphere Foundation

Ranking in Server Virtualization Software

10th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of RHEV is 2.4%, down from 3.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware vSphere Foundation is 0.7%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Server Virtualization Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
VMware vSphere Foundation	0.7%
RHEV	2.4%
Other	96.9%

Server Virtualization Software

Featured Reviews

Mike Neuliep

Linux Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

Has supported virtualization projects in side jobs but has required workarounds due to lack of maintenance

In my opinion, the best features of RHEV are that it is a real hypervisor and it is free, so it performs better than VMware. I have used the live migration feature in the past with RHEV. There is a free clone of it that is based on the open source. Live migration is a nifty feature if your app is not highly available and you need to do maintenance on a machine. You can migrate the VM off of it, do your maintenance, and move it back when you are done. RHEV has a high availability architecture with a built-in monitoring feature where you could see machines other than the one you are operating on. I tend to implement high availability not so much in RHEV, but by using standard application high availability strategies. Red Hat has another product specifically for high availability.

Read full review

Rui J Bastos

CIO and Chief Digital Officer at Reliance Industries Ltd

Hybrid cloud integration provides seamless management while multiple cloud optimization is needed

I have concerns regarding VMware's strategy, particularly about how it manages multiple cloud environments since clients and my company need to navigate multiple clouds. The ability to manage all these environments through a single management interface has become increasingly important. Additionally, companies often arbitrage between different cloud environments, which means we need to optimize workloads based on varying computational abilities and cost points—something I haven't seen fully addressed in your product yet, but which I believe will be necessary. When discussing improvements for VMware vSphere Foundation, many people bring up cost as an issue, but I don't consider that to be the main concern. A key aspect to consider is that we often lack a comprehensive understanding of all the moving parts related to how the product evolves. The conversation we've had illustrates that we may not fully recognize or appreciate all the new features and updates being rolled out.

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 a great all-round product, and the virtualization is especially good."

"When any organization needs end-to-end infrastructure deployment, configuration management, and automation, then RHEV is the best fit."

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

"The solution is overall very good with all the facilities. It is user friendly, easy to configure, has documentation, and support is available."

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

"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."

"In my opinion, the best features of RHEV are that it is a real hypervisor and it is free, so it performs better than VMware."

"There aren't any bugs on the solution."

More RHEV pros

"Setting up the VMware vSphere Foundation is easy."

"Overall, I am generally happy with VMware's customer support; they are responsive and I have no reason to complain."

"What is most valuable about VMware vSphere Foundation is the reliability of the platform."

"VMware vSphere Foundation is positioned in the top right quadrant in a Gartner chart and offers the best virtualization solution to help manage enterprise components."

"One valuable feature of vSphere is the possibility to distribute file systems in a hyperconvergent foundation."

"The product includes disaster recovery features; the disaster recovery capability is quite good and the security features help to protect critical applications in general."

"The most beneficial features of VMware vSphere Foundation for IT infrastructure are its licensing, scalability features, and user-friendliness."

"The solution supports the creation of a large virtual environment consisting of thousands of virtual machines, and the performance is excellent."

More VMware vSphere Foundation pros

Cons

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

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

"We have found the technical support for this solution to be very slow in responding to our requests for assistance."

"RHEV is not improving because it has been discontinued. It has been discontinued for years."

"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."

"The documentation is not as good as it should be."

"The availability of technical expertise with the solution may be limited in some areas."

More RHEV cons

"Before Broadcom, VMware's support was an eight or ten out of ten. Now, with Broadcom's management, I would rate it a three out of ten."

"vSphere Foundation is considered very expensive, especially when compared to competitive Chinese products."

"Recently, the pricing has gone up a lot for different organizations depending on what licensing they have had since the acquisition by Broadcom, so there is room for improvement on the pricing."

"Some customers in Latin America and Mexico, including myself, face challenges due to the lack of language support from engineers."

"One area of concern is Oracle's lack of support for VMware in terms of core licensing. It is not legally compliant to use an Oracle database on VMware, which does not support Oracle core-based licensing. Therefore, I decided to decommission VMware due to these licensing issues."

"Regarding the scalability of VMware vSphere Foundation, there are questions about whether it is completely scalable or if there are limitations."

"You can have the best product in the world, but if it’s not accessible to customers, it doesn’t matter. That’s my main concern."

"The licensing model is an area for improvement."

More VMware vSphere Foundation cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I believe we pay on a yearly basis."

"Its price depends on the use cases."

"I would say the price is acceptable."

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

"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."

"Price-wise, RHEV is okay, in my opinion."

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

"This is an open-source solution."

More RHEV pricing and cost advice

"It is expensive."

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

885,311 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

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

Marketing Services Firm

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	21
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	9

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?

RHEV is not improving because it has been discontinued. It has been discontinued for years. I would love to get back into RHEV, but the job market is difficult and no one is hiring. RHEV is designe...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware vSphere Foundation?

I don't know the exact pricing for the VMware vSphere Foundation, but I think the last license model to upgrade is three or four times more expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with VMware vSphere Foundation?

It is not the best because something is bothering me and could be enhanced. I want to discuss disadvantages because I have covered some positive things. There are potential areas that could be better.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for VMware vSphere Foundation?

I can describe the use cases for the product.

See all answers

Comparisons

Proxmox VE vs RHEV

Compared 24% of the time

VMware vSphere vs RHEV

Compared 22% of the time

Hyper-V vs RHEV

Compared 16% of the time

Oracle VM vs RHEV

Compared 10% of the time

KVM vs RHEV

Compared 9% of the time

More RHEV Competitors

VMware vSphere vs VMware vSphere Foundation

Compared 26% of the time

Red Hat OpenShift vs VMware vSphere Foundation

Compared 18% of the time

NVIDIA virtual GPU (vGPU) vs VMware vSphere Foundation

Compared 14% of the time

Proxmox VE vs VMware vSphere Foundation

Compared 13% of the time

Nutanix AHV Virtualization vs VMware vSphere Foundation

Compared 13% of the time

More VMware vSphere Foundation Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

RHEV

March 2026

Download RHEV product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware vSphere Foundation

March 2026

Download VMware vSphere Foundation 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 Foundation is designed for businesses seeking virtualization management capabilities. It offers essential features to optimize IT operations and improve server utilization, providing a solid infrastructure for managing virtual environments.

VMware vSphere Foundation supports efficient resource management in virtual environments, delivering a robust platform for businesses to streamline their IT processes. It enhances system reliability and offers scalable options for growing business needs. By leveraging virtualization, it reduces hardware dependency while ensuring consistent system performance.

What are the key features of VMware vSphere Foundation?

VMware vCenter Server: Centralized platform for managing VMs and hosts.
High Availability: Ensures minimal downtime for critical applications.
Data Recovery: Provides backup and restore options for enhanced data protection.
Resource Manager: Allocates resources efficiently between VMs to maximize performance.

What benefits or ROI should users consider?

Cost Reduction: Decreases hardware expenses by maximizing server usage.
Improved Scalability: Facilitates easy expansion of IT infrastructure.
Enhanced Reliability: Offers consistent uptime and minimized outages.
Efficiency Gains: Streamlines operations, reducing manual IT management tasks.

VMware vSphere Foundation is implemented effectively across industries like healthcare, finance, and retail. It supports crucial workloads, allowing these sectors to maintain operational efficiency while handling sensitive data. Its flexibility and robust capabilities make it suitable for diverse operational demands.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Qualcomm and Bonham's Auction House.

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

RHEV vs. VMware vSphere Foundation

March 2026

Free Report: RHEV vs. VMware vSphere Foundation

Find out what your peers are saying about RHEV vs. VMware vSphere Foundation and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

885,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our RHEV vs. VMware vSphere Foundation 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.