Desktop-based virtualization is a huge help in speeding product development.
Clinical Applications Specialist at a healthcare company with 501-1,000 employees
Desktop-based virtualization is a huge help in speeding product development. It's not as robust as server platforms, nor does it need to be.
Pros and Cons
- "VirtualBox provides an isolated, consistent environment"
- "It's not as robust as server platforms, nor does it need to be."
How has it helped my organization?
What is most valuable?
VirtualBox provides an isolated, consistent environment I can use to experiment with software configurations or create developer sandboxes without affecting the consistency of my own work environment.
What needs improvement?
It's not as robust as server platforms, nor does it need to be.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It works perfectly for the task. We've had no issues with instability. It's a solid open-source product.
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Oracle VM VirtualBox
December 2025
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have had no issues scaling it for our needs.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Manager of Infrastructure at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Enables us to provision virtual machines
Pros and Cons
- "The configuration and installation is pretty straightforward."
What is most valuable?
- Ease of use
- The configuration and installation is pretty straightforward.
How has it helped my organization?
Enables us to provision virtual machines faster than before.
What needs improvement?
No ideas come to mind.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used VirtualBox for around five years.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
The installation was straightforward.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
No stability issues were experienced.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No scalability issues were experienced.
How are customer service and technical support?
Customer Service:
Support from Oracle in general is good. I would give customer service a rating of four out of five.
Support from Oracle in general is good. I would give technical support a rating of four out of five.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used a different solution before and switched due to high licensing costs and almost non-existent support.
How was the initial setup?
The installation was straightforward with no issues encountered.
What about the implementation team?
The implementation was done with a combination of a business partner and the vendor.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Always liaise with the vendor and business partners to get the best pricing.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Oracle VM VirtualBox
December 2025
Learn what your peers think about Oracle VM VirtualBox. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,422 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Sr. Systems Engineer at a aerospace/defense firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
I'm sure their tech support's really good. I got into it and it was buggy enough that I didn't want to continue using it.
Pros and Cons
- "The flexibility as well as performance wise and as well as data volume, we have huge volume stored."
- "One valuable feature would be for it to work right the first time but it doesn't necessarily do that."
How has it helped my organization?
Everything, because we are the customer for database ... all our applications not only JDE, ERP or some third party applicants APK's also have the backend for Oracle. Because of the flexibility as well as performance wise and as well as data volume, we have huge volume stored. So, other database cannot provide that kind of flexibility.
What is most valuable?
One valuable feature would be for it to work right the first time but it doesn't necessarily do that. The shop that I'm in and the shops that I've been in, I've never been in a shop that was standardized on Virtual Box.
What needs improvement?
I think part of the reason is, is a lot of people do not trust Virtual Box because they think it's buggy. It seems to be a theme here. I got into it and it was buggy enough that I didn't want to continue using it.
How is customer service and technical support?
I'm sure their tech support's really good.
How was the initial setup?
It's easy.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
QA Sales Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Linux-wise, I go with the VirtualBox because of the simplicity.
What is most valuable?
I can manage the VirtualBox images. It's a VirtualBox. We work with both VMware and VirtualBox. Linux-wise, I go with the VirtualBox. I don't go with the VMware, because of the simplicity. Especially when you're using Oracle Linux, you are matching the products together. The manageability of the virtual images is much better. That's what I like.
What needs improvement?
If I could maybe have cloud images, that would be awesome. It's going to be hard to manage cloud with a cloud, or image with an image, but hey, if it can be done, we can do that, too. Why not? You have mobility, so you can use something. You can have a server with all of the VirtualBoxes there and the images there. For example, if you are managing an application, you can use it from a touch of a screen. Why not?
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been with this company since November 2015, and they've probably been using it for quite a longer time than I'm here. From my perspective, that's roughly a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It has been consistently stable over the past year. We didn't have any down time. All of the images were always perfectly done.
It's funny; sometimes one of the IT departments would say, "Well, why don't you convert your VirtualBox to VMware?" That means I have to redo the whole thing. So, I said, "Forget it. I'll stay with this one." Don't add more fire to a fire. Just leave it as it is. If it isn’t working, then maybe you try to put it out with water, but that doesn't work sometimes. Just stay where it is. It’s meant to be like that.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable. It does what we need to do with our images for our production, especially for the Linux images.
How is customer service and technical support?
I don't really have any contact with support, because everything works fine. I haven’t had a chance to actually talk to them. Maybe not right now, but from previous engagements, I have some experience with Oracle support and also the community. I'm part of the OTN. I’ve been a partner of the OTN since before I joined my current company. Before that, for another engagement, they were using Oracle, and I decided I needed to know something. I logged in, I asked some questions, and people come on. That's how you learn. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
What other advice do I have?
What are your needs? What is the most important for you? Then, we can show you what you can manage. The benefits: It's Oracle, so there you go. You have a VirtualBox. It's well-known. It's stable. I use it. If it works for me, it might as well work for you. Simple.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Technical Sales Consultant at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees
The most valuable feature for me is the ability to use it as a client or a server to test our APEX environment and the plugins that we create.
Valuable Features:
The most valuable feature for me is the ability to use it as a client or a server to test our APEX environment and the plugins that we create. It also runs very quickly and doesn’t use up much battery power on a MacBook.
Improvements to My Organization:
Since I usually work from my home office, it increases efficiency because I don’t have to connect to the company’s database to run tests. I can do everything locally.
Room for Improvement:
The initial configuration was a little tricky. Setup could be simpler.
Use of Solution:
I have used the product for half a year.
Initial Setup:
Again, the initial setup is complex.
Other Advice:
Take care configuring the network. It’s tricky to get everything running, but there are certain benefits to look forward to after you do.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Lead Product Dev at a tech company
If I need to run Docker, I can do it inside VirtualBox. I have some objections regarding how it uses virtual memory.
Valuable Features
If I were to draw up my datacenter in my notebook, VirtualBox would be my choice to be included. If, for example, I need to run Docker, I can do it inside VirtualBox. In my opinion, it's the best solution for a small office or one-person virtualization.
Room for Improvement
It has a few kinks here and there, and Oracle should definitely improve on those, but if you know how to use it and are careful with your use of it, then it works perfectly. For example, I have some objections regarding how it uses virtual memory. If you oversubscribe the virtual memory, it just kills your notebook.
Use of Solution
I've been using it for five years.
Deployment Issues
We've had no issues with deployment.
Stability Issues
There were some small instability issues with version 5.0, but they seem to all be fixed now. It works perfectly.
Scalability Issues
We've had issues with scalability. This is something that Oracle should work on.
Customer Service and Technical Support
I don't know if Oracle even has support for VirtualBox.
Initial Setup
The initial setup was straightforward.
Implementation Team
We implemented it ourselves with our in-house team.
Other Solutions Considered
I tried VMware, but they kept asking for more money for upgrades again and again. I also had a Windows license, but not a Linux or Mac license, so I just decided to go with VirtualBox.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. We're partners.
Technical Marketing Manager at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
I can quickly create a portable working environment with applications. I can’t easily add or enable network ports without powering down my virtual machine.
What is most valuable?
It gives me the simplicity to quickly create virtual machines and to deploy my applications, and it's free. These are the most valuable features for me.
How has it helped my organization?
I can quickly create a portable working environment with all the applications running in my VirtualBox VMs.
What needs improvement?
An example of an area of improvement that I can see from my use of it would be the VirtualBox network setting. From my experience with it, I can’t easily add network or enable network ports without powering down my virtual machine.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using VirtualBox for a couple of years now.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
I have had no issues with the deployment.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have had no issues with the stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I do not have more than four virtual VMs running concurrently as these are all individual pods deployed for demo purposes etc.
How are customer service and technical support?
I've had no experience with the customer service and technical support. I have been using the free edition of Oracle VirtualBox.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used VMware, Hyper-V, RHEV, OpenStack, and, now, VirtualBox. I have used all these hypervisors in my environments for demos and test purposes.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is very straightforward. Once you are familiar with virtualization, VirtualBox is very intuitive and simple to use.
What about the implementation team?
This is an in-house implementation. Try it out, it is very easy. It fulfills most of my requirements in virtualizing my applications so that I can do demos and run tests.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I am using the free version of Oracle VirtualBox.
What other advice do I have?
Give it a try, it is free.
What we have in this screenshot is 3 VMs powered on:
- A Linux DNS server
- A Windows JumpBox
- Two Cloudian Servers (with one powered off)

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT Administrator at a energy/utilities company with 501-1,000 employees
It's easy to install and configure, and we're able to share USB devices between host VMs.
Valuable Features
The most valuable feature for us is the fact that it's free. It's also easy to install and configure, and we're able to share USB devices between host VMs. In this case, 'sharing' means that only one instance can use the USB device at a time, but you can detach the device and attach it to a different instance (VM or host). This is valuable as it allows you to transfer data without networking.
Improvements to My Organization
I can install and test VMs on my own computer before installing live versions on the company VMware host.
Room for Improvement
Stability should be improved because sometimes the VirtualBox stops. I believe this maybe a compatibility issue, but I'm not sure.
Use of Solution
I've been using it for three months.
Deployment Issues
We have had no issues with the deployment.
Stability Issues
Sometimes the VirtualBox stops and the process cannot be killed. The computer then needs to be restarted.
Scalability Issues
We have had no issues with the scalability.
Customer Service and Technical Support
Customer Service:
I've never asked for support from customer service.
Technical Support:I've never asked for support from technical support. The issue I had was not important enough for me to need them.
Initial Setup
The initial setup was straightforward and easy.
Implementation Team
We did it ourselves in-house with no need for support from the vendor or any third-party team.
Pricing, Setup Cost and Licensing
I use the free version.
Other Advice
You should try it as it's free.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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Updated: December 2025
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Hi Jaari, it seems itcentralstation is the one who has lumped both solutions under the same category sine they come from the same vendor. ideally there should have been two separate categories.
Oops actually Oracel VM virtualbox is what Oracel calls virtualbox now :) www.oracle.com/virtualization/virtualbox/index.html