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AWS Outposts vs VMware Cloud Foundation comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 15, 2024

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

AWS Outposts
Ranking in Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms
7th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
VMware Cloud Foundation
Ranking in Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms category, the mindshare of AWS Outposts is 14.8%, down from 15.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Cloud Foundation is 19.5%, down from 24.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
VMware Cloud Foundation19.5%
AWS Outposts14.8%
Other65.7%
Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

YongjinLee - PeerSpot reviewer
Can compose a private cloud with seamless on-premises connectivity
Outposts allows customers to compose the services they want in a private cloud-like style, which is an advantage. It includes features that allow connection only on-premises without any VPN connections or Direct Connect. Additionally, AWS can manage services when deployed on customer sites due to Outposts' capability of being installed in on-premises environments.
Narasimha Reddy Illuri - PeerSpot reviewer
There is progress in performance and stability, but further advancements are needed for end-user satisfaction
VMware Cloud Foundation's best features include its advanced capabilities, security purposes, and performance levels. The solution offers efficient licensing options. Previously, vSphere essential was available, but now it has moved to VMware Cloud Foundation 8.0. It includes advanced features such as lifecycle manager, patching level, and cluster level patching options. The solution now offers auto-deployment of VMs. Previously, I had to use the content library, right-click, and create VMs manually. With VMware Cloud Foundation, auto-deployment is possible by simply right-clicking and assigning a specific DHCP IP, enabling physical to vCenter level communication for automatic VM deployment. The workload portability feature in VMware Cloud Foundation provides good workload balance. For instance, in a cluster level with four to five ESXi hosts, each host has minimum resources allocated for CPU and memory, resulting in significantly reduced utilization at the VMware Cloud Foundation level.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Outposts allows you to isolate your private environment from the public cloud provider while enabling almost all the features that are available on public cloud services. That is the beauty of this service. It's an infrastructure that you can put in your data center and seamlessly connect to the public cloud."
"I think the keys to success for the solution is the easy-to-use user interface and the fact that the development team really likes the platform."
"The most valuable aspect is that it comes in a rack form factor which makes it incredibly easy to use and deploy various AWS services."
"AWS can manage services when deployed on customer sites due to Outposts' capability of being installed in on-premises environments."
"The most valuable aspect is its ability to provide interfaces for events."
"If you compare with the full bundle of these services, you can see the difference. This is enough for these locations in private data centers. Because the main reasons why the customers want to have it on their side are for the low latency and the security of their critical data."
"AWS Outposts brings native AWS services, infrastructure, and API to our on-premises data center or co-location facilities."
"With AWS, we've had seamless integration and support for many of our applications."
"All features of VMware Cloud Foundation are valuable to us, as it covers every industry standard protocol and requirement protocol, and it assists in meeting our requirements for host-level redundancy on both the primary site and the DR site."
"The stability of VMware Cloud Foundation is very high."
"I like that VMware Cloud Foundation reduces both the installation and setup time from a matter of weeks to hours."
"The fact that it automates a lot of manual processes in a net new environment build is most valuable."
"Overall, I rate VMware Cloud Foundation a nine out of ten."
"The tool's UI is great."
"VMware Cloud Foundation makes it easy to set up new environments. You get hosts in a pool, which you can build into a new cluster."
"VMware Cloud Foundation provides us with the vSphere dashboard through which we can manage, monitor, schedule, and spin up your virtual machines. We can manage, monitor, and get reports of your infrastructure."
 

Cons

"It would be beneficial to have the option for capacity expansion."
"Depending on the installation process, we have found some bugs and issues with the solution when the same platform is not used."
"The pricing model needs improvement because right now it's very expensive. All of these solutions are very expensive and it prevents other customers or owners of data centers from buying it."
"It would be great if it could support Glue services."
"Outposts supports elastic coordinator services, but not elastic container services, which is the native service for containers in AWS. That is something missing in this product."
"The product is heavy to ship and can be difficult to handle logistically."
"The platform needs to spend more time investing in strengthening its governance and information tools and consider the real needs of its customers."
"Also, it would be beneficial if AWS allowed for more granular and customizable pricing options."
"After the acquisition, prices have been going up."
"They need to offer more support for Mac."
"VMware Cloud Foundation can improve the process of upgrading. For example, if you want to upgrade or migrate any component it is very complex."
"The pricing could be a bit less expensive."
"The deployment is clumsy and complex. There are too many things that need to be done in order to deploy."
"The solution could improve by being more secure."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"The solution's log management could be improved because the logs don't provide enough information."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"While the longer-term pricing is suitable for enterprise contracts, it can be on the higher side, especially when organizations don't utilize all the services included in the bundles."
"AWS Outposts is a cheap solution."
"The pricing of Outposts needs to be evaluated from the standpoint of what's cost-effective at your company: How are you going to use it? How much money will it save for your products or applications? Is it worth it? I would say it's probably too expensive for small or medium-sized companies. However, big companies might find it to be highly cost-effective depending on their respective cloud strategies."
"Customers should consider the high cost, which can range from $10,000 to hundreds of thousands depending on the components."
"The pricing is moderate. I would rate it six out of ten."
"The price of VMware Cloud Foundation is expensive."
"The pricing of VMware Cloud Foundation could improve, it is expensive."
"VMware Cloud Foundation is overpriced, but I think we get what we pay for."
"The solution’s pricing could be improved and made more flexible."
"This solutuion can be expensive for small and medium-sized companies."
"I rate the tool's pricing a seven out of ten."
"The pricing can be more competitive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Educational Organization
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise27
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AWS Outposts?
With AWS, we've had seamless integration and support for many of our applications.
What needs improvement with AWS Outposts?
Outposts is not a simple solution to implement as it needs to be shipped from the US and involves high delivery costs and running costs. The product is heavy to ship and can be difficult to handle ...
What advice do you have for others considering AWS Outposts?
I rate AWS Outposts a nine out of ten, indicating room for some improvement.
What do you like most about VMware Cloud Foundation?
VMware Cloud Foundation provides us with the vSphere dashboard through which we can manage, monitor, schedule, and spin up your virtual machines. We can manage, monitor, and get reports of your inf...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Cloud Foundation?
Regarding pricing, VMware Cloud Foundation includes normal licensing costs. Since VMware's move to Broadcom, the pricing has increased significantly. Compared to Nutanix, which many people consider...
What needs improvement with VMware Cloud Foundation?
Regarding improvements in VMware Cloud Foundation, stability has significantly improved, and many issues have been resolved. The efficiency, stability, scalability, and advanced level features have...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Philips, Morningstar
ricoh, dell technologies, sky
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Outposts vs. VMware Cloud Foundation and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,759 professionals have used our research since 2012.