Azure Stack vs Microsoft Azure VMware comparison

Azure Stack and Microsoft Azure VMware are both solutions in the Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms category. Azure Stack is ranked #1 with an average rating of 7.9, while Microsoft Azure VMware is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.7. Azure Stack holds a 19.2% mindshare in HCCP, compared to Microsoft Azure VMware’s 3.4% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Azure Stack users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Microsoft Azure VMware users who would recommend it.

Azure Stack

Read 69 Azure Stack reviews

3,327 Views
3,227 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Microsoft Azure VMware

Read 3 Microsoft Azure VMware reviews

384 Views
384 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Azure Stack

Microsoft Azure VMware

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 15, 2024

Azure Stack and Microsoft Azure VMware compete within the cloud solutions category. Azure Stack appears to have the upper hand in hybrid cloud environments with cost-effective options, whereas Microsoft Azure VMware is preferred by existing VMware users for its comprehensive cloud capabilities.

Features: Azure Stack provides seamless integration into hybrid cloud infrastructures, data locality for regulatory needs, and flexibility in hybrid solutions. Microsoft Azure VMware offers complete VMware environment support, excellent compatibility for enterprises using VMware, and strong VMware tool integration.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Azure VMware is known for its straightforward deployment and robust support for VMware tools, making the transition smoother for existing VMware users. Azure Stack requires more integration effort for hybrid solutions but supports complex hybrid strategies effectively.

Pricing and ROI: Azure Stack is cost-effective for those seeking hybrid solutions without extensive changes to existing systems, often providing a quicker ROI in such scenarios. Microsoft Azure VMware may have higher setup costs due to VMware licensing, but it offers strong ROI through enhanced cloud capabilities for established VMware environments.

To learn more, read our detailed Azure Stack vs. Microsoft Azure VMware Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Azure Stack vs. Microsoft Azure VMware

December 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

Azure Stack

Ranking in Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms

1st

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) (2nd)

Microsoft Azure VMware

Ranking in Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms

10th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms category, the mindshare of Azure Stack is 19.2%, down from 29.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure VMware is 3.4%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Azure Stack	19.2%
Microsoft Azure VMware	3.4%
Other	77.4%

Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms

Featured Reviews

Rajendra-Satale

Data Architect at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Unified data platform has improved regulatory compliance but still needs better integration features

It is difficult to say about Azure Stack improvement because I need to revisit and study it again. The pricing is okay, but on the services side, perhaps we need to think about some services, not all. I would not like to see any additional features in the future. To give them more like a 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10, I think they need to improve on the interface, implementation, configuration, and integration with other products, so I rate them an eight. As compared to AWS, they need to add more features. I would like to see operations and storage features, like AI features or security features.

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reviewer2387976

Pre-sales consultant at a engineering company with 10,001+ employees

Streamline data center migration to the cloud with efficient workload management

Azure VMware needs to cater to smaller enterprises, as it is currently meant for larger entities. One improvement could be more support for mid-sized or scalable environments. The licensing policy could be more flexible to accommodate smaller workloads, as the current setup suits only larger public sector entities. Additionally, some roadblocks during migration are a work in progress.

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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

"Azure is less complex and easier to use than AWS."

"The admin dashboard is the main feature of the solution."

"Azure Stack is easy to use. Its major benefit is that it doesn't need its infrastructure. We didn't face any issues integrating it with our infrastructure."

"Azure offers a wide range of services, catering to various needs."

"It's more reliable, secure, and easy to deploy. It's much more stable as a platform."

"It's a good and cost effective solution for any organization. We can deploy the tech solution on premises and also in the cloud."

"The solution's technical support is great since, in our company, we get answers to most of our questions, and most of our queries get resolved with the help of the documentation itself."

"The most valuable feature is IaaS."

More Azure Stack pros

"The capabilities are like a lift-and-shift operation for moving existing VMware environments to the cloud. The time for migration onto the cloud has substantially reduced."

"Regarding stability, it is like a five-star solution."

"For new users, if you have a scalable environment where a VMware data center makes sense for your business, I definitely recommend AVS."

"The integration is very good."

Cons

"If I were to mention an area that could be enhanced, it might be technical support, as there have been observations that the response time is not as fast as some of its competitors like Google."

"Having more options and customization would be an improvement."

"The user experience could be improved to make it more comfortable."

"I would only recommend this solution to smaller organizations like ours because I cannot really speculate what big issues that the bigger organizations will face."

"The technical support team's response time needs improvement."

"Overall support needs improvement because they are not agile across services."

"The response time for technical support is very poor. It takes days to receive a response, and the technicians handling the tickets do not seem very technical."

"If you look at the documentation set, there are rims and rims of it. You try to drive something from the console, and it's quite complex. It's not it's not easy and straightforward. You've gotta sit down and review it, look at the documentation, and work your way through it. It's not intuitive."

More Azure Stack cons

"The only issue is that a small challenge was found regarding the network...to have extended, smooth VLANs and everything else was a little bit complicated."

"Azure VMware needs to cater to smaller enterprises, as it is currently meant for larger entities."

"Well, sometimes they release product after product, so it's it's kind of hard to keep an overview of all the different aspects of of the solutions."

"Azure VMware needs to cater to smaller enterprises, as it is currently meant for larger entities. One improvement could be more support for mid-sized or scalable environments."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive."

"Azure Stack is not a very costly tool. The pricing is according to the services we buy. When compared with AWS, Azure is a bit more costlier."

"The pricing falls in the middle. It serves as a mediator between being expensive and being affordable, but it's not exactly cheap either. I would rate it a six out of ten."

"Azure Stack is a very expensive solution."

"In terms of pricing, my customers believe AWS is slightly more reasonably priced than Azure."

"The people who manage the budgets are satisfied with the solution’s medium pricing, which is neither very expensive nor very cheap."

"When comparing Azure to Amazon and Google, it appears that Azure offers the most cost-effective solution."

"It is in the medium range cost-wise. For each component, I sort of buy licensing. Each component has its licensing fee by the number of users or by size."

More Azure Stack pricing and cost advice

"To be honest, the tool comes at a high price."

"The mandatory requirements, such as a minimum of three nodes, make it expensive. The customers need to sign up for approximately $20,000 per month."

"The solution is very competitive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Government

University

14%

Government

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Insurance Company

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	33
Midsize Enterprise	13
Large Enterprise	26

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Azure Stack?

For hybrid cloud operations, the seamless transition it enables is key. Most enterprises have a lot of workloads on-premises, and they want a smooth way to move into the cloud. Some things are on...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Stack?

Maintenance is included as part of the overall cost.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Azure Stack?

The difficulties we face involve the lack of support, which is one reason the product isn't selling well in the market. Perhaps it relates to our sales team's strategy, but management looks for a b...

See all answers

What do you like most about Microsoft Azure VMware?

The integration is very good.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure VMware?

The pricing is high, rated around nine to 9.5 out of ten. The mandatory requirements, such as a minimum of three nodes, make it expensive. The customers need to sign up for approximately $20,000 pe...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure VMware?

See all answers

Comparisons

VMware Cloud Foundation vs Azure Stack

Compared 48% of the time

AWS Outposts vs Azure Stack

Compared 24% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) vs Azure Stack

Compared 8% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs Azure Stack

Compared 5% of the time

Red Hat OpenShift vs Azure Stack

Compared 3% of the time

More Azure Stack Competitors

Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) vs Microsoft Azure VMware

Compared 34% of the time

VMware Cloud on AWS vs Microsoft Azure VMware

Compared 23% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs Microsoft Azure VMware

Compared 19% of the time

More Microsoft Azure VMware Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Azure Stack

January 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms

January 2026

Download Microsoft Azure VMware product report

Overview

Information not available

Microsoft

Microsoft Azure VMware provides a seamless integration of VMware environments into Azure, offering enterprises an efficient way to extend workloads and optimize their IT infrastructure. This facilitates a native VMware experience within Azure, ideal for scaling and modernizing services.

Azure VMware enables businesses to leverage existing investments in VMware tools and skills while taking advantage of Azure's scalability and global reach. Users find it valuable for disaster recovery, datacenter extension, and application modernization. It supports consistent operations and reduces complexity by simplifying operations and cutting IT costs. Additionally, users appreciate its ability to integrate with other Azure services for increased functionality and performance.

What are the key features of Microsoft Azure VMware?

Hybrid Platform: Integrates on-premise VMware tools with Azure for consistent management.
Scalability: Easily scale VMware-based applications leveraging Azure's infrastructure.
Disaster Recovery: Offers robust solutions for backup and recovery scenarios, ensuring business continuity.
Flexibility: Supports various VMware workloads, optimizing performance and costs.

What benefits should you evaluate in reviews?

Cost Efficiency: Potential for reduced IT expenses by utilizing cloud resources for scaling.
Time Savings: Streamlines operations time with easy management and deployment.
Seamless Integration: Preserves existing investment in VMware tools and skills.
Enhanced Security: Utilizes Azure's comprehensive security features to protect workloads.

In industries like healthcare and finance, Microsoft Azure VMware is implemented to enhance datacenter capacities and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. Its ability to integrate with existing resources allows companies to transition workloads without significant disruption, providing a flexible and scalable solution that supports innovation while maintaining operational continuity.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Weblink, Fathym, Sage, CFD Support Ltd, The UberCloud Inc.

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Azure Stack vs. Microsoft Azure VMware

December 2025

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