No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Azure Stack vs Microsoft Azure VMware 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

Azure Stack
Ranking in Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) (2nd)
Microsoft Azure VMware
Ranking in Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms category, the mindshare of Azure Stack is 12.0%, down from 24.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure VMware is 3.7%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Azure Stack12.0%
Microsoft Azure VMware3.7%
Other84.3%
Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

RS
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.
DW
Solutions Area Lead at Tech One Global
Cloud migration has reduced hardware dependence and optimizes security and AI-ready operations
Microsoft Azure VMware is an area that requires attention. I believe the VMware part should eventually merge with Azure as a single Azure platform, moving away from hypervisor-on-hypervisor architecture and instead bringing VMware features into Azure as native capabilities or as VMware-labeled features running in a true cloud environment. Some features should be brought in to achieve this integration. Additional improvements for Microsoft Azure VMware would include integration with Azure Site Recovery and disaster recovery capabilities. The ideal scenario would be VMware as primary with disaster recovery in Azure, connecting in a native manner. These improvements should be delivered as an integrated solution available out of the box rather than as separate components. Integration with other solutions such as Microsoft Site Recovery should encompass Azure native business continuity and disaster recovery with VMware. Microsoft Azure VMware would serve as primary hosting and connect natively to business continuity and disaster recovery capabilities with Azure. This should be available as a native feature.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"You can scale the solution if you need to."
"Given the current direction and strategy of Microsoft, I think Azure Stack is one of the most comprehensive solution platforms available today."
"The solution's front door and web application firewalls have proven most beneficial for our edge computing needs."
"The scalability of the solution is good, as we have hundreds of users internally and thousands of users externally, and we do plan to increase usage shortly."
"Azure Stack is like a hybrid model with a CI/CD pipeline. The IaaS and PaaS model works well with a hybrid type of connectivity."
"When we engage Azure Stack, it's very easy to lift and shift. That's why we've been successful because we can be clear and fast in understanding workflows from the customer."
"I find Cloud App Security and activity alerts particularly valuable."
"It's more reliable, secure, and easy to deploy. It's much more stable as a platform."
"Since organizations are already on VMware, they can lift and shift everything to Microsoft Azure VMware, allowing the data center to be moved as a whole rather than as separate servers."
"The integration is very good."
"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 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."
 

Cons

"It's not stable as IBM solutions. It fully supports all the .NET solutions, but our main applications are based in Java. So in those cases, we've had some minor problems with Azure, but Microsoft always says that it can handle this stuff."
"Azure Stack is relatively new and lacks the features compared to public Azure."
"I would like to see better network integration."
"It would be great if Azure Stack would enable VDI creation and positive and negative artificial intelligence."
"Certain elements are difficult to deploy."
"I would like to have access to more services and more functionality."
"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."
"We are thinking of moving from Azure to AWS because there are issues scaling the suite of products, support is not optimum, and the solution is more costly than AWS products."
"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. One improvement could be more support for mid-sized or scalable environments."
"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."
"Microsoft Azure VMware is an area that requires attention."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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 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 is excellent with several options to save you time and money."
"IaaS’s pricing is high."
"Azure is reasonably priced compared to Google Cloud, AWS, or some other cloud giants."
"The licensing costs are expensive."
"To be honest, the tool comes at a high price."
"The solution is very competitive."
"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."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms solutions are best for your needs.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
University
15%
Government
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business33
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise26
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Azure Stack?
I am not really aware about Azure Stack's integration capabilities with my existing IT investments; my technical team would know more about it.I think Azure Stack is a bit expensive, but it is defi...
What is your primary use case for Azure Stack?
I lead the pre-sales at my office, so I focus on the overall operational aspect of it. If you ask me about the technicalities, I might not be able to answer you.I mostly deal with Office 365 and De...
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...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Azure VMware?
Microsoft Azure VMware is an area that requires attention. I believe the VMware part should eventually merge with Azure as a single Azure platform, moving away from hypervisor-on-hypervisor archite...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Azure VMware?
People are moving to Microsoft Azure VMware primarily due to reducing on-premises hardware dependencies. One key factor is VMware licensing, and another is hardware costs. Hardware prices are incre...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Weblink, Fathym, Sage, CFD Support Ltd, The UberCloud Inc.
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Stack vs. Microsoft Azure VMware and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.