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 7.8, while Microsoft Azure VMware is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.7. Azure Stack holds a 27.9% mindshare in HCCP, compared to Microsoft Azure VMware’s 2.4% 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 66 Azure Stack reviews

3,674 Views
2,617 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Microsoft Azure VMware

Read 3 Microsoft Azure VMware reviews

208 Views
140 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Azure Stack

Microsoft Azure VMware

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

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: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Azure Stack vs. Microsoft Azure VMware

April 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 851,491 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

Azure Stack

Ranking in Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms

1st

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

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

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms category, the mindshare of Azure Stack is 27.9%, down from 30.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure VMware is 2.4%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms

Featured Reviews

Sarath-Boppudi

Data Strategist, Cloud Solutions Architect at Strategic Architects

Seamless integration and impressive scaling capabilities for efficient architectural solutions

The scalability of Azure Stack is commendable. It can scale up within two to three minutes upon request. SQL Server is a good use case for data warehouses. It is scalable and can be set to serverless to reduce costs when not in use. Power BI Fabric offers a useful way to stack data in data warehousing solutions. Azure Stack provides federated authentication which is seamless with on-premise infrastructure, offering good performance and throughput. The integration with Microsoft's environment is also efficient.

Read full review

BachirAbderrahmani

Cloud Architect at CGI

Offers a lot of flexibility during the migration to users

I cannot tell you exactly what will be added except one thing. The tool already did a great job integrating the native Azure SaaS and PaaS solutions. I think the tool can do better integration. We need to have a dedicated network connectivity with a dedicated ExpressRoute circuit. For example, in our experience with this client, we ended up with two circuits for ExpressRoute. If the tool can do better and flawless integration with the native Azure services, it will be a good enhancement. What we have right now is not bad, but it is an area where the tool can do a little bit of enhancements.

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

"Azure Active Directory is the most valuable feature."

"I find Cloud App Security and activity alerts particularly valuable."

"The most valuable feature is the ease of deployment for services such as SSH, creating a web site, and Azure billing services to measure the consumption of resources."

"The product has remained stable so far in our company."

"It is very easy to learn and apply to other things."

"The most valuable thing about Azure Stack is that it provides a unified control panel for managing cloud services."

"The solution's most valuable features are security, configurability, and recoverability."

"The initial setup is very, very simple."

More Azure Stack pros

"The integration is very good."

"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."

Cons

"Azure Stack could be improved with more integration, governance tools, monitor tools, and lift and shift tools."

"In some cases, we've seen that some financial software is not working correctly or compatible with Azure Stack. Many companies build this, but some third-party products may not be compatible with Azure Stack. So these are some areas of improvement."

"Certain elements are difficult to deploy."

"The price of the OCR could be more competitive with Google."

"The solution could be less expensive."

"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."

"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."

"Azure Stack's pricing could be improved."

More Azure Stack cons

"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 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."

"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."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Azure Stack is a very expensive solution."

"I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten, with ten being expensive."

"Azure is reasonably priced compared to Google Cloud, AWS, or some other cloud giants."

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

"The pricing is very expensive."

"Azure Stack's price falls on the higher side of the spectrum. The licensing costs for Azure Stack in our region range somewhere between 40,000 to 50,000 USD."

"Azure stands out for its flexibility with pay-as-you-go options."

"Price-wise, AWS might be relatively cheaper compared to Azure, but the deployment on Azure is much easier."

More Azure Stack pricing and cost advice

"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."

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

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

851,491 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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?

Azure Stack pricing is generally reasonable, though it has been getting expensive recently due to inflation and changes in Microsoft’s charging strategy to US dollar-based billing.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Azure Stack?

More integration with AI capabilities would be beneficial, along with improvements in monitoring and cost management. Reducing costs slightly would also be desirable.

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?

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 ...

See all answers

Comparisons

VMware Cloud Foundation vs Azure Stack

Compared 42% of the time

AWS Outposts vs Azure Stack

Compared 34% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) vs Azure Stack

Compared 15% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) vs Azure Stack

Compared 3% of the time

VMware Cloud on AWS vs Azure Stack

Compared 2% of the time

More Azure Stack Competitors

Nutanix Cloud Clusters (NC2) vs Microsoft Azure VMware

Compared 80% of the time

VMware Cloud on AWS vs Microsoft Azure VMware

Compared 20% of the time

More Microsoft Azure VMware Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Azure Stack

May 2025

Download Azure Stack product report

Buyer's Guide

Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms

May 2025

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

April 2025

Free Report: Azure Stack vs. Microsoft Azure VMware

Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Stack vs. Microsoft Azure VMware and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

851,491 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Azure Stack vs. Microsoft Azure VMware report.

See our list of best Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms vendors.

We monitor all Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms 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.