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Citrix XenServer vs RHEV comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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

Citrix XenServer
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
RHEV
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
13th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of Citrix XenServer is 4.1%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of RHEV is 2.4%, down from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Virtualization Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Citrix XenServer4.1%
RHEV2.4%
Other93.5%
Server Virtualization Software
 

Featured Reviews

Geert Vandevelde - PeerSpot reviewer
ICT Diensthoofd - Head of ICT at Azwest
Consolidating user access boosts productivity by simplifying navigation
The most helpful features of Citrix XenServer are that you can consolidate everything onto one web page. For our use case, this is probably the easiest solution because there are many different software applications running in our environment. The benefits from using Citrix include increased productivity, as users don't have to search for what they need to open. They can see everything in one place instead of having numerous links in Chrome or on their home page. They simply go to our Citrix page and see everything they need. We can also specify access permissions per user, so they only get the software they require. If users have lists or reports they need to create, we can add the icons on Citrix, and they can open them directly. Everything is in the same place, so they don't have to search for anything anymore. This is the biggest productivity increase.
Mike Neuliep - PeerSpot reviewer
Linux Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Has supported virtualization projects in side jobs but has required workarounds due to lack of maintenance
In my opinion, the best features of RHEV are that it is a real hypervisor and it is free, so it performs better than VMware. I have used the live migration feature in the past with RHEV. There is a free clone of it that is based on the open source. Live migration is a nifty feature if your app is not highly available and you need to do maintenance on a machine. You can migrate the VM off of it, do your maintenance, and move it back when you are done. RHEV has a high availability architecture with a built-in monitoring feature where you could see machines other than the one you are operating on. I tend to implement high availability not so much in RHEV, but by using standard application high availability strategies. Red Hat has another product specifically for high availability.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We were able to create a very inexpensive (nearly free) cluster of VM hosts."
"Since XenServer was the chosen platform from the start of our virtualization implementation, the improvements have been significant."
"I find Citrix XenServer valuable for small to medium-sized businesses."
"Good alternative of VMware ESXi, you can use free version to try the product first and perhaps move to the paid version if you need support or you need features that is not available in the free version."
"In my opinion, Xenserver provides better features for free, making it the best for home, lab, and research purposes."
"The solution integrates well with other solutions, which makes it really strong as a primary solution to deploy."
"The solution is extremely scalable."
"I haven't had any significant issues with Citrix XenServer installations over the last 10-15 years."
"It is very stable."
"The solution has a good licensing module."
"Stability and speed are the most valuable aspects."
"The solution is stable."
"There aren't any bugs on the solution."
"The initial setup is fairly straightforward and well-documented. The process is very similar to its competitors. The success of your setup depends on how well you plan."
"For any application that requires 100% uptime, 100% of data accessibility, I use these servers."
"Technically, the main reason why I'm using Red Hat is because of its stability."
 

Cons

"I find that the features in Citrix Hypervisor are not as rich as with VMware."
"If we were looking for another solution, we wouldn't go with it."
"Citrix Hypervisor is expensive if you get it as a stand-alone product, so this is one area for improvement. Its price could be cheaper."
"Live migration is something that can be improved."
"Their support should also be improved. Currently, if you don't have an updated version, they will not give you the attention."
"It would be very helpful if I could browse the data store directly in the GUI, similar to VMware and Hyper-V. This feature would be particularly useful when something goes wrong with a virtual machine or virtual disk."
"It requires system with large number of CPUs and large number of memory to support guest operating systems."
"The graphics user interface is pretty bad."
"We hope that Red Hat can produce a paradigm edition. We are looking for paradigm computing and paradigm storage. Its scalability can be improved. It is not easy to scale, and we hope that Red Hat can provide a more scalable system. They should also provide local service and support. Our customers are looking for a good software vendor to provide professional services."
"Load balancing not very efficient and fails to utilize and distribute network resources."
"While everything needs improvement in some way, I have no specifics."
"In comparison to VMware, this solution isn't as stable. We're testing it right now, and we're not trusting the stability of the product."
"Specifically, enhancements in managing virtual machine migrations, cloning, and the creation of different VMs could further optimize its functionality."
"The biggest improvement would be more third-party direct support for things like backups and provisioning through third-party portals."
"I heard that there are big differences between Red Hat eight and seven, but it's still quite difficult for me to judge it. I found it a bit more difficult to manage than version seven, which was much easier. In term of features, though, it is still not yet clear which is better. I have no clear idea of which features need to be changed at the moment."
"We'd like it if it would be possible on Red Hat Virtualization to possibly connect two or three VMs to the same disk."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This solution is open source, it's free."
"There are free and paid versions. The free version is limited in features but not by time limit. The paid version has more features."
"Citrix Hypervisor is a licensed product, and customers who buy the Citrix XenDesktop get Citrix Hypervisor for free. If they don't buy the license for Citrix XenDesktop, they'll need to pay for Citrix Hypervisor and its price is high. Pricing is even higher than VMware. The licensing policy for Citrix Hypervisor is good. It's straightforward. The only issue is the price because it's an expensive product."
"While it is free for small networks, the pricing is high if your network grows past a certain size."
"To subscribe to the paid version with support, it is approximately $6,000 per year."
"The cost of this product is not high."
"Citrix is a good low-cost alternative to VMware, so if budgeting is an issue then I would recommend it."
"Citrix Hypervisor can be fairly expensive."
"We have to pay extra for vulnerability and fault tolerance."
"The solution does not require licencing but a subscription is necessary, which is very affordable."
"This product has a variety of licensing options available. However, the level of licensing, and therefore the cost of licensing, is dependent on the number of servers being utilized."
"It's a budget product as far as I'm concerned. It's way cheaper than any of its competitors. The only thing cheaper than Red Hat is that the people who take the Red Hat code clone it and then self-support it."
"I would say the price is acceptable."
"We are using the free version of Red Hat."
"Price-wise, RHEV is okay, in my opinion."
"This is an open-source solution."
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Comparison Review

VL
CIO at Robusta Technology & Training
Jan 13, 2015
vSphere vs. RHEV vs. Hyper-V vs. XenServer
We have used the following functions: 1. Hypervisor: to ensure that the virtual server provide web and email services to the company, thus providing a stable operation a with single sign-on integration of an AD server and vCenter. 2. Network and Storage: centralized data server…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Construction Company
8%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise18
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise12
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Hypervisor?
Licensing with Citrix XenServer is very cost-effective. Organizations save substantial money because competing solutions, such as VMware, cost double or triple. If you are using Citrix load only, t...
What needs improvement with Citrix Hypervisor?
There could be improvements in Citrix XenServer, but I cannot think of any at the moment. Overall, we are very happy with it.
What is your primary use case for Citrix Hypervisor?
Our main use case for Citrix XenServer is to monitor and ensure everything is functioning properly with Citrix and that all users can access the system. It is primarily used for monitoring since Ci...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for RHEV?
It's the open source. There's not much cost. It's very minimal comparably. Compared to what I am paying for VMware, it's negligible.
What needs improvement with RHEV?
RHEV is not improving because it has been discontinued. It has been discontinued for years. I would love to get back into RHEV, but the job market is difficult and no one is hiring. RHEV is designe...
What is your primary use case for RHEV?
I have done some consulting where I used RHEV, taking on side jobs to run virtual machines in the financial industry for a startup. The last time I used RHEV was in my home lab, but that has been d...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Hypervisor
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

U.S. Army Shared Services Center, SoftLayer, Educational Services of America, Independent Bank, and SK Telecom.
Qualcomm and Bonham's Auction House.
Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix XenServer vs. RHEV and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.