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Citrix XenServer vs RHEV comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 6, 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

Citrix XenServer
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
11th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
49
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
RHEV
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
12th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of Citrix XenServer is 5.0%, up from 4.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of RHEV is 3.6%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Virtualization Software
 

Featured Reviews

Tonatiuh Torres Zamorano - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers comprehensive solutions for small and medium businesses with a straightforward setup
I find Citrix XenServer valuable for small to medium-sized businesses. It is user-friendly and easy to deploy, making it an attractive option. When included with Citrix virtualization solutions, it provides a comprehensive package with existing licenses. Despite being effective for small to medium infrastructures, it may not be the best hypervisor for larger deployments.
Sujeet-Kumar - PeerSpot reviewer
The solution is scalable and affordable, but it lacks features, and it is not easy to manage
Management of RHEV is not as easy as VMware. Some features do not work. The product does not provide features similar to VMware’s VMotion. After creating the cluster, the VM is moved to another node if we move down. However, the VM does not move the parent node automatically. It has to be moved manually. VMware moves it automatically. RHEV moves it to the parent node only if we restart. Everything can be handled in VMware through the GUI. However, in RHEV, some things can be managed through UI, and others cannot. We have to troubleshoot and use CLI. A few features of the product do not work as well as those in VMware.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This solution allows the end users to clone, start, stop, or remotely control their VMs."
"The compatibility of the solution is its most valuable feature. It's compatible on almost every cloud these days."
"The core function enables multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical server. This maximizes hardware utilization and efficiency."
"The solution integrates well with other solutions, which makes it really strong as a primary solution to deploy."
"Ability to move your virtual machines from one host to another."
"The solution is extremely stable."
"This is a dependable solution for virtualization with a good community for product support."
"We can easily migrate VMs from one host to another."
"RHEV’s cost is much less compared to VMware."
"What they provide is way beyond the essential requirements of customers."
"I advise keeping an open mind. It's an excellent solution."
"Customers are moving to open source and Red Hat is the leader in this particular space. I think customers feel more confident running Red Hat Virtualization than VMware."
"It is very stable."
"The solution is overall very good with all the facilities. It is user friendly, easy to configure, has documentation, and support is available."
"It's a scalable solution."
"The platform is scalable, allowing for the installation of multiple nodes."
 

Cons

"The marketing of Citrix lacks effectiveness. Although the product is technically competitive, it is not widely known or used due to poor marketing."
"The solution would benefit from faster technical support."
"I am not very sure about how flexible Citrix Hypervisor is with different types of infrastructures. I only know it is flexible with Nutanix, but I am not sure if it is also flexible with others. They can make its integration with other platforms or OEMs easy. They should also make it easy for users to manage their infrastructure. Citrix should make compatibility information related to a hypervisor easily available in a datasheet. Citrix isn't really recognized in this part of the world, and they need to expand their solution and make it more available. There are a lot of customers and companies that are looking for a solution like Citrix, and it should be available in this part of the world. They need to educate people more. Technically, it is good and flexible and has good ability, but it is not as much known as VMware or Microsoft. Their support should also be improved. Currently, if you don't have an updated version, they will not give you the attention."
"Integration with other vendors and other applications could be improved."
"Citrix needs to improve the hypervisor, specifically in security and performance."
"The licensing costs are too high on the solution. They should work to make the costs more reasonable."
"Citrix needs to improve the hypervisor, specifically in security and performance."
"There's a learning curve, especially for those coming from a Microsoft background. Setting it up and managing it can introduce some complexity."
"The UI should be more interactive with additional features."
"Customers are not aware of this solution, they can improve by providing more awareness and solution availability."
"Specifically, enhancements in managing virtual machine migrations, cloning, and the creation of different VMs could further optimize its functionality."
"While everything needs improvement in some way, I have no specifics."
"With RHEV, the cyberattacks should be fewer. I want RHEV to be better protected."
"Red Hat by itself is not scalable. But you can have third party add-ons like Ceph to make it massively scalable."
"The solution could use network virtualization."
"The solution has a very small lifecycle."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a license required to use this solution. You need a license on every server, but the license is more for support than anything else. The cost is not expensive, it is a fraction of the cost of VMware. When you look at the cost overall and features, Citrix Hypervisor has a very attractive offering."
"While it is free for small networks, the pricing is high if your network grows past a certain size."
"The pricing and licensing is so important. Customers do consider the price seriously."
"To subscribe to the paid version with support, it is approximately $6,000 per year."
"There are free and paid versions. The free version is limited in features but not by time limit. The paid version has more features."
"We migrated from VMware to XenCenter to cut costs."
"Citrix is a good low-cost alternative to VMware, so if budgeting is an issue then I would recommend it."
"I am fine with their license support. What we have right now is permanent, so I don't have a problem with their license."
"We have to pay extra for vulnerability and fault tolerance."
"Its price depends on the use cases."
"RHEV offers pricing based on a per-physical-machine licensing model."
"The solution does not require licencing but a subscription is necessary, which is very affordable."
"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."
"This is an open-source solution."
"We are using the free version of Red Hat."
"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."
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Comparison Review

VL
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
Educational Organization
53%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Manufacturing Company
4%
Educational Organization
50%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Citrix Hypervisor?
The core function enables multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical server. This maximizes hardware utilization and efficiency.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Hypervisor?
XenServer is considered cost-effective, as its licensing allows users to utilize the hypervisor as part of Citrix virtual app or desktop licenses. It is cheaper compared to its competitors.
What needs improvement with Citrix Hypervisor?
Citrix needs to improve the hypervisor, specifically in security and performance. Additionally, the response time from customer support has room for improvement, which could enhance the overall use...
What do you like most about RHEV?
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.
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?
My teammates and I often complain that VMware is well-documented and has a large community since it is the de facto standard. I would love to see better documentation and ease of use. For newcomers...
 

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: March 2025.
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