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

Citrix XenServer vs RHEV comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

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
12th
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 September 2026, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of Citrix XenServer is 4.2%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of RHEV is 2.4%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Virtualization Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Citrix XenServer4.2%
RHEV2.4%
Other93.4%
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

"The solution is extremely scalable."
"XenServer Free Virtualization Platform is one of the most full-featured free systems available."
"The solution is extremely user friendly."
"The core function enables multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical server. This maximizes hardware utilization and efficiency."
"This solution allows the end users to clone, start, stop, or remotely control their VMs."
"Scripting can automate procedures."
"Server consolidation has saved us a lot of money over the years."
"What I find most valuable in Citrix Hypervisor is its licensing policy, because you'll get it for free if you buy a Citrix XenDesktop license. You don't need to spend additional money on the Citrix Hypervisor because you can manage both the Citrix XenDesktop and the Citrix Hypervisor with just one license, so you can save on cost. I also like that the solution is good support-wise. Hardware support is also faster compared to other solutions."
"I can control and manage everything. I know everything that's cooking inside. This is the best part for me."
"The most valuable features of RHEV are all the tools, such as virtualization, management of cloud platforms, and integration of container environments. The solution has good compatibility between virtualization, content management, and cloud management. Having the full set of these tools is the advantage of it."
"Technical support for RHEV is very fast and good."
"Stability and speed are the most valuable aspects."
"I advise keeping an open mind. It's an excellent solution."
"The price is the solution's most valuable aspect; it's much cheaper than, for example, VMware, so companies can save money using it if they need to."
"If you have a heterogenous data centre that is specially focused on Linux platforms, this is safe money, and good if you are looking for automation."
"The platform is scalable, allowing for the installation of multiple nodes."
 

Cons

"Integrated workload balancing and virtual switch management that doesn't require another virtual appliance to control."
"Citrix could provide more tools to help the client manage the solution because we need to build our own tools in some cases. Everything is available through PowerShell, but then you need to build your own scripts to do the more advanced work."
"Overall, I can't think of a feature that is lacking. We've been pretty satisfied overall."
"The marketing of Citrix lacks effectiveness."
"I'd like to see improvement in integration with other vendors and other applications, like Microsoft, for example."
"The solution is only in English. It would be ideal if it was in Portuguese."
"The solution is too expensive and people are kind of moving away from Citrix. It's starting to become a problem. It is a primary reason that while we are rebuilding we're going to seek out open-source solutions."
"With Citrix XenServer itself, the scaling limits are related to disk management. There may be some issues, so full scaling is probably not what I would do with Citrix XenServer."
"While everything needs improvement in some way, I have no specifics."
"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."
"I have found that the stability is related to the upgrade cycle. I find the cycle a little bit annoying; if the system is constantly upgrading then it is very painful in terms of the operation."
"They don't know how to sell their great products and don’t really seem to be interested in taking care of their partners who trust and really know their products."
"There are two things that I would like to see improvement in when it comes to Red Hat. First is the pricing and second is the support."
"RHEV is not improving because it has been discontinued. It has been discontinued for years."
"The UI should be more interactive with additional features."
"Specifically, enhancements in managing virtual machine migrations, cloning, and the creation of different VMs could further optimize its functionality."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We used it only for some desktop licenses, so the pricing is great. We used the free licenses for server virtualization."
"While it is free for small networks, the pricing is high if your network grows past a certain size."
"Citrix is a good low-cost alternative to VMware, so if budgeting is an issue then I would recommend it."
"The pricing and licensing is so important. Customers do consider the price seriously."
"There are three editions available and I believe they are perpetual licenses."
"The licensing is straight forward based on usage and features."
"This solution is open source, it's free."
"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."
"We are using the free version of Red Hat."
"I believe we pay on a yearly basis."
"This is an open-source solution."
"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."
"We buy a license for commercial use, and we also use the free editions."
"The solution does not require licencing but a subscription is necessary, which is very affordable."
"The price of RHEV is high. It is an open-source solution, the price should be less. The price should not be on par with a solution, such as VMware. It's not more or equal to VMware, it's less, but the difference should be more substantial."
"Price-wise, RHEV is okay, in my opinion."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Server Virtualization Software solutions are best for your needs.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

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
10%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
8%
 

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: September 2026.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.