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Hyper-V vs VMware vSphere Foundation comparison

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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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.1
Hyper-V is cost-effective, offering significant savings and efficiency with multiple VMs included in Windows Server 2019.
Sentiment score
4.7
Organizations benefit from server consolidation and VMware vSphere for improved scalability, reduced costs, and enhanced flexibility in infrastructure.
You need only one physical server that can host several virtualized servers within the same physical server instead of having multiple physical servers.
Network and Infrastructure Manager at Sonysugar
It saves us money compared to VMware because we still need to pay Microsoft licenses, but in addition to that we need to pay for VMware for virtualization.
IT Professional at NIPOS
After we set up the environments in the Microsoft ecosystem with part of the production environments in Azure and part of the development, test, and staging environments on-premises, all synchronized using Hyper-V to manage these VMs, we had this payback.
Especialista de Infraestrutura at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
In an environment where the infrastructure has to be up for monitoring and controlling physical infrastructure like water plants, it has absolutely returned on its investment.
OT Technologist at a energy/utilities company with 201-500 employees
There is flexibility and interoperability with multi-mode architectures that accommodate both on-prem and cloud realities.
CIO and Chief Digital Officer at Reliance Industries Ltd
Server consolidation is one return on investment where we can use one server for multiple workloads.
Enterprise Virtualization Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.0
Microsoft’s Hyper-V support receives mixed reviews, with varied experiences in efficiency, response times, and preferred support levels.
Sentiment score
6.1
VMware vSphere Foundation garners mixed reviews, with strengths in responsiveness but concerns over management, support, pricing, and regional resources.
Technical support from Microsoft is excellent, rated ten out of ten.
Vice President Hybrid Cloud Operations at Accenture
Normally in 90 percent of cases, there is always a resolution to our problems.
Especialista de Infraestrutura at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The technical support for Hyper-V is excellent
Head it at Ace Designers Limited
There is nonstop support available around the world, which allows issues to be resolved continuously without interruption, regardless of whether the problem occurs in the USA, India, or another location.
Product Manager at MSiT Technology
I believe support deserves a rating of ten out of ten.
IT Infrastruture Consultant at Devoteam Management Consulting
Now, with Broadcom's management, I would rate it a three out of ten.
Enterprise Virtualization Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.5
Hyper-V offers scalable flexibility for varying workloads, suitable for smaller setups, but VMware is preferred for larger enterprises.
Sentiment score
7.7
VMware vSphere Foundation is praised for its scalability and integration, facilitating easy expansion and efficient workload management.
There is a redundancy cost for high availability because data are stored mirroring on two nodes.
IT Professional at NIPOS
The environment does not stop growing, and it grows not only in the production context but also in the test, development, and staging context.
Especialista de Infraestrutura at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Hyper V can support over two hundred virtual processors and around 12 TB of memory.
Vice President Hybrid Cloud Operations at Accenture
The return on investment is high because we can maximize the use of one server for multiple workloads.
Enterprise Virtualization Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
It's straightforward to procure additional licenses, install them on the host and add them to the same cluster.
Technology Solution Consultant at DWP Technologies
You can simply add more hosts to your VMware stack seamlessly, scaling up vertically or horizontally.
Senior System Administrator at Interactive Group
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
Hyper-V is generally stable, especially in clusters, with occasional I/O issues and some users preferring VMware for stability.
Sentiment score
7.6
VMware vSphere Foundation is praised for stability, low management needs, reliable performance, and effective performance monitoring in data centers.
Automation is unavailable, and reporting is difficult.
Software Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Once very well configured, it is completely stable.
Especialista de Infraestrutura at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Frequent Windows updates can impact stability compared to VMware ESXi.
Vice President Hybrid Cloud Operations at Accenture
Stability is optimal.
Enterprise Virtualization Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Frequent updates are required due to constant security challenges and attacks.
Solutions Manager at ICSI
It is a standard tool and is considered very stable.
Quality Engineer at KML
 

Room For Improvement

Hyper-V requires better licensing, security, user-friendly management, performance improvement, compatibility, virtualization, error messaging, and integration features.
VMware vSphere Foundation suffers from licensing complexity, high costs, procurement confusion, limited cloud management, and performance monitoring challenges.
Hyper-V should ensure the features of VMware are covered within its platform.
Head it at Ace Designers Limited
Hyper-V could be improved by implementing the same set of features that other tools provide.
Software Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
In future updates, I would like to see improvements in reporting and a resolution to some security weaknesses.
Technical Manager at OAK integrated System Pvt Ltd
I highly recommend that continuous support for perpetual licenses be provided.
Cloud Infrastructure Engineer at Safaricom Ethiopia plc
VMware needs to improve cost efficiency, especially in Pakistan, as customers often seek more affordable solutions.
Technology Solution Consultant at DWP Technologies
Recently, VMware shifted its licensing models, and they should streamline it.
Senior System Administrator at Interactive Group
 

Setup Cost

Hyper-V is cost-effective for smaller workloads, despite mixed environment complexities, offering enterprise agreements for potential savings.
Enterprise users find VMware vSphere Foundation expensive, citing high licensing costs, support challenges, and increased pricing post-Broadcom acquisition.
Hyper-V is completely free and requires no licensing fee.
Software Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Hyper-V's licensing costs are lower compared to VMware, making it cost-effective for smaller workloads.
Vice President Hybrid Cloud Operations at Accenture
Until 2019, Hyper-V was a cost-effective solution because it was available as a free product.
Manager of Systems at Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology
It's expensive, however, the stability it offers is optimal.
Enterprise Virtualization Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
In Brazil, we are increasingly using open-source alternatives like Proxmox due to their lower prices in comparison.
Product Manager at MSiT Technology
During one project, the price doubled or even tripled before implementation, causing issues with clients.
Cloud Infrastructure Engineer at Safaricom Ethiopia plc
 

Valuable Features

Hyper-V provides cost-effective scalability, seamless Microsoft integration, robust clustering, and high availability, ideal for budget-conscious enterprises.
VMware vSphere Foundation provides scalable, user-friendly infrastructure management with robust features, enhancing IT efficiency, resilience, and cost reduction.
It is completely free, which is a significant advantage.
Software Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I have seen return on investment with Hyper-V because it is both time-saving and cost-effective.
Network and Infrastructure Manager at Sonysugar
We switched to Hyper-V because it was lower cost than paying for high availability in VMware.
IT Professional at NIPOS
vSphere Foundation is valuable due to its scalability, reliability, and ease of management.
Technology Solution Consultant at DWP Technologies
VMware provides the tools needed to move environments between private and public clouds seamlessly.
Product Manager at MSiT Technology
The virtual stack of vCenter, its distributed resources system, high availability engines, and the ability to move VM workloads from one host to another are outstanding.
Senior System Administrator at Interactive Group
 

Categories and Ranking

Hyper-V
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
146
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
VMware vSphere Foundation
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
7th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of Hyper-V is 19.3%, up from 14.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware vSphere Foundation is 1.2%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Virtualization Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Hyper-V19.3%
VMware vSphere Foundation1.2%
Other79.5%
Server Virtualization Software
 

Featured Reviews

Marcelo Siqueira - PeerSpot reviewer
Especialista de Infraestrutura at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Virtualization has improved proactive maintenance and observability for complex clustered workloads
Hyper-V could be improved in terms of performance of live migrations. I notice that in VMware, vMotion, which is the same concept as live migration, is faster than in Hyper-V. It is not that it does not work, but in terms of performance, VMware ends up being better for these virtual machine moves.I do not think there is anything else I would like to add regarding necessary improvements related to the interface, stability, or support. The interface is great and very intuitive. Support is also very quick and functional from Microsoft when a problem occurs. Once the environment is very well configured, there should not be problems in Hyper-V. The main area I would improve is mostly the performance of virtual machine migrations. If this migration performance were improved, I believe Hyper-V would reach a perfect score.
Youssef-Hmani - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Infrastruture Consultant at Devoteam Management Consulting
Proactive monitoring has improved infrastructure visibility and simplifies long term management
I remember when I was working as a consultant and implemented Site Recovery Manager from VMware. It was working fine and is a very good solution. Although I used it five or six years in the past, it is very beneficial for customers as a function to build disaster recovery.
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911,493 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user234735 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technology Consultant, ASEAN at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
May 10, 2015
Hyper-V 2012 R2 vs. VMware vSphere 5.5
I was won with Hyper-V 2012R2 recently and the table below based on customer RFP (edited). This articles all about technical, there is not related with TCO/ROI, licensing cost, “political”, etc. Another to noted is the Windows Server 2012 licenses is based on 2 socket CPU, meanwhile…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
University
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Outsourcing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Healthcare Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business70
Midsize Enterprise37
Large Enterprise47
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

How does KVM compare with Hyper-V?
KVM is better. But let's just look at the software instead of judging. Hyper-V was a free solution from Microsoft to virtualize Server or Client OS as it is a feature on Windows Server since 2008 a...
How does Proxmox VE compare with Hyper-V?
One of the best things about Proxmox VE is that it is open-source and very inexpensive. You get all of the same features as with the more well-known products. Proxmox VE is very easy to deploy - it...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Hyper-V?
I think regarding price and license for Hyper-V, it is affordable.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware vSphere Foundation?
I don't know the exact pricing for the VMware vSphere Foundation, but I think the last license model to upgrade is three or four times more expensive.
What needs improvement with VMware vSphere Foundation?
I remember when I was working as a consultant and implemented Site Recovery Manager from VMware. It was working fine and is a very good solution. Although I used it five or six years in the past, i...
What is your primary use case for VMware vSphere Foundation?
I am not specifically in a partnership with VMware, but I am using many tools from VMware. For example, vRealize Operations is a very good tool to manage and monitor infrastructure. I believe it is...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Large customer base from all industries, all over the world. Two major Hyper-V customers are Telefonica and EmpireCLS.
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Hyper-V vs. VMware vSphere Foundation and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
911,493 professionals have used our research since 2012.