Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) vs OpenNebula comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Nutanix and OpenNebula are both solutions in the Cloud Management category. Nutanix is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.8, while OpenNebula is ranked #27 with an average rating of 7.0. Nutanix holds a 2.4% mindshare in CM, compared to OpenNebula’s 1.5% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Nutanix users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of OpenNebula users who would recommend it.

Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM)

Read 126 Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) reviews

14,894 Views
7,149 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

OpenNebula

Read 15 OpenNebula reviews

3,789 Views
3,486 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM)

OpenNebula

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 15, 2026

OpenNebula and Nutanix Cloud Manager compete in cloud management solutions. OpenNebula excels in pricing and support, making it cost-effective and responsive, while Nutanix Cloud Manager offers a comprehensive feature set and perceived value, supporting its higher cost.

Features: OpenNebula features efficient resource management, lightweight deployment, and open-source flexibility. Nutanix Cloud Manager offers robust hyper-convergence capabilities, strong security features, and flexible multi-cloud management.

Room for Improvement: OpenNebula could enhance its feature sets, provide more robust security capabilities, and offer deeper integration with large-scale enterprise environments. Nutanix Cloud Manager may benefit from reducing its complexity, decreasing initial setup time, and simplifying customer education efforts.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: OpenNebula provides straightforward deployment and consistent support, ideal for small to medium-sized businesses. Nutanix Cloud Manager offers a sophisticated deployment model with extensive customization options but may require more initial setup and customer education. Customer service is known for its proactive support and tailored solutions.

Pricing and ROI: OpenNebula is known for low setup cost and attractive ROI, particularly appealing to cost-sensitive organizations. Its open-source nature helps reduce upfront expenses. Nutanix Cloud Manager requires higher initial investment but offers substantial long-term ROI due to its advanced features, making it a favorable choice for companies seeking high performance over time.

To learn more, read our detailed Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) vs. OpenNebula Report (Updated: November 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) vs. OpenNebula

November 2026

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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

Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM)

Ranking in Cloud Management

1st

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

126

Ranking in other categories

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites (5th), Virtualization Management Tools (1st), Cloud Cost Management (2nd), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (10th)

OpenNebula

Ranking in Cloud Management

27th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Cloud Management category, the mindshare of Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) is 2.4%, down from 5.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenNebula is 1.5%, down from 5.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM)	2.4%
OpenNebula	1.5%
Other	96.1%

Cloud Management

Featured Reviews

Vijaykumar Talreja

Global Group CIO, CTO, Cdo & CISO at a real estate/law firm with 201-500 employees

Centralized multi-cloud management has simplified automation and boosted operational efficiency

Some downsides of Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) are that it has very high cost and licensing complexity, particularly for smaller environments, making it more suited for larger environments. On the learning curve and support, while Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) is user-friendly in some areas, the initial setup is complex and sometimes requires very specialized expertise, creating a steep learning curve. There is also limited third-party integration, as it has very limited non-native integrations compared to competitors. The documentation has gaps, particularly for advanced features, requiring some improvement, and certain advanced configurations and troubleshooting still require heavy reliance on the command-line interface rather than having a GUI.

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Andy Brauer

CTO at Encha

A highly scalable solution that gives good value for money, but it does not have payment gateways

OpenNebula's templates are weak, and it could do something to make template creation a lot easier to use. The solution has a template for every single VM you create, which is not clever. You should be able to use a template for many different virtual machines. There are no payment gateways in OpenNebula.

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

"The most valuable feature for me is being able to find a machine, regardless of which cluster it's located in, as quickly as possible, and being able to work on it. A lot of times we are called upon to troubleshoot an issue. That usually means there's a problem that needs quick attention. Being able to find machines, ascertain their status, and do so in a timely manner, are processes that are very critical to our business needs."

"Overall, the solution has dramatically improved the way our organization functions."

"The biggest lesson I've learned using this solution is how easy it is to empower users to achieve what they need to achieve."

"Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) has positively impacted my organization through cost-cutting, significantly reducing the need for manual interruptions, and allowing us to schedule VM backups during disasters."

"The most valuable feature is less or no implementation time. It should be up and running at any point in time so I don't spend time in transformation."

"The blueprints and templates are very nice and easy to use. They are very valuable because we can configure the entirety of an environment as a template and reuse it multiple times."

"Everything about Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) is good, and this is a very good solution."

"Their technical support is very good."

More Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) pros

"It makes maintenance very easy and stress-free for our teams."

"What's best about OpenNebula that people like is that it's easy to deploy. It's also easy to manage. It's interesting because people choose OpenNebula over other solutions because of the ease of management."

"OpenNebula is easy to deploy and manage compared to other solutions like OpenStack."

"The most valuable feature of OpenNebula is that it scales very well."

"OpenNebula has very good integration with SAP Storage, is easy to use, has a good UI, and is very scalable."

"For the entire data center, as a private cloud, I believe that user management, expert management, and the virtual data center is completely magic for the users."

"The solution provides templates for configurations that can easily be exchanged to VMs."

"For our use case, we found the solution to be the best fit when dealing with infrastructure services."

More OpenNebula pros

Cons

"The licensing procedures are not smooth and easy."

"One thing that comes directly to mind is how they manage version control. I would love to see Calm create a built-in source control feature, one that we could tie into a repository and it would self-manage changes in versions. All the version control is built within Calm right now. I would love to see that integrated with an external repository and make it easy to tie it into GitHub or Git repositories."

"The web interface could be improved at some points."

"There is room for improvement in the remote script execution. The way logs are shown in Calm, it's not always keeping up properly. It's really the interface that needs attention there. I believe it is something being worked on at the moment by Nutanix."

"My concern is that rebuilding data in Nutanix can take from one to 20 hours based on size, whereas Dell PowerFlex minimizes downtime."

"While there are multiple clouds supported, we want less friction around the ease of delivery. We want the ability to integrate other clouds, unify the accounts."

"We have a lot of projects so we cannot always dive deep into the material that Nutanix offers."

"The pricing of the solution is an area of concern that needs improvement."

More Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) cons

"I would like to see OpenNebula add more integration with REST API. XML-RPC API is good, but it becomes a pain to form a resting output."

"Backup features are only available in the enterprise edition. The community version lacks a good solution for making backups."

"As with all enterprise software licensing, the pricing is not intuitive and must be negotiated; grandfathered contracts are better than anything offered today."

"The UI, monitoring, and alerting could benefit from further improvements."

"It should have a simple REST API like most other tools. It's the industry standard format. An XML-RPC API gives you an XML document that you have to convert and then do something with that. REST API endpoint provides outputs in a JSON document. I would also like to see support for user data or heat templates, which OpenStack offers, but OpenNebula doesn't have this yet."

"The web interface could be better. It's not very difficult to use, but there's room for enhancement."

"The storage feature that they have is a bit confusing."

"Hosting platforms are limited so the deployment process needs improvement."

More OpenNebula cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"On a scale from one to ten, if one is a low price and ten is a high price, I rate the solution's pricing a six."

"Don't unlicense your Prism licensing. Pro is the strict minimum for real infrastructure. Go with at least Pro and not with the starter. Ultimate was the best choice for me."

"Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) is cheaper than VMware and other products."

"At the end of the day, the product justifies the cost, and it leads to a conversation with management over whether we actually need this feature and if there are any use cases for why we would want to keep it."

"We have the ultimate license, so I don't know what it would cost individually."

"Prism Pro is a bit more upfront. It costs a bit more for some of the features that you get. We have four clusters, and two of them don't have Prism Pro because they weren't even available with what we bought. Those two clusters also run well, but they don't have all the features."

"The five-year term for NCM's license cost and support was around five million."

"The solution’s pricing is not outrageous like other products."

More Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) pricing and cost advice

"We use the Community Edition, rather than the Enterprise Edition."

"The solution is open source so is free."

"OpenNebuoa has recently come up with a new subscription model that is economical and a lot of new customers are choosing this as it is an easy subscription model."

"VRA is very expensive but OpenNebula is free."

"The licensing for OpenNebula used to be free, but now it's no longer free. A customer contacted me asking to move to another provider because of the changes in the licensing terms for OpenNebula. I have no information on how much the OpenNebula license is because the customer pays for it, and I only do the integration."

"OpenNebula gives good value for money."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Marketing Services Firm

13%

Construction Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Outsourcing Company

Comms Service Provider

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	29
Midsize Enterprise	27
Large Enterprise	75

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	3

Questions from the Community

Which set of Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) features do you find to be the most useful?

For me, the features related to cost savings are the best part of NCM. Of course, the whole product is worth using and when it comes to cloud management, there is a reason why it is favored by so m...

See all answers

Are the setup process and further maintenance of Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) difficult?

When I came into my current organization, NCM was already set up. According to the team that dealt with it, the product was fairly easy to set up. Compared to other products, our IT rates are set u...

See all answers

Is Nutanix Cloud Manager’s Intelligent Operations feature effective?

Yes, this is a highly effective feature and the rebranding only made things better as they introduced more improvements. You can benefit from Zero coding task automation Automated optimization Tic...

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Comparisons

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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

CloudCheckr vs Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM)

Compared 4% of the time

VMware Aria Automation vs Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM)

Compared 4% of the time

Nutanix Prism vs Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM)

Compared 4% of the time

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CloudStack vs OpenNebula

Compared 13% of the time

VMware Aria Automation vs OpenNebula

Compared 8% of the time

BMC Helix Cloud Security vs OpenNebula

Compared 5% of the time

VMware Aria Operations vs OpenNebula

Compared 4% of the time

Cisco UCS Director vs OpenNebula

Compared 4% of the time

More OpenNebula Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM)

October 2026

Download Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) product report

Buyer's Guide

OpenNebula

October 2026

Download OpenNebula product report

Also Known As

Nutanix Cloud Manager Intelligent Operations, Nutanix Cloud Manager Self-Service, Nutanix Cloud Management Cost Governance, Nutanix Cloud Manager Security Central, Nutanix Software Subscription

No data available

Overview

Nutanix Cloud Manager streamlines hybrid cloud management by offering centralized control, automation, and workload optimization across platforms. It improves operational efficiency while reducing IT management complexity.

Nutanix Cloud Manager is designed for comprehensive hybrid cloud governance, providing tools for virtualization, resource allocation, and compliance. Its features include one-click upgrades, dynamic dashboards, and the seamless automation of tasks through X-Play. Users can efficiently manage virtual machines, ensure secure storage, and enhance productivity with predictive monitoring. Self-service capabilities allow users to reserve resources easily, while central management via Prism Pro and automated reports enhance oversight and decision-making. Challenges include UI simplicity, pricing transparency, and licensing efficiency, with users seeking improvements in VM organization, blueprint customization, and collaborative support for hybrid environments.

What important features define Nutanix Cloud Manager?

One-click Upgrades: Simplifies the process of updating and maintaining systems.
Intuitive Interface: Offers a user-friendly experience with a low learning curve.
Prism Pro: Central management for streamlined control over environments.
Dynamic Dashboards: Provides real-time insights and monitoring capabilities.
X-Play Automation: Facilitates seamless and efficient task automation.
Capacity Planning: Assists in optimal resource allocation and future growth planning.
Compliance Monitoring: Ensures adherence to industry standards and policies.
Efficient VM Management: Enhances control and monitoring of virtual machines.
Self-service Capabilities: Empowers users to manage and allocate resources independently.
Cost Governance: Allows organizations to maintain budgetary control and efficiency.

What benefits should be considered when evaluating Nutanix Cloud Manager?

Enhanced Productivity: Streamlines tasks and improves efficiency through automation.
Predictive Monitoring: Proactively addresses potential issues before they impact operations.
Robust Disaster Recovery: Provides reliable solutions to recover data and maintain continuity.
Automated Reports: Generates timely insights for informed decision-making.
Unified Cloud Management: Offers comprehensive control across multiple environments.

Nutanix Cloud Manager finds utility in industries requiring robust hybrid cloud strategies like finance, healthcare, and manufacturing. It excels in centralizing management for secure and compliant operations, optimizing workloads, and providing scalable solutions for resource allocation and compliance monitoring, thus enhancing cloud operations in diverse markets.

Nutanix

OpenNebula offers scalability, ease of deployment, and integration capabilities that enhance cloud management for enterprises. It supports both virtual and bare metal resources, providing a versatile cloud management experience.

OpenNebula provides a robust platform for building, managing, and automating private and public clouds. Its compatibility with platforms like VMware, KVM, and containers makes it ideal for businesses hosting virtual private clouds and deploying Kubernetes clusters. OpenNebula's API and SDK facilitate automation and integration, allowing organizations to connect with IT systems effectively. Despite its strengths, improvements in object storage, REST API integration, and UI enhancements are needed. The documentation can be disorganized, and users encounter challenges with upgrades and community support.

What are key OpenNebula features?

Scalability: Easily manage resources for growing cloud environments.
User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies cloud management tasks.
Integration: Connects seamlessly with IT systems using robust API and SDK.
Hypervisor Support: Works with multiple hypervisors and container platforms.

What benefits do users find in OpenNebula?

Efficiency: Streamlines cloud operations, reducing management complexities.
Versatility: Offers support for both virtual and bare metal resources.
Community and Documentation: Though needing improvement, provides valuable resources for users.
Cost-Effectiveness: Lightweight nature minimizes resource expenditure.

OpenNebula implementation spans industries where cloud automation and management are critical. Companies utilize OpenNebula for deploying private clouds and managing infrastructure. Its support for Kubernetes clusters is beneficial in tech-driven sectors, highlighting OpenNebula's adaptability to different operational needs.

OpenNebula

Sample Customers

JetBlue, International Speedway Corporation, Volkswagen SAIC, Brighton and Hove City Council, Foresters Financial, Janus International Group, Cloud Comrade, Serco

Akamai, BBC, Fermilab, Terradue, Surf Sara, Produban, Netways, ESA, China Mobile, BlackBerry, Deloitte, Fuze, Telefonica, Trivago, Nokia, Encore Tech, Beeks.

Buyer's Guide

Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) vs. OpenNebula

November 2026

Free Report: Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) vs. OpenNebula

Find out what your peers are saying about Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) vs. OpenNebula and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.

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