OpenNebula vs Red Hat CloudForms comparison

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OpenNebula and Red Hat are both solutions in the Cloud Management category. OpenNebula is ranked #24 with an average rating of 7.0, while Red Hat is ranked #37. OpenNebula holds a 1.5% mindshare in CM, compared to Red Hat’s 1.8% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of OpenNebula users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 66% of Red Hat users who would recommend it.

OpenNebula

Read 15 OpenNebula reviews

3,579 Views
3,400 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Red Hat CloudForms

Read 10 Red Hat CloudForms reviews

2,389 Views
2,365 Comparison Views

66% willing to recommend

OpenNebula

Red Hat CloudForms

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

Red Hat CloudForms and OpenNebula are competing tools in the cloud management platform space. Red Hat CloudForms is favored for its pricing satisfaction and support, while OpenNebula is often preferred for its robust feature set.

Features: Red Hat CloudForms excels in hybrid cloud management, automation capabilities, and offers advanced monitoring and reporting, whereas OpenNebula impresses with integrated multi-cloud orchestration, a focus on scalability, and simplicity.

Room for Improvement: Red Hat CloudForms can improve by simplifying its initial setup processes, enhancing ease of use, and expanding flexibility in integration. OpenNebula could benefit from enhanced support options, expanding its feature documentation, and increased focus on advanced analytics.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: OpenNebula is known for straightforward deployment and efficient, tailored customer service. Red Hat CloudForms offers comprehensive support but may require more complex initial setup, which can be beneficial for enterprises needing deep customization.

Pricing and ROI: Red Hat CloudForms generally presents a higher initial setup cost with significant ROI through its extensive feature suite, while OpenNebula offers a cost-effective entry with lower scripting overhead and operational expenses, delivering faster ROI due to streamlined deployment.

To learn more, read our detailed OpenNebula vs. Red Hat CloudForms Report (Updated: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

OpenNebula vs. Red Hat CloudForms

September 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

OpenNebula

Ranking in Cloud Management

24th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Red Hat CloudForms

Ranking in Cloud Management

37th

Average Rating

6.4

Reviews Sentiment

5.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Cloud Management category, the mindshare of OpenNebula is 1.5%, down from 6.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Red Hat CloudForms is 1.8%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
OpenNebula	1.5%
Red Hat CloudForms	1.8%
Other	96.7%

Cloud Management

Featured Reviews

FOURES Jean-Philippe

Products Manager at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees

Reliable, simple to manage, and offers great technical support

The support of VXLAN fits with our network management. Thanks to this we can propose mixed solutions using virtual resources on OpenNebula and bare metal servers hosted in our facilities linked to each other on the sale network. This use case is very useful when some applications need bare metal power (Kubernetes workers, huge databases, AI models computations, et cetera). The cluster management is very useful for splitting our different clusters (mutual vs dedicated). We can manage deployments and capacity planning without pain. The API is also really simple and it helped us to develop the Terraform provider to manage OpenNebula like any other cloud infrastructure.

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Ilhami Arikan

Cloud Services Automation Technologies Manager at Garanti Teknoloji

A stable solution that helps to provision servers

We use the solution to provision servers. I am impressed with the product's ability to create dynamic catalogs. The solution's provisioning engine needs to be improved. I would rate the solution's stability an eight out of ten. I would rate the product's scalability a seven out of ten and…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is quite easy to deploy."

"It has enabled us to decrease the optics by around 55 to 60%."

"OpenNebula is lightweight, stable, and easy to customize."

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

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

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

"OpenNebula freed my customer from doing the maintenance operations of the servers because now that can be done by his clients."

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

More OpenNebula pros

"The optimization of the solution is quite interesting."

"I am impressed with the product's reports."

"The stability of the solution is very good, and we haven't had any issues with it."

"Red Hat CloudForms is a stable product. There is no issue with the stability."

"The optimization of the solution is quite interesting, as it means we can prepare a bunch of VMs with self-service provisioning."

"Red Hat CloudForms is stable once it is up and running."

"I am impressed with the product's ability to create dynamic catalogs."

"They are a very mature product."

More Red Hat CloudForms pros

Cons

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

"The protocol for clusterization is rough and doesn't work well."

"They have been saying for the past two and a half years that they would develop a feature to hot-add RAM and CPU, but it does not work."

"They should add more features like object storage."

"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."

"An area for improvement in OpenNebula is the number of features it has. The solution doesn't have that many cloud features compared to other solutions. You'd say, "Okay, simplicity over a rich feature list?" Some say, "No, I need a big machine or a cloud interface for my customers to manage resources. I don't have to go and do it for them." Some people do it that way, and it works, but I'd like to improve the limited features in OpenNebula."

"The front-facing API can be improved to support lots of requests when the platform is huge with lots of virtual resources."

"Template management also needs improvement in OpenNebula because it's inferior right now."

More OpenNebula cons

"Our clients had challenges or issues with the updates. Its updates should be better managed."

"The problem is that the platform requires it to be maintained and updated. Also, a few cases are still pending with the Red Hat support team since they are not closed yet."

"I have issues with the solution's permissions. Unlike VMware, the product doesn't allow folder-type permissions."

"All of the areas of Red Hat CloudForms could improve. It doesn't do half of the things that it says it can do out of the box. It takes configuration to make any of it work, which is not uncommon for solutions similar to this. However, it is frustrating."

"The solution's provisioning engine needs to be improved."

"Because the solution needs to integrate with other products that surround it, there is a lot of configuration required, and this can be quite complex. It's not as easy as it is with, for example, VMware."

"Red Hat CloudForms could improve by allowing more customization of reports. We have to do a lot of coding to accomplish what we want. Additionally, the compatibility with the multi-cloud could improve. The latter versions of the solution removed Google support and the cost comparison between other clouds was high."

"Our clients had challenges or issues with the updates. Its updates should be better managed. They should provide quicker and more stable updates. Its stability can also be better. We initially faced ease-of-use and compatibility issues while integrating it. We had a lot of compatibility issues with other products. Our clients are concerned about whether it is under IBM or it is still Red Hat. Clients are not very clear about the support, and they're not really happy with it. Currently, they're getting support from Red Hat, but going forward, they're not really clear about what would be the life cycle of the product, which is a concern for them."

More Red Hat CloudForms cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"VRA is very expensive but OpenNebula is free."

"OpenNebula gives good value for money."

"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."

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

"The solution is open source so 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."

"Red Hat CloudForms has a subscript-based pricing model. The cost is approximately $20,000 annually which allows you to use as many users as you want."

"The product's licensing is based on the number of servers."

"Red Hat CloudForms is a bit expensive."

"It is definitely cheaper than VMware. Everything is included. There is no challenge there."

"The price of Red Hat CloudForms was not competitive, it was expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

Outsourcing Company

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

14%

Construction Company

Transportation Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Large Enterprise	8

Comparisons

CloudStack vs OpenNebula

Compared 14% of the time

VMware Aria Automation vs OpenNebula

Compared 8% of the time

Nutanix Cloud Manager (NCM) vs OpenNebula

Compared 6% of the time

BMC Helix Cloud Security vs OpenNebula

Compared 5% of the time

VMware Aria Operations vs OpenNebula

Compared 5% of the time

More OpenNebula Competitors

VMware Aria Automation vs Red Hat CloudForms

Compared 9% of the time

IBM Multicloud Manager vs Red Hat CloudForms

Compared 6% of the time

Cloudify vs Red Hat CloudForms

Compared 5% of the time

IBM Service Delivery Manager vs Red Hat CloudForms

Compared 5% of the time

IBM Cloud Automation Manager vs Red Hat CloudForms

Compared 5% of the time

More Red Hat CloudForms Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

OpenNebula

September 2026

Download OpenNebula product report

Buyer's Guide

Red Hat CloudForms

September 2026

Download Red Hat CloudForms product report

Overview

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

Red Hat CloudForms is a robust management platform that integrates seamlessly with open-source technologies like Kubernetes and Docker. It offers flexibility with diverse infrastructures, scalability, and dynamic catalog creation.

Red Hat CloudForms supports service providers in UAE by offering a central console for infrastructure management. Known for its multi-tenancy and streamlined interface, it facilitates seamless integration with infrastructures like Nexus, Solaris, IBM, and VMware. Despite its strengths, challenges such as complexity and user-friendliness have been noted, with users requesting predefined modules, enhanced dashboards, and improved customization. The cost and platform lifecycle remain concerns, especially when compared to competitors like VMware. Permission refinement and provisioning engine improvements are also needed, as well as better cloud service integration and stability.

What features make Red Hat CloudForms stand out?

Seamless Integration: Works well with open-source components like Kubernetes and Docker.
Multi-Tenancy: Allows multiple users with separate environments.
Scalability: Designed to grow with infrastructure needs.
Dynamic Catalog Creation: Offers customized service delivery.
Report Capabilities: Provides in-depth analytics and reporting options.

What benefits and ROI should be evaluated?

Flexibility: Supports diverse infrastructures like VMware and IBM.
Self-Service Provisioning: Reduces time to deploy and manage VMs.
Automated Infrastructure: Automates code for more efficient management.
Integration Opportunities: Works with Ansible Tower for application management.

In industries, Red Hat CloudForms serves as a central hub for service providers, managing and orchestrating platforms like NETGEAR, KVM, Hyper-V, and VMware. Automation of infrastructure code, server management, and cloud infrastructure evaluation are core use cases, with users integrating technologies like Ansible Tower for daily task management and access delegation.

Red Hat

Sample Customers

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

Cox Automotive, Penn State, FICO, G-ABLE, Seneca College, ITandTEL, The Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (PLUS), MyRepublic, Macquarie, The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, CBTS, Network Data Solutions (NDS)

Buyer's Guide

OpenNebula vs. Red Hat CloudForms

September 2026

Free Report: OpenNebula vs. Red Hat CloudForms

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