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Oracle Coherence vs VMware Tanzu Data Solutions comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 23, 2025

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

Oracle Coherence
Ranking in Database Development and Management
11th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
In-Memory Data Store Services (4th)
VMware Tanzu Data Solutions
Ranking in Database Development and Management
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
85
Ranking in other categories
Relational Databases Tools (23rd), Data Warehouse (10th), Message Queue (MQ) Software (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Database Development and Management category, the mindshare of Oracle Coherence is 3.2%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Tanzu Data Solutions is 2.8%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Database Development and Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
VMware Tanzu Data Solutions2.8%
Oracle Coherence3.2%
Other94.0%
Database Development and Management
 

Featured Reviews

SS
Data Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Facilitating real-time business insights with enhanced data querying
Coherence is beneficial due to its multi-indexing to the same object and filtering based on data attributes within the object, followed by aggregation. These features facilitate querying data with multiple keys rather than just a single key. Its real-time data processing capabilities provide insights for business decisions with up-to-date information.
Karthik Shivaram - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Manager at STI INFOTECH PVT LTD
Improved multi-cloud data management has simplified operations and supports seamless Kubernetes
From my perspective, the biggest challenge with VMware right now is the pricing. To be very honest, in many cases I find myself recommending alternative solutions instead of VMware. Even if those alternatives come with a bit more complexity, customers are often more willing to accept that than the current VMware pricing model. In the past, VMware used a socket-based licensing model, which was easier for customers to understand and budget for. Now the shift to a core-based licensing model has significantly increased costs for many environments, especially for organizations running modern high-core CPUs. One positive aspect of the new model is that VMware has bundled several components together. For example, earlier when deploying vSphere, customers also had to purchase vCenter separately for management. Now multiple components are packaged into a single SKU, which simplifies some aspects of procurement and deployment. While this consolidation has its benefits, the overall licensing and commercial costs remain very high. Pricing is not the only issue. I believe Broadcom also needs to reconsider its strategy in light of the current market conditions. The approach they are taking may be strategic from a business perspective, but from what I see in the field, it is leading to lost opportunities. Many customers who previously relied on VMware are now actively exploring alternative virtualization platforms. I’m not sure where this direction will ultimately lead, but based on my experience, it is already affecting adoption. Since you’ve been trying to reach me for some time—and we also had a discussion a couple of years ago—I hope this feedback helps Broadcom understand the current sentiment in the market and potentially make adjustments. Another important concern is the way features are bundled. In many cases, customers only need basic virtualization and high availability capabilities. However, the current packaging often includes additional features that they may not need. A good analogy is that if a customer only needs an entry-level car, we shouldn’t be forced to sell them a Rolls-Royce. VMware could benefit from adopting a more modular or à la carte licensing model, where customers can choose only the components they truly require. For example, if a customer only needs core virtualization functionality, they should be able to purchase just that. This would allow partners and solution providers to better align solutions with customer requirements and position VMware more competitively in the market. Another challenge I want to highlight is the pricing model based on U.S. dollars and the way multi-year licensing is handled. In many enterprise and government projects, customers prefer to commit to three-year or five-year licenses and pay the full amount upfront. However, in approximately 20% of the deals I work on, we lose opportunities because VMware only provides dollar-based pricing for the first year. When it comes to the following years, the contract requires renewals annually rather than allowing a fixed multi-year upfront payment. This approach is particularly problematic for government and public sector customers. Many of them are ready and willing to pay for three or five years in advance, but the current VMware model does not support that structure effectively. Because pricing is tied to the U.S. dollar and subject to yearly adjustments, VMware does not lock in pricing for the full term. From a customer’s perspective, this introduces uncertainty and makes procurement more complicated. Ideally, if a price is quoted—for example, $100 per year—it should remain consistent across a multi-year agreement. Customers would be comfortable committing to a five-year term if the price were fixed and predictable. Unfortunately, that flexibility is currently not available across VMware products, whether it is vSphere, VMware Tanzu solutions, or other offerings. For large enterprise environments, one-year commitments are usually not practical. Many enterprise customers prefer longer-term agreements for budgeting and procurement reasons. Even when they are willing to accept the higher cost associated with the core-based licensing model, the lack of a clear multi-year upfront option often becomes a deal-breaker.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It has allowed us to greatly improve our response times in several services by caching part of the database into Coherence and executing complex queries using EntryProcessors."
"Coherence is beneficial due to its multi-indexing to the same object and filtering based on data attributes within the object, followed by aggregation."
"Since we implemented Coherence, this data is in memory all the time; so the results are found in milliseconds instead of five seconds."
"Coherence allows linear on-line scalability across multiple commodity servers."
"We are storing information from one of our applications; this allows us to answer requests in milliseconds, while the application would take seconds to answer requests from clients."
"Coherence has improved response times for queries of sizeable data sets, and by allowing for data distribution and replication through clustering, it improves the reliability of information systems."
"Oracle Coherence is a very good product which helps to create internet-scale applications using a high-performance grid."
"Portable object format (POF serialization) allows objects to be serialized and deserialized between Java and .NET so the two platforms can exchange data seamlessly."
"In general, I think this is a very good platform, particularly as it's open source."
"Processing speed of queries used for ‘Reporting’ solutions is the most valuable feature."
"I prefer an open-source solution but Pivotal Greenplum is cheap and has many functionalities."
"If the use case is going to be requiring a huge data transfer and big data analytics, this is a good product to use."
"We have been using GemFire for a Telco project, which we need process network data in real time and meanwhile access some reference data, and GemFire has done a great job, as we have managed to process over 200,000 messages per second."
"The security is great."
"The product's feature of data transaction works fast."
"The solution's best feature is its exceptional speed, delivering efficient utilization of resources."
 

Cons

"Configuration is too complex."
"I would like to see a more modern API like Hazelcast or Infinispan."
"The price is high. I believe there should be a cheaper version for only the caching solution."
"They could make the configuration management easier."
"We have nodes failing all the time, especially because of timeouts caused by node synchronization, but occasionally there are also memory-related errors."
"Complexity being a huge contributor to risk/cost for projects, I am more likely to use other products as a result."
"The product is the best, but it's absurdly expensive because licensing is according to the number of CPUs."
"We have encountered the occasional minor bug and very occasional more serious bug."
"The installation is difficult and should be made easier."
"I'd like so see better scaling, better performance from in-memory databases, and a higher compression rate."
"The ongoing response from their support on certain technical issues has been slow. It would help if we can have a faster turn-around here."
"Hardware failure is a concern."
"VMware Tanzu Data Solutions can be improved as it is better and faster for administration and clusters, Dockers, and Kubernetes. Improvements are needed in the documentation."
"Initial setup is a little complex. It took around two weeks to deploy."
"The support feature could benefit from some improvement in terms of accessibility and responsiveness."
"It doesn't have any GUI-based monitoring tools."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"It is the best product with best fit for price/performance customer objectives."
"The pricing is okay."
"It is an open-source product."
"We are using the open-source version of this solution."
"Pricing is good compared to other products. It's fine."
"The product is available for free use since it is an open-source technology."
"are using the open-source version, which can be used free of cost."
"Since the tool is an open-source product, there is no need to pay anything."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
29%
Computer Software Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Construction Company
12%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise23
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise50
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Oracle Coherence?
The WebLogic Management is quite cumbersome. The initial setup is complex and time-consuming.
What is your primary use case for Oracle Coherence?
I utilize Coherence for data solutions in the financial industry. Its primary use case includes plain lookup, indexing, filtering, and aggregation.
What advice do you have for others considering Oracle Coherence?
I recommend Coherence, as I don't have any product issues. The main concerns are high pricing and a complex initial setup. Overall, I would rate Coherence as an eight out of ten.
How does IBM MQ compare with VMware RabbitMQ?
IBM MQ has a great reputation behind it, and this solution is very robust with great stability. It is easy to use, simple to configure and integrates well with our enterprise ecosystem and protocol...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Tanzu GemFire?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for VMware Tanzu Data Solutions is that it is a bit expensive.
What needs improvement with VMware Tanzu GemFire?
From my perspective, the biggest challenge with VMware right now is the pricing. To be very honest, in many cases I find myself recommending alternative solutions instead of VMware. Even if those a...
 

Also Known As

Coherence
Greenplum, Pivotal Greenplum, VMware RabbitMQ, VMware Tanzu GemFire, VMware Postgres
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Industrial Bank of Korea, Hotelbeds, Canon Inc., Verizon, Securitas Direct Espa_a, S.A.U., CetelemEspa_aGrupo BNP Paribas, Telus
General Electric, Conversant, China CITIC Bank, Aridhia, Purdue University
Find out what your peers are saying about Oracle Coherence vs. VMware Tanzu Data Solutions and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,644 professionals have used our research since 2012.