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Oracle VM vs VMware ESXi comparison

 

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
7.7
The ROI varies, with high initial costs; however, cost-effectiveness and ease of use are appreciated despite differing opinions.
Sentiment score
4.6
VMware ESXi saves time and money initially but may result in higher long-term costs despite improved efficiency.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.0
Oracle VM support improved over time, with mixed reviews on speed and expertise, but helpful resources for self-resolution.
Sentiment score
7.4
VMware ESXi support is responsive and effective, but some users note delays post-Broadcom acquisition, affecting satisfaction.
The response time and quality of support could be improved.
In the last three or four years, we did not require any support from VMware engineers, indicating its high reliability.
I rate the technical support from VMware as nine or ten out of ten.
We are not receiving the response very fast from support, so we have to wait a lot.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Oracle VM efficiently scales resources across environments, providing flexibility and seamless integration, despite minor configuration challenges.
Sentiment score
7.8
VMware ESXi offers scalable solutions, efficiently managing virtual environments with excellent vertical scalability, despite some licensing challenges.
My customers are highly satisfied with its scalability.
vCenter Server can manage up to 1,000 ESXi servers within a single UI interface, allowing extensive deployment and management capabilities.
The solution is scalable, allowing us to scale up or down regardless of infrastructure size.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Oracle VM is praised for stability and performance, despite initial bugs, with improvements in latest versions on certified hardware.
Sentiment score
8.2
VMware ESXi is praised for stability and reliability, with most users rating it highly despite occasional performance issues.
Not every upgrade goes smoothly, and after an upgrade, it sometimes stops working.
ESXi is stable, and our business operations depend on it year after year.
 

Room For Improvement

Oracle VM users seek improvements in UI, integration, documentation, and features like drag-and-drop, backup, and monitoring tools.
VMware ESXi requires simpler licensing, improved usability, cost reduction, enhanced support, better scalability, and features like remote access.
Oracle VM provides automation capabilities in the new version.
If I have limited systems and there is maintenance on the hardware, the Oracle systems are impacted.
Not every upgrade goes smoothly, and after an upgrade, it sometimes stops working.
Providing a mobile application for remote access to ESXi servers would be beneficial.
The cost of VMware ESXi is very high, especially after the acquisition by Broadcom, which led to price increases.
It's not cost-effective for small users and creates a gap for alternatives, while favoring larger clients.
 

Setup Cost

Oracle VM is cost-effective with included support and licensing, benefiting enterprise users, especially with Oracle hardware.
VMware ESXi is often seen as expensive, with high initial and annual costs and a confusing licensing model.
Oracle VM is not a very expensive solution.
The product is very cost-effective, though not fixed, as pricing tends to fluctuate over time.
Changes have made it cost-prohibitive for smaller users.
VMware is shifting to Broadcom, and their prices are becoming more expensive nowadays.
 

Valuable Features

Oracle VM offers scalable, secure, open-source virtualization with extensive automation, cost savings, and enhanced compatibility with Oracle databases.
VMware ESXi is highly regarded for its reliability, user-friendliness, resource optimization, and efficient management of virtual machines.
If there is an issue with the operating system running on top of it, there's no primary and secondary domain, rather segregated I/Os, disks, memory, everything assigned to a logical domain.
It is easy to copy or clone one Oracle workstation to another.
Its capability to move virtual machines to physical machines is very efficient for our live environment.
As a level one or bare metal hypervisor, its unmatched scalability depends on underlying hardware, capable of managing large numbers of physical servers with one management platform.
Features like high availability ensure VM migration to another host in case of host failure.
 

Categories and Ranking

Oracle VM
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
84
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
VMware ESXi
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of Oracle VM is 7.3%, up from 6.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware ESXi is 1.1%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Virtualization Software
 

Featured Reviews

Nitin Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
Experience enhanced performance and support with reliable server consolidation
We are working with Oracle VM and Oracle OLVM We have used both Oracle VM and Oracle OLVM. It has been four or five years since we started using these solutions. Both products are from Oracle. Oracle VM provides automation capabilities in the new version. We have been using this solution for…
Syed Ali Waqas - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficiently manages development environments with robust network integration
I recommend new users download and evaluate the free version from VMware's website. Once satisfied, they should purchase the professional version for a smooth and secure IT infrastructure. The professional version is cost-effective, allowing one to create multiple servers on a single server. I'd rate the solution ten out of ten.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Educational Organization
10%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - Oracle VM or KVM?
I would prefer if KVM was easier to scale and not so limited. Overall the product has been helpful. It is easy to use, and was quite straight-forward to set up. Since I have been using KVM, I have ...
Which is better - Oracle VM or VMware VSphere?
Oracle VM seems to me to be kind of outdated. Nevertheless, it is fairly straightforward to use and maintain. The solution can just be set and you can forget about it, and the scalability is consid...
What do you like most about Oracle VM?
If you want to access the VM from anywhere over the Internet, you put it in a public subnet. So, VMs are linked to that. The subnets are linked to it. So, it's perfectly secured if it's a private n...
What do you like most about VMware ESXi?
My customers are satisfied with the solution’s performance.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware ESXi?
VMware is shifting to Broadcom, and their prices are becoming more expensive nowadays. The management is considering whether to continue with VMware or switch to other products. I am not sure exact...
What needs improvement with VMware ESXi?
Pricing is a major issue with VMware ESXi as it is becoming more expensive. Many financial companies use VMware, so they should consider working on their pricing model to make it more affordable.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Ambulance Victoria, Australian Finance Group (AFG), Avnet Technology Solutions, CERN, cloudKleyer, Danish Tax Authority (SKAT), Data Intensity, Dubai World, Engineers Australia, Enkitec, Groupe FLO, Guerra S.A. Implemento, s Rodovišrios, Interactive One, IT Convergence, Jesta Digital, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, KT, Kyoto Prefecture, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory / National Ignition Facility, Multinet Pakistan, National Australia Bank (NAB), Navis LLC, Overhead Door, Overstock.com, Paragon Data, Parks Victoria, Pella, Sunway Shared Services, St. Louis Metro, Terminales Ro de la Plata S.A., University of Massachusetts, Versace,
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Find out what your peers are saying about Oracle VM vs. VMware ESXi and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.