RHEV vs VMware vSphere comparison

Red Hat and VMware are both solutions in the Server Virtualization Software category. Red Hat is ranked #12 with an average rating of 7.7, while VMware is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.4. Red Hat holds a 3.6% mindshare in SVS, compared to VMware’s 16.1% mindshare. Additionally, 79% of Red Hat users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of VMware users who would recommend it.

RHEV

Read 36 RHEV reviews

4,351 Views
3,509 Comparison Views

79% willing to recommend

VMware vSphere

Read 454 VMware vSphere reviews

24,020 Views
20,394 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

RHEV

VMware vSphere

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

RHEV and VMware vSphere are well-known virtualization platforms in competitive data center management. VMware vSphere appears to have an advantageous position because of its extensive feature set and perceived value relative to its higher price, while RHEV remains appealing due to competitive pricing and robust support.

Features: RHEV has strong security, scalability, and efficient resource management suitable for open-source settings. VMware vSphere includes comprehensive high-availability features, mature disaster recovery tools, and advanced network management which are attractive for companies seeking advanced virtualization.

Room for Improvement: RHEV could enhance ease of use, further integration options, and improve initial deployment processes to lower technical hurdles. VMware vSphere might benefit from reduced complexity in licensing options, enhanced cost efficiency, and further simplification of its comprehensive management tools.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: VMware vSphere is known for its straightforward deployment, extensive documentation, and dependable customer support. RHEV, as an open-source platform, offers flexibility but can require significant technical knowledge, which might increase setup complexities for some businesses.

Pricing and ROI: RHEV is attractive for its low setup costs, providing a favorable ROI thanks to cost-efficient open-source solutions. VMware vSphere, although expensive initially, offers substantial long-term ROI due to its rich features that optimize operational efficiencies, thus balancing the investment for those seeking high performance.

To learn more, read our detailed RHEV vs. VMware vSphere Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

RHEV vs. VMware vSphere

June 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 860,168 peers since 2012

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

RHEV

Ranking in Server Virtualization Software

12th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

VMware vSphere

Ranking in Server Virtualization Software

2nd

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

454

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of RHEV is 3.6%, up from 3.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware vSphere is 16.1%, down from 20.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Server Virtualization Software

Featured Reviews

Sujeet-Kumar

Project Manager Cloud Infrastructure at Path Infotech ltd

The solution is scalable and affordable, but it lacks features, and it is not easy to manage

Management of RHEV is not as easy as VMware. Some features do not work. The product does not provide features similar to VMware’s VMotion. After creating the cluster, the VM is moved to another node if we move down. However, the VM does not move the parent node automatically. It has to be moved manually. VMware moves it automatically. RHEV moves it to the parent node only if we restart. Everything can be handled in VMware through the GUI. However, in RHEV, some things can be managed through UI, and others cannot. We have to troubleshoot and use CLI. A few features of the product do not work as well as those in VMware.

Read full review

Neeraj Mehra

Manager of Solutions and Support at Esconet Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Streamlines virtualization and has features like high availability and vMotion

The primary use case is for virtualization, including the implementation of vSphere, vCloud Foundation, vCloud Director, and cloud automation with vSphere My customers, particularly SMBs, mainly utilize High Availability (HA), DRS, and vMotion features. The vMotion feature is beneficial for…

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 solution is a great all-round product. The virtualization is especially good."

"It's a scalable solution."

"It is very stable."

"When you purchase RHEV, you are essentially buying a subscription license. This license can be integrated with various client types, including these integrations with the subscription."

"It is easy to deal with when comes to application migration and its compatibility with the multiple component applications."

"I advise keeping an open mind. It's an excellent solution."

"I can control and manage everything. I know everything that's cooking inside. This is the best part for me."

"The solution has a good licensing module."

More RHEV pros

"Its dynamic resource scheduling and its fault tolerance capabilities are two features that I've found to be valuable. I also like that VMware vSphere is stable, scalable, and easy to install."

"Also, the automated builds are being done through it, and we don't have to manually do it anymore. All of my AIS platforms are completely automated now with the VM suite."

"The most valuable features of VMware vSphere are backup and recovery."

"We have seen a performance boost because we have been able to more dynamically allocate either memory or processors."

"The fact that you can use all the CPU and memory power that the server can provide is most valuable. In a physical server, you might end up not using all the physical resources. There are a lot of benefits, such as flexibility and mobility, in virtualizing computes."

"We use it to virtualize our server infrastructure. Virtualization has made it easier for us to manage our environment. We can manage it from location, the vSphere web client."

"We use the solution's vMotion feature to migrate VMs from one host to another across different environments and data centers."

"The built-in encryption of vSphere really helps us to secure our customers, especially customers in the medical field who need to be HIPAA compliant. Being able to encrypt the VM itself helps out a ton."

More VMware vSphere pros

Cons

"The solution could use network virtualization."

"I would love to see better documentation and ease of use."

"The support is tricky in a few places. We're facing some challenges within Malaysia where we don't really have the system integrators available who can provide extended support. When we need personnel on-site, we can't get them."

"The Administration of the Oracle database and the SAP ERP needs improvement."

"I heard that there are big differences between Red Hat eight and seven, but it's still quite difficult for me to judge it. I found it a bit more difficult to manage than version seven, which was much easier. In term of features, though, it is still not yet clear which is better. I have no clear idea of which features need to be changed at the moment."

"When we do a direct comparison, then obviously VMware does better in terms of having Fault Tolerance and doing active disaster recovery and these kind of things. This is something that can be improved within Red Hat."

"Configuring the network interfaces is much better in Ubuntu and should be improved."

"Specifically, enhancements in managing virtual machine migrations, cloning, and the creation of different VMs could further optimize its functionality."

More RHEV cons

"NSX is a product of VMware vSphere and it would be nice to see the solution have full integration capabilities with it."

"There are occasionally bugs or errors."

"It would be highly beneficial for VMware to collaborate with local hosts and partners in countries like those in Africa to establish specific pricing that would align with the economic conditions of countries in Africa, ensuring suitability and compatibility with our consumption capabilities."

"The biggest thing to improve is to have more self-service in the portals. I would like to receive more help through the web interface."

"The licensing costs are expensive and most of the important features require a license."

"I’d like to see a better web console or rather, transform the web console in a real single pane of glass for the whole infrastructure instead of having to go for vRealize Ops Manager."

"I know VMWare has this Operations Manager. I know that it comes at a price because VMWare normally wants to charge for everything in the software. But I'm not seeing all the features of the Operations Manager. I only see a few features. If all the features can be included in one package, that would be good."

"It would be nice to see it a little more tightly integrated with the patching solution so you could do it in one pane of glass. Right now, you have to jump back and forth. It's still not difficult, but you have to jump back and forth to do your update definitions and then go back and actually do the updates themselves."

More VMware vSphere cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would say the price is acceptable."

"RHEV offers pricing based on a per-physical-machine licensing model."

"It's a budget product as far as I'm concerned. It's way cheaper than any of its competitors. The only thing cheaper than Red Hat is that the people who take the Red Hat code clone it and then self-support it."

"We buy a license for commercial use, and we also use the free editions."

"The price of RHEV is high. It is an open-source solution, the price should be less. The price should not be on par with a solution, such as VMware. It's not more or equal to VMware, it's less, but the difference should be more substantial."

"We are using the free version of Red Hat."

"Price-wise, RHEV is okay, in my opinion."

"This is an open-source solution."

More RHEV pricing and cost advice

"As the vSphere platform allows for a variety of additions, it is quite good."

"It is expensive."

"Its price could be lower. There is the cost of one license, and then there is the subscription cost for support."

"In my opinion, the essential version is a good price."

"I think the cost should be reconsidered. VMware is not the cheapest solution out there, despite the fact that it may be one of the best."

"We are spending less on buying bigger machines, which are overprovisioned. Thus, the ROI is found in consolidation and cost savings."

"The price could always be lower, but I think it's fair."

"It is cost effective."

More VMware vSphere pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Server Virtualization Software solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Comparison Review

Thang Le Toan (Victory Lee)

CIO at Robusta Technology & Training

Jan 13, 2015

vSphere vs. RHEV vs. Hyper-V vs. XenServer

We have used the following functions: 1. Hypervisor: to ensure that the virtual server provide web and email services to the company, thus providing a stable operation a with single sign-on integration of an AD server and vCenter. 2. Network and Storage: centralized data server…

Read full review

Answers from the Community

Sridhar Battarusetty

VP-Global Supply Chain Management at mobileum

Feb 7, 2024

What are the differences between RHEV and VMware vSphere?

See 2 answers

Anne Cubarrubia

Editor at PeerSpot

Aug 21, 2023

Here is a comparison of the two hypervisors, RHEV (Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization) and VMware vSphere: RHEV Pros: Open source Highly scalable Cost-effective Cons: Not as mature as VMware vSphere Not as widely supported as VMware vSphere VMware vSphere Pros: Mature and widely supported Wide range of features Easy to use and manage Cons: Not open source Can be expensive Some prefer RHEV because it is open-source and cost-effective. However, VMware vSphere may be the better option if you need a hypervisor with a wide range of features and support. As to which solution consumes fewer resources, RHEV is a lighter-weight hypervisor than VMware vSphere, so it consumes fewer resources. However, you must remember that each hypervisor's resource consumption depends on the configuration and workload.

Read full answer

Rajkumar Gera

Vice President, IT Infrastructure ( DC Operations ) at Vodafone Idea Ltd.

Feb 7, 2024

Hi Sridhar, This is Rajkumar Gera, VP IT in one of the Telecom. Below are some of the points, may help you: FEATURE RED HAT ENTERPRISE VIRTUALIZATION VMWARE VSPHERE Key differentiators Open source solution Proprietary solution Purchased via one subscription Multiple levels of functionality sold in editions with different price points Bare-metal performance for virtualized applications Application high availability (Enterprise Plus version only) Prioritized high availability so critical workloads are restarted first Desktop and server virtualization One infrastructure for managing desktops and servers Add-on products for desktop virtualization: VMware Player, VMware Horizon View, VMware Horizon DaaS, and VMware Horizon Mirage Remote access to virtual desktops through SPICE Full support for multimedia applications Management server Included in the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization subscription Requires purchase and license of VMware vCenter and database support Virtual machine density 40 cores: 4,682@288 40 cores: 3,824@234 160 cores: 14,061@864 160 cores: result not available Self-service portal Allows users to provision and manage VMs and templates with a browser Requires the purchase of VMware vCloud Automation Center Integration with OpenStack technology Supports the open Neutron pluggable networking API Supports VMware’s NSX networking plug-in Supports the OpenStack image service for a unified image repository between virtual and cloud platforms Does not support the OpenStack image service

Read full answer

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

18%

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

14%

Educational Organization

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about RHEV?

The initial setup is fairly straightforward and well-documented. The process is very similar to its competitors. The success of your setup depends on how well you plan.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for RHEV?

It's the open source. There's not much cost. It's very minimal comparably. Compared to what I am paying for VMware, it's negligible.

See all answers

What needs improvement with RHEV?

My teammates and I often complain that VMware is well-documented and has a large community since it is the de facto standard. I would love to see better documentation and ease of use. For newcomers...

See all answers

What is IOMMU?

DEEPEN DHULLA did explain well IOMMU. IOMMU has to be activated at the bios level. It exists on Intel and AMD platforms. It is used a lot inside virtualization platforms like VMware VSphere. It pr...

See all answers

Why KVM??? Help please!

We use VMware and KVM. We find that KVM is a lot simpler to use and it provides the virtualization we need for Linux and Windows. For us, VMware does not offer any advantage. Moreover, KVM is free.

See all answers

What is the biggest difference between Nutanix Acropolis and VMware vSphere?

We found the reduced power consumption with Nutanix Acropolis AOS a very attractive feature. We also like the interface that allows you to talk directly to your VM from the present software. We fou...

See all answers

Comparisons

Proxmox VE vs RHEV

Compared 25% of the time

Hyper-V vs RHEV

Compared 11% of the time

KVM vs RHEV

Compared 9% of the time

Nutanix AHV Virtualization vs RHEV

Compared 7% of the time

Oracle VM vs RHEV

Compared 5% of the time

More RHEV Competitors

Hyper-V vs VMware vSphere

Compared 24% of the time

Oracle VM vs VMware vSphere

Compared 14% of the time

Proxmox VE vs VMware vSphere

Compared 14% of the time

KVM vs VMware vSphere

Compared 8% of the time

Citrix XenServer vs VMware vSphere

Compared 6% of the time

More VMware vSphere Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

RHEV

June 2025

Download RHEV product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware vSphere

June 2025

Download VMware vSphere product report

Also Known As

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization

No data available

Overview

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization, or RHEV, is a leading open standard enterprise virtualization management solution. This solution supports virtualization of servers and desktops using the same infrastructure and a single easy-to-use interface.

Because RHEV is based on open standards, it is vendor-independent and a lot more cost effective and flexible than proprietary solutions.

Red Hat

VMware vSphere is a versatile virtualization platform known for its ease of use, flexibility, and high availability. It supports seamless migration, optimal resource allocation, and centralized management, making it highly suitable for diverse infrastructure needs.

VMware vSphere is widely adopted for its virtualization capabilities that enhance hardware efficiency and ensure minimal downtime through features like High Availability and Distributed Resource Scheduler. Despite criticisms about high licensing costs and limited fault tolerance, it remains a preferred choice due to its stability, scalability, and robust integration options. Users appreciate its efficiency in managing virtual machines and hosting enterprise applications, although challenges with web client performance and hardware compatibility are noted. Organizations often look for better integration with cloud services and enhanced automation and scalability.

What are the core features of VMware vSphere?

vMotion: Enables seamless migration of virtual machines without downtime.
Distributed Resource Scheduler: Optimizes resource allocation across hosts.
High Availability: Minimizes downtime by automatically restarting virtual machines.
Centralized Management: Facilitates easy management of virtualized environments.
Advanced Security: Provides robust security measures and compliance features.

What benefits and ROI can businesses look for?

Reduced Operational Costs: Efficiently utilizes hardware, saving on expenses.
Scalability: Easily scales to meet growing business demands.
Business Continuity: Ensures high availability and disaster recovery.
Integration Flexibility: Supports integration with various technologies.

VMware vSphere is implemented across sectors like healthcare, finance, and education for server virtualization, data center management, and private cloud creation. Its use in facilitating business-critical operations ensures high availability and efficient resource use, supporting both development and production environments.

VMware

Sample Customers

Qualcomm and Bonham's Auction House.

Abu Dhabi Ports Company, ACS, AIA New Zealand, Consona, Corporate Express, CS Energy, and Digiweb.

Buyer's Guide

RHEV vs. VMware vSphere

June 2025

Free Report: RHEV vs. VMware vSphere

Find out what your peers are saying about RHEV vs. VMware vSphere and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our RHEV vs. VMware vSphere report.

See our list of best Server Virtualization Software vendors.

We monitor all Server Virtualization Software reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.