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RHEV vs VMware vSphere comparison

Red Hat and VMware are both solutions in the Server Virtualization Software category. Red Hat is ranked #13 with an average rating of 7.8, while VMware is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.4. Red Hat holds a 3.4% mindshare in SVS, compared to VMware’s 16.4% 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
  • 4,043 Views
  • 4,043 Comparison Views
79% willing to recommend
VMware vSphere
Read 456 VMware vSphere reviews
  • 26,125 Views
  • 22,729 Comparison Views
94% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 27, 2025

RHEV and VMware vSphere are two leading platforms in the virtualization category. While RHEV demonstrates an advantage in pricing and support, VMware vSphere stands out with its extensive feature set, appealing to enterprises that need comprehensive virtualization solutions.

Features: RHEV integrates well with open-source environments, offers simple resource management, and includes SELinux for enhanced security. VMware vSphere is recognized for its high scalability, the vMotion feature for seamless movement of virtual machines, and advanced memory management capabilities.

Room for Improvement: RHEV could benefit from enhanced third-party software integration, a more intuitive user interface, and broader community support. VMware vSphere might improve by reducing its complexity for beginners, streamlining its licensing costs, and providing more flexibility in storage options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: RHEV is known for a straightforward deployment process and accessible support, benefiting from its compatibility with open-source systems. VMware vSphere, while complex to deploy, offers robust support resources helping organizations during the setup and ongoing management phases.

Pricing and ROI: RHEV is cost-effective with lower setup costs, making it attractive to budget-conscious businesses. VMware vSphere involves higher initial expenses but often justifies the cost within enterprise environments needing detailed virtualization support alongside a robust ROI.

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Buyer's Guide
RHEV vs. VMware vSphere
July 2025
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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

RHEV
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
13th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
VMware vSphere
Ranking in Server Virtualization Software
2nd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
456
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of RHEV is 3.4%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware vSphere is 16.4%, 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 - PeerSpot reviewer
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 - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
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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

"Customers are moving to open source and Red Hat is the leader in this particular space. I think customers feel more confident running Red Hat Virtualization than VMware."
"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."
"The solution is overall very good with all the facilities. It is user friendly, easy to configure, has documentation, and support is available."
"The most valuable features of RHEV are all the tools, such as virtualization, management of cloud platforms, and integration of container environments. The solution has good compatibility between virtualization, content management, and cloud management. Having the full set of these tools is the advantage of it."
"We find the ease of use of this solution to be invaluable. It is user-friendly and integrates well with other software."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the support portal."
"The solution is a great all-round product. The virtualization is especially good."
"The most valuable feature of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization is its pricing."
More RHEV pros
"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."
"The initial setup is easy."
"It is the number one virtualization-layer platform available, and a lot of people trust it."
"The VMware community is always there and it is a valuable resource."
"VMware vSphere has very good applications and services."
"Cross vendor integration is in my opinion one of the best features."
"The UI is very intuitive, you don't have to spend hours before you figure it out. All in all, compared to other environments, like Hyper-V, we find vSphere a lot more user-friendly and intuitive to use."
"The speed of the solution is excellent."
More VMware vSphere pros
 

Cons

"The solution should be made more user-friendly."
"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."
"It would be better to have more patches, especially kernel-level updates, live and online so that we can keep the business up and running during this period."
"RHEV can improve by keeping pace with new features and new enhancements. They should not be halted or delayed innovation because over the past quarter the enhancements have not been as fast as they have been previously."
"In comparison to VMware, this solution isn't as stable. We're testing it right now, and we're not trusting the stability of the product."
"A few features of the product do not work as well as those in VMware."
"While everything needs improvement in some way, I have no specifics."
"Configuring the network interfaces is much better in Ubuntu and should be improved."
More RHEV cons
"It would be nice if it had auto-scaling, no need to select CPU or select database size. Let it auto-scale, let it use the features that VMware has, instead of having to preselect."
"VMware vSphere is perfect for the on-premise solution, but we are in the cloud era, so I think maybe VMware needs to invest more in the cloud and the microservice chain. It would be better if VMware offered more cloud solutions and continuous applications."
"Its price could be better. It is expensive, and its price is a big concern."
"I'd like to get rid of the Flash Client. There are still some things we need to go in there and use it for, some plugins and other things aren't supported in the HTML5."
"From my point of view, my advice is to design the solution properly the first time."
"Response time could be improved."
"Both the price and the licensing fee are expensive, especially for our clients with a smaller workload."
"I can't speak to any missing features. It has everything I need."
More VMware vSphere cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I believe we pay on a yearly basis."
"This product has a variety of licensing options available. However, the level of licensing, and therefore the cost of licensing, is dependent on the number of servers being utilized."
"We have to pay extra for vulnerability and fault tolerance."
"Price-wise, RHEV is okay, in my opinion."
"Its price depends on the use cases."
"We buy a license for commercial use, and we also use the free editions."
"I would say the price is acceptable."
"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."
More RHEV pricing and cost advice
"I think it's a fair price. We are using it on the production side, and everything is good from our experience. That's why I would say that the cost isn't too high. However, it would always be nice if it was cheaper."
"The license is a one-time payment. You buy it once and own it forever, but you must pay for support, which is provided by the vendor, on a yearly basis."
"Its licensing is typically yearly. From a value standpoint, it's worth it."
"In my opinion, the price is not cheap, not it is expensive. It's average."
"Start with the lowest and upgrade if, and only if, absolutely necessary."
"Our ROI is good."
"It is expensive."
"The pricing is a little bit on the expensive side, and the licensing is on a yearly basis."
More VMware vSphere pricing and cost advice
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Comparison Review

VL
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

SB
Feb 7, 2024
Feb 7, 2024
What are the differences between RHEV and VMware vSphere?
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 o...
See 2 answers
Anne Cubarrubia - PeerSpot reviewer
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
RG
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
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
 

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?
The RHEV management plane could be improved, particularly the management interface. Something more similar to a Google, Amazon, or Azure interface might attract people to use its management interfa...
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 Logo
Proxmox VE vs RHEV
Compared 27% of the time
Hyper-V vs RHEV Logo
Hyper-V vs RHEV
Compared 11% of the time
KVM vs RHEV Logo
KVM vs RHEV
Compared 10% of the time
Nutanix AHV Virtualization vs RHEV Logo
Nutanix AHV Virtualization vs RHEV
Compared 7% of the time
Oracle VM vs RHEV Logo
Oracle VM vs RHEV
Compared 5% of the time
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Hyper-V vs VMware vSphere Logo
Hyper-V vs VMware vSphere
Compared 30% of the time
Oracle VM vs VMware vSphere Logo
Oracle VM vs VMware vSphere
Compared 13% of the time
Proxmox VE vs VMware vSphere Logo
Proxmox VE vs VMware vSphere
Compared 13% of the time
KVM vs VMware vSphere Logo
KVM vs VMware vSphere
Compared 7% of the time
Citrix XenServer vs VMware vSphere Logo
Citrix XenServer vs VMware vSphere
Compared 6% of the time
More VMware vSphere Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
RHEV
August 2025
RHEV reportDownload RHEV product report
Buyer's Guide
VMware vSphere
July 2025
VMware vSphere reportDownload 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
July 2025
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