VMware Aria Automation vs Zesty comparison

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VMware Aria Automation

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

VMware Aria Automation and Zesty compete in the automation and optimization domain. Zesty holds a stronger position with advanced optimization features, while VMware Aria Automation excels in terms of comprehensive support and pricing strategies.

Features: VMware Aria Automation offers robust integration capabilities, custom workflow configurations, and flexibility for diverse enterprise environments. Zesty provides advanced automated cloud optimization features, efficient resource utilization, and significant cost-saving capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: VMware Aria Automation provides a structured deployment process, extensive documentation, and robust customer service for a seamless setup experience. Zesty features rapid deployment with an intuitive setup; however, it offers less comprehensive customer service support, making implementation quicker but service less extensive.

Pricing and ROI: VMware Aria Automation is cost-effective, balancing initial setup costs with significant long-term ROI due to its comprehensive feature set. Zesty, requiring a higher initial investment, offers substantial ROI through reduced cloud expenses and enhanced operational efficiency, highlighting VMware's affordability against Zesty's focus on optimization-driven ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed VMware Aria Automation vs. Zesty Report (Updated: June 2026).

VMware Aria Automation vs. Zesty

June 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

VMware Aria Automation

Ranking in Cloud Management

3rd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

172

Ranking in other categories

Configuration Management (8th), Network Automation (5th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (20th), Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) (6th)

Zesty

Ranking in Cloud Management

16th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Cost Management (9th)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Cloud Management category, the mindshare of VMware Aria Automation is 5.5%, down from 11.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zesty is 1.0%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
VMware Aria Automation	5.5%
Zesty	1.0%
Other	93.5%

Cloud Management

Featured Reviews

VasilisGiannitsiotis

Senior IT at ITSolutions

Automation has streamlined complex financial workflows but still needs more intuitive orchestration

Something to improve in VMware Aria Automation would be related to VCF 9, as I do not know what it is trying to bring because they exposed it as the solution of everything. So VCF 9 will bring VCF Automation and VCF Operations, the new product line of VMware. I have not seen what this brings or what else it includes. Maybe in the area of vRealize Orchestrator, this would be beneficial because VRO can do everything. Perhaps a more user-friendly way to use that tool would be helpful because the possibilities there are endless. I am looking for more user-friendly navigation in VMware Aria Automation.

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Srinivas Rayudu

Director at Zensa Technologies

Managing complex onboarding has been challenging but automated cost optimization delivers strong savings

Zesty is a good solution; however, the learning curve can be complex for new users without a solid tech background, posing a challenge in training and the initial setup process. I would deduct one point for this aspect since everything else is fine. A specific example of where the learning curve caused issues is when we introduced Zesty to our new development team, which struggled to understand the platform while working on a project related to AI and ML. Our system architects explained how Zesty works, but I believe a more proactive approach to training and foundational data could help teams be more self-sufficient and less reliant on internal support.

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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

"Reactors, because of the automation help they provide (reacting to custom events)."

"What we do with it is we've taken a very lengthy deployment process and we have shrunk it from what was a months-long process down to a matter of hours."

"Today, if I want to provision one VM, it takes me five minutes. Earlier, it would take a minimum of 30 minutes to go and choose everything. Now, I can just do one click and it can provision my whole VM. We also integrated with our Alexa, so even through voice functionality, I can create a VM. One of the guys at VMware, along with our partner, deployed that in our environment. If I say, "Hey, Alexa, I need a VM with four gigs of RAM," it will go and start creating it."

"The extensibility of the solution when it comes to writing your own ABX actions is a valuable feature. You can write it in PowerShell, JavaScript, or Python, which is great."

"Absolutely go for it. I believe in it."

"It’s very helpful for us to have this product; we already gained the benefits after installation and configuration."

"The most valuable features are the Catalog View and the access control business group. Access provisioning is probably the main use case for us, so we can separate access to different Catalog items among the different business groups and have that tied back to our AD LDAP systems."

"I think vRA stands at the top of the list of the products that we rate, because of the problems that it has helped us to solve, in terms of providing the services to our end customers."

More VMware Aria Automation pros

"One of the reasons we decided to onboard Zesty was that it started supporting Windows instances."

"Zesty has positively impacted our organization by providing a good return on investment, with a total reported percentage of savings around 40 to 50%."

"The turnkey aspect of Zesty is very valuable."

"From a metrics perspective, Zesty reduced our Kubernetes infrastructure spend by about 24% in the first six months, we also cut wasted storage costs by roughly 18% and improved saving plan utilization by around 12%, and on the operational side, we saved roughly 40 to 50 hours a month in manual cloud cost tuning."

"I think Zesty is a really useful tool, it is really quick, it is really powerful, they are always improving it, and the customer service is flawless."

Cons

"It has a learning curve."

"Windows support is advertised as a first-rate supported platform; however, it is ripe with issues that have added countless hours to our roadmap."

"Our customers feel it's very costly."

"Improvements in the API. Make it easier because that's where we tend to struggle when we were working with other groups."

"Most of the time the upgrade experience has been good but sometimes things break after upgrading. For example, some API codes stopped working."

"The back-end has a steep learning curve."

"in general, it took us a long time to get it off the ground. We had a lot of issues upfront and we determined that we just needed to scrap it. I think we scrapped it two or three times before we actually got it built the way we wanted, and we're still not where we need to be. We have had downtime. There have been some issues, but we're also two iterations behind on version."

"We had a lot of issues at first. Especially with doing any kind of upgrades, it was a complete tear-down and a complete rebuild of all the Blueprints. The upgrade process was not easy or intuitive at all. But it seems to be getting better."

More VMware Aria Automation cons

"The biggest area for improvement is still reporting depth."

"There are different resource types that we would like to leverage and get reserved instances for, such as RDS instances."

"I would like to get RDS-reserved instances that I could buy and sell, but that's a limitation on AWS."

"It would be really useful if Zesty had more code snippets that were easy to use, an easier library instead of their documentation, and something that provided an automated finish to insert code so it could give you code hints."

"Zesty is a good solution; however, the learning curve can be complex for new users without a solid tech background, posing a challenge in training and the initial setup process."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"VMware Aria Automation is expensive."

"The tool is expensive since it is an enterprise product."

"SaltStack is an open-source product."

"The solution is free of cost."

"It is an expensive product. After VMware's acquisition by Broadcom, there was a rise in the price of VMware Aria Automation."

"The solution is pretty expensive but provides good workload management."

"Customers say this solution is costlier compared to its competitors."

"From the customer perspective, the value was worth it."

More VMware Aria Automation pricing and cost advice

"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

15%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	33
Midsize Enterprise	24
Large Enterprise	131

No data available

Questions from the Community

What's the difference between VMware vRA (automation) and vROps (operations)?

vROP is a virtualization management solution from VMWare. It is efficient and easy to manage. You can find anything you need from the software interface. It provides complete visibility over applic...

Is there any way to try VMware Aria Automation for free?

When it comes to VMware Aria Automation, you have three choices for free runs: Hands-on Lab (HOL) Advanced lab A free trial I cannot describe in detail the second and third options as my company ...

Which sectors can benefit the most from VMware Aria Automation?

I was looking at VMware Aria Automation case studies recently and I got the impression that three main kinds of companies were using it most often: Social organizations Financial institutions and ...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zesty?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing was great, as we had a great account manager that we did not have to query too much about it. The free one was nearly good enough to start with...

What needs improvement with Zesty?

I find myself using the online editor the most often, and what would be better is if you could have multiple windows open to work in, something like an actual program rather than having to shift be...

What is your primary use case for Zesty?

My main use case for Zesty is the CMS. For our corporate website, my team uses Zesty's CMS to allow users from any point in the company to upload content, add posts, add pages, and promote the comp...

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Comparisons

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Compared 4% of the time

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HashiCorp Terraform vs VMware Aria Automation

Compared 3% of the time

Microsoft Configuration Manager vs VMware Aria Automation

Compared 3% of the time

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Compared 9% of the time

nOps vs Zesty

Compared 7% of the time

AWS Savings Plans vs Zesty

Compared 6% of the time

ProsperOps vs Zesty

Compared 6% of the time

Sonatype Lifecycle vs Zesty

Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

Download VMware Aria Automation product report

VMware Aria Automation

May 2026

Download Zesty product report

May 2026

Also Known As

VMware vRealize Automation, vRA, VMware DynamicOps Cloud Suite, SaltStack

No data available

Overview

VMware Aria Automation is known for its automation capabilities, integrating with VMware and third-party tools to enhance workflow efficiency, save time, and manage resources effectively.

VMware Aria Automation offers a diverse set of features including a self-service portal and a streamlined user-friendly interface, which make it ideal for organizations aiming to automate virtual machine provisioning. The platform supports extensive automation capabilities across multi-cloud environments, featuring flexible blueprint designs and comprehensive integration with platforms like AWS, Azure, and ServiceNow. Though improvements are desired in areas like logging, template management, and vCenter integration, its robust framework facilitates IT infrastructure services, disaster recovery, and development operations. It is specifically beneficial for orchestrating workflows, automating routine tasks, and managing workloads efficiently in private and hybrid cloud environments.

What are the most important features of VMware Aria Automation?

Self-Service Portal: Empowers users with easy access to resources and tools needed for automation.
User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies navigation and usage for both technical and non-technical users.
Extensive Automation Capabilities: Streamlines VM deployment and processes across various platforms.
Integration with VMware and Third-Party Tools: Enhances workflow automation and extends functionality.
Flexible Blueprint Designs: Allows for customized and scalable deployment solutions.

What are the benefits and ROI users should consider?

Efficiency: Reduces manual workload, leading to time and cost savings.
Scalability: Supports dynamic growth and resource management.
Enhanced Workflow Automation: Improves process efficiency with comprehensive integrations.
Customizable Orchestration: Enables tailored solutions that meet specific requirements.
Resource Management: Efficiently utilizes resources, reducing waste and optimizing operations.

VMware Aria Automation is implemented across industries for automating the provisioning of virtual machines and managing cloud environments. It is used in sectors requiring efficient server deployment, network configurations, and seamless integration with tools such as AWS and Azure. It aids in reducing manual efforts, supporting IT infrastructure services, and enhancing disaster recovery protocols.

Broadcom

Zesty offers scalable solutions that empower businesses to optimize their digital presence efficiently. Designed for dynamic online environments, Zesty integrates seamlessly, enhancing digital content management with versatile tools.

Zesty focuses on providing an adaptive content management experience for professionals seeking optimization in web content publishing. Known for its intuitive interfaces and robust architecture, Zesty allows effortless website management, content personalization, and SEO enhancements. With Zesty, businesses can efficiently curate digital content, ensuring swift loading times and superior user engagement. Its extensible features enable integration across different platforms, ensuring streamlined workflow management and enhanced data-driven decision-making.

What are the key features of Zesty?

Content Management: Easy-to-navigate CMS for efficient content updates.
SEO Tools: Built-in SEO analytics to boost online visibility.
Personalization: Customizable options for tailored content delivery.
Integration Capabilities: Links seamlessly with third-party applications.

What benefits should users consider?

Improved Efficiency: Streamlined processes reduce time spent managing content.
Enhanced Visibility: Advanced SEO ensures greater reach.
Increased Engagement: Personalized content fosters user interaction.
Cost-Effectiveness: Optimizes resources resulting in reduced operational costs.

Industries such as eCommerce, healthcare, and media have successfully implemented Zesty to streamline digital operations. For eCommerce, Zesty facilitates rapid product content updates, while healthcare sectors utilize it for managing patient information and media outlets employ it for real-time news publishing.

Sample Customers

Rent-a-Center, Amway, Vistra Energy, Liberty Mutual

Walkme, Wiz, Gong, Grubhub, Singular