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VMware vCenter vs Zabbix comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 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
4.8
VMware vCenter provides cost savings and efficiency by centralizing management, reducing labor and energy costs, and enhancing scalability.
Sentiment score
6.9
Zabbix is praised for being cost-effective and scalable, minimizing downtime, and eliminating high licensing fees for enterprises.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.6
VMware vCenter support varies, with mixed responsiveness and expertise, praised resources, and cost concerns for non-premium users.
Sentiment score
6.8
Zabbix support is well-regarded, with strong community forums, responsive staff, and effective local partners aiding various user needs.
VMware vCenter manages high availability effectively.
IT Infrastructure and Architect Specialist at a transportation company with 201-500 employees
The technical support is good.
Manager Tech. & Support (Information Technology) at Texitech
It is so straightforward that I have never had to use the support.
CTO at Oic
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.5
VMware vCenter excels in scalability, suitable for all business sizes, with high ratings and efficient automated management capabilities.
Sentiment score
6.9
Zabbix offers scalable, flexible monitoring with cost efficiency, though complex scaling and database management may require improvements for large deployments.
On a scale of one to ten, I would rate its scalability as ten.
IT Manager at Synergy Computers
The scalability is good in vCenter.
Manager Tech. & Support (Information Technology) at Texitech
The solution is completely scalable as we can increase any host with great simplicity.
IT Infrastructure and Architect Specialist at a transportation company with 201-500 employees
Zabbix has high scalability.
CTO at Four Nine Agency
Zabbix is very scalable and lightweight.
CTO at Oic
I would rate its scalability ten out of ten.
Manager, Information Technology Zara & Inditex at Cenomi
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
5.1
VMware vCenter is praised for stability, reliability, and ecosystem support, with minor issues quickly resolved by effective support.
Sentiment score
7.4
Zabbix is generally stable and reliable, requiring minimal resources, though occasional issues may arise from external factors.
We have not faced any issues after upgrading VMware vCenter, whether on the vCenter or any host.
IT Infrastructure and Architect Specialist at a transportation company with 201-500 employees
Zabbix is very scalable and lightweight.
CTO at Oic
I think the stability of Zabbix is around five to six on a scale of ten, where ten is the best and one is the worst.
Network Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Zabbix is quite stable, and we haven't had any problems with Zabbix itself.
CTO at Four Nine Agency
 

Room For Improvement

VMware vCenter struggles with high costs, complex licensing, limited features, and demands for better scalability, automation, and integration.
Zabbix needs user interface, reporting, and dashboard improvements, plus better configuration, automation, documentation, scalability, and advanced monitoring features.
The licensing model has shifted, leading to higher costs, particularly for smaller organizations.
IT Manager at Synergy Computers
The license cost has increased significantly, which is the primary negative aspect of VMware vCenter.
IT Infrastructure and Architect Specialist at a transportation company with 201-500 employees
Better redundancy options can be achieved by using multiple vCenter machines.
Manager Tech. & Support (Information Technology) at Texitech
The only issue I can note is that it's Linux-based, and Linux documentation is not the best.
CTO at Oic
The potential and customization is a little difficult because you have to learn scripts.
Network Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
 

Setup Cost

VMware vCenter's high costs and complex licensing may increase with Broadcom's subscription model, impacting smaller businesses significantly.
Zabbix is praised for being a free, open-source solution with optional low-cost support, attracting enterprise users.
The licensing model now requires purchasing 96-core solutions, even if fewer cores are needed, adding to the cost burden.
IT Manager at Synergy Computers
Zabbix is providing everything free of cost.
Network Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
It is literally free.
CTO at Oic
 

Valuable Features

VMware vCenter provides centralized management, high availability, seamless migration, and efficient virtualization for improved infrastructure management and reduced costs.
Zabbix offers open-source flexibility, scalability, automated monitoring, diverse integrations, and adaptability for complex infrastructures with strong community support.
High availability is employed so if an ESXi server is down, the VM is supported on another ESXi on other servers.
System Engineer at TARGET Integrated Systems
The high availability feature is particularly valuable when a host goes down or experiences high usage, as it automatically migrates VMs to other hosts to balance performance.
IT Infrastructure and Architect Specialist at a transportation company with 201-500 employees
VMware vCenter is excellent for managing and monitoring hypervisors, specifically with features like live migration, storage vMotion, and host vMotion.
IT Manager at Synergy Computers
If disk usage surpasses a threshold, say 70%, I receive alerts and can take proactive action.
CTO at Oic
The alerting systems are very good in Zabbix, and it has helped us to reduce time for reaction.
Network Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
People want to save costs, which is why they install Zabbix, but the reporting functionality is not properly developed.
Network Engineer at Ogma Consulting
 

Categories and Ranking

VMware vCenter
Ranking in Server Monitoring
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zabbix
Ranking in Server Monitoring
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
108
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (10th), Network Monitoring Software (1st), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (1st), Cloud Monitoring Software (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Server Monitoring category, the mindshare of VMware vCenter is 1.4%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zabbix is 18.1%, down from 25.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Monitoring Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Zabbix18.1%
VMware vCenter1.4%
Other80.5%
Server Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

Hoang Long Nguyen - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Infrastructure and Architect Specialist at a transportation company with 201-500 employees
Automation and technical support impress with seamless migration and high availability management
We are in the process of implementing Zerto, which is currently in the purchase order phase. While we haven't fully implemented it yet, we have completed the POC. We use VMware vCenter and ESXi. The solution manages high availability effectively, with excellent automation for migration and patch management. The support is good, though the recent license change after the Broadcom acquisition has significantly increased costs. Patch management is controllable and can be managed individually, with automatic downloads available. We use it primarily for managing hosts and updates, without any integration. The performance is excellent, running very smoothly. I rate VMware vCenter a 9 out of 10.
KamranBhatti - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Helps reduce response time but has room to improve customization complexity
We are not working on simple standalone solutions like Kaspersky DDoS Protection or Hybrid Cloud Security. Once you understand Zabbix, then it is easy to customize those web pages and graphs for our customer use. It is fully automated to your requirements. Zabbix is working fine with no issues, and I am satisfied with it. We have combined Zabbix and SolarWinds. The integration works fine, and it is easy to integrate Zabbix with the IT environment. We were trying to purchase MDR (Managed Detection and Response), but we are not working on that. I don't have real experience with MDR. We are using Falcon software for that. We are working with Falcon Complete, not with Sandbox. We are not using Kaspersky for business or cloud protection. For that, we are using Zabbix CrowdStrike Falcon Complete solution. I have given this review an overall rating of 8.
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881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user174738 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Developer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
May 31, 2015
Nagios vs. Zabbix vs. PRTG vs. Spiceworks vs. Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor
I have researched a quite a few network monitoring tools which can be used for various monitoring purposes of not only the servers, but the intermediate routers as well. There are majorly three types of these softwares. Ones which are completely open-source, you can do almost anything you want…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Outsourcing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise18
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business56
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise34
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about VMware vCenter?
The filtering capabilities also enhance scalability by optimizing resource allocation.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware vCenter?
The initial package for VMware vCenter is not less than $10,000, which can be prohibitive for smaller organizations. The licensing model now requires purchasing 96-core solutions, even if fewer cor...
What needs improvement with VMware vCenter?
The main concern is the license change following the sale to Broadcom. The license cost has increased significantly, which is the primary negative aspect of VMware vCenter. While technical support ...
What do you like most about Zabbix?
The template system in Zabbix is very beneficial as it saves time in configuration.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zabbix?
I think Zabbix is economical, whereas SolarWinds is expensive. SolarWinds has a lot of secure features, but Zabbix is providing everything free of cost. Zabbix is economical, and you can install it...
What needs improvement with Zabbix?
The potential and customization is a little difficult because you have to learn scripts. I think Zabbix needs to improve the customization better. At present, I am satisfied with the functionality ...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

1. Amazon 2. Apple 3. ATT 4. Bank of America 5. Cisco Systems 6. CocaCola 7. Dell 8. ebay 9. Facebook 10. Google 11. HP 12. IBM 13. Intel 14. JPMorgan Chase 15. LinkedIn 16. Microsoft 17. Netflix 18. Oracle 19. PayPal 20. SAP 21. Siemens 22. Tesla 23. Toyota 24. Twitter 25. Visa 26. Walmart 27. WeWork 28. World Bank
1. IBM 2. Dell 3. Cisco 4. HP 5. Oracle 6. Microsoft 7. Amazon 8. Google 9. Facebook 10. Twitter 11. LinkedIn 12. Netflix 13. Adobe 14. VMware 15. Salesforce 16. SAP 17. Intel 18. AT&T 19. Verizon 20. T-Mobile 21. Vodafone 22. Ericsson 23. Nokia 24. Siemens 25. General Electric 26. Honeywell 27. Philips 28. Sony 29. Samsung 30. LG 31. Panasonic 32. Toshiba
Find out what your peers are saying about VMware vCenter vs. Zabbix and other solutions. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.