Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

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
7.3
Zabbix, free and open-source, reduces downtime and costs, improving network stability and significant enterprise savings.
 

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 users praise supportive documentation, community forums, and responsive technical support despite occasional time zone challenges and free version reliance.
VMware vCenter manages high availability effectively.
The technical support is good.
It is so straightforward that I have never had to use the support.
 

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 is highly scalable, excels in diverse environments, but large deployments may require database optimization for efficient performance.
On a scale of one to ten, I would rate its scalability as ten.
The solution is completely scalable as we can increase any host with great simplicity.
The scalability is good in vCenter.
Zabbix has high scalability.
Zabbix is very scalable and lightweight.
I would rate its scalability ten out of ten.
 

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
7.5
Zabbix is reliable and resource-efficient, performing well with database tuning and handling heavy workloads without crashing.
We have not faced any issues after upgrading VMware vCenter, whether on the vCenter or any host.
Zabbix is very scalable and lightweight.
Zabbix is quite stable, and we haven't had any problems with Zabbix itself.
 

Room For Improvement

VMware vCenter struggles with high costs, complex licensing, limited features, and demands for better scalability, automation, and integration.
Zabbix users seek improved UI, automation, integration, and customization with enhanced reporting, security, and scalability for non-technical users.
The licensing model has shifted, leading to higher costs, particularly for smaller organizations.
Better redundancy options can be achieved by using multiple vCenter machines.
The license cost has increased significantly, which is the primary negative aspect of VMware vCenter.
The only issue I can note is that it's Linux-based, and Linux documentation is not the best.
 

Setup Cost

VMware vCenter's high costs and complex licensing may increase with Broadcom's subscription model, impacting smaller businesses significantly.
Zabbix is cost-effective and flexible, offering open-source monitoring with no licensing fees, low expenses, and optional support costs.
The licensing model now requires purchasing 96-core solutions, even if fewer cores are needed, adding to the cost burden.
 

Valuable Features

VMware vCenter provides centralized management, high availability, seamless migration, and efficient virtualization for improved infrastructure management and reduced costs.
Zabbix is valued for open-source customization, scalability, comprehensive monitoring, alerting systems, and cost-effective enterprise IT management.
High availability is employed so if an ESXi server is down, the VM is supported on another ESXi on other servers.
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.
VMware vCenter is excellent for managing and monitoring hypervisors, specifically with features like live migration, storage vMotion, and host vMotion.
If disk usage surpasses a threshold, say 70%, I receive alerts and can take proactive action.
Zabbix is Linux-based open-source software, and the main use case is to reduce costs.
Zabbix has a lot of features, including monitoring, status updates, and collecting information telemetry from storages and servers as well.
 

Categories and Ranking

VMware vCenter
Ranking in Server Monitoring
3rd
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
7.1
Number of Reviews
107
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (9th), Network Monitoring Software (1st), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (1st), Cloud Monitoring Software (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Server Monitoring category, the mindshare of VMware vCenter is 1.0%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zabbix is 25.1%, up from 24.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Monitoring Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Zabbix25.1%
VMware vCenter1.0%
Other73.9%
Server Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

Hoang Long Nguyen - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
B Ahmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables seamless global client monitoring with reliable remote connectivity
I use the solution to provide a perfect environment for remote connectivity with my clients. Many tools that I require for system maintenance are included. I can easily monitor all of my clients throughout the world I did not give much thought to it, however, improvements could be made to Zabbix.…
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Server Monitoring solutions are best for your needs.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user174738 - PeerSpot reviewer
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
16%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
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 Business53
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 needs improvement with Zabbix?
The reporting is lacking because this is an open-source tool, and nowadays, management's expectation is that the reports should be of high quality and every information should be presented in a con...
 

Comparisons

 

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: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.