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Compare VMware vSphere and XenServer

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At a Glance
VMware vSphere
VMware vSphere
Star Rating
(596)4.6 out of 5
Market Segments
Mid-Market (43.6% of reviews)
Information
Entry-Level Pricing
No pricing available
Learn more about VMware vSphere
XenServer
XenServer
Star Rating
(48)4.1 out of 5
Market Segments
Enterprise (56.5% of reviews)
Information
Entry-Level Pricing
No pricing available
Learn more about XenServer
AI Generated Summary
AI-generated. Powered by real user reviews.
  • Users report that XenServer excels in scalability with a score of 9.2, allowing businesses to efficiently manage growing workloads, while VMware vSphere, although strong, does not match this level of scalability.
  • Reviewers mention that XenServer's OS integration is rated at 9.2, providing seamless compatibility with various operating systems, whereas VMware vSphere, while also effective, has a slightly lower integration score, indicating potential challenges with certain OS environments.
  • G2 users highlight that XenServer's resource-saving capabilities are impressive, scoring 9.1, which helps organizations optimize their infrastructure costs, while VMware vSphere, although effective, does not achieve the same level of efficiency according to user feedback.
  • Users on G2 report that XenServer's data recovery features are rated at 8.7, which some users find less robust compared to VMware vSphere's higher performance in this area, where it is noted for its more comprehensive recovery options.
  • Reviewers say that the quality of support for XenServer is rated at 8.1, which some users find lacking compared to VMware vSphere's score of 8.5, indicating a more reliable support experience for VMware users.
  • Users mention that while both products have strong performance management features, VMware vSphere's score of 9.0 is slightly higher than XenServer's, suggesting that VMware may offer more advanced tools for monitoring and optimizing performance.
Pricing
Entry-Level Pricing
VMware vSphere
No pricing available
XenServer
No pricing available
Free Trial
VMware vSphere
Free Trial is available
XenServer
No trial information available
Ratings
Meets Requirements
9.2
297
8.4
41
Ease of Use
8.9
460
8.5
41
Ease of Setup
8.6
404
8.4
23
Ease of Admin
9.0
239
8.8
23
Quality of Support
8.5
275
8.1
32
Has the product been a good partner in doing business?
8.6
245
8.3
18
Product Direction (% positive)
8.1
296
6.9
42
Features by Category
Server VirtualizationHide 7 FeaturesShow 7 Features
9.0
938
Not enough data
Performance
9.2
134
Not enough data
8.9
132
Not enough data
8.7
135
Not enough data
Functionality
9.2
134
Not enough data
9.1
134
Not enough data
9.0
134
Not enough data
8.9
135
Not enough data
Categories
Categories
Shared Categories
VMware vSphere
VMware vSphere
XenServer
XenServer
VMware vSphere and XenServer are categorized as Server Virtualization
Unique Categories
VMware vSphere
VMware vSphere is categorized as Container Orchestration
XenServer
XenServer has no unique categories
Reviews
Reviewers' Company Size
VMware vSphere
VMware vSphere
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
13.7%
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
43.6%
Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)
42.7%
XenServer
XenServer
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
13.0%
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
30.4%
Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)
56.5%
Reviewers' Industry
VMware vSphere
VMware vSphere
Information Technology and Services
16.2%
Government Administration
6.0%
Hospital & Health Care
5.7%
Telecommunications
5.3%
Financial Services
4.7%
Other
62.1%
XenServer
XenServer
Information Technology and Services
21.3%
Hospital & Health Care
14.9%
Higher Education
10.6%
Education Management
6.4%
Utilities
4.3%
Other
42.6%
Most Helpful Reviews
VMware vSphere
VMware vSphere
Most Helpful Favorable Review
Matthew G.
MG
Matthew G.
Verified User in Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing

This is the industry standard virtual server management system. It runs on a custom Linux OS (VMWare ESX) which eliminates the overheard hits you would get with Microsoft's Hyper-V offering. However, as opposed to Hyper-V, vSphere is not free. The increased...

Most Helpful Critical Review
Thanh T.
TT
Thanh T.
Verified User in Computer Software

Slow and seems to take up lots of resources

XenServer
XenServer
Most Helpful Favorable Review
Stênio P.
SP
Stênio P.
Verified User in Higher Education

This hypervisor offer free resources that are in other paid hypervisors, like live migration, live storage migration, openvswitch with vxlans. It is compatible with cloud orchestrators like CloudStack and OpenStack. It supports paravirtualization, but...

Most Helpful Critical Review
Verified User
G
Verified User in Civil Engineering

Very unrealible for my users. Sometimes they can connect sometimes they can't . Network and equipment are well above minimum requirments but still have major issues

Alternatives
VMware vSphere
VMware vSphere Alternatives
Azure Virtual Machines
Azure Virtual Machines
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VirtualBox
VirtualBox
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Scale Computing Platform
Scale Computing Platform
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DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean
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XenServer
XenServer Alternatives
Oracle VM
Oracle VM
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Proxmox VE
Proxmox VE
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Xen Project
Xen Project
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VirtualBox
VirtualBox
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Discussions
VMware vSphere
VMware vSphere Discussions
Is ESXi software free?
4 comments
Narendra A.
NA
ESXi has a free version! Basic features, perfect for personal use or testing. No advanced features or official support, but it's free forever. Paid editions...Read more
What is VMware vSphere standard?
2 comments
Ashwin S.
AS
vSphere 7 has been rearchitected with native Kubernetes for application modernization. Developers can’t afford infrastructure that slows them down –...Read more
What is VMware vSphere Hypervisor used for?
2 comments
ABDUL H.
AH
Virtual platform to host multiple images on a single machine which has limited resources.Read more
XenServer
XenServer Discussions
Monty the Mongoose crying
XenServer has no discussions with answers