RHEV vs VMware ESXi comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Red Hat and Broadcom are both solutions in the Server Virtualization Software category. Red Hat is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.0, while Broadcom is ranked #8 with an average rating of 7.9. Red Hat holds a 2.5% mindshare in SVS, compared to Broadcom’s 2.5% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of Red Hat users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

RHEV

Read 37 RHEV reviews

4,198 Views
4,156 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

VMware ESXi

Read 35 VMware ESXi reviews

3,718 Views
3,718 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

RHEV

VMware ESXi

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

RHEV and VMware ESXi are leading virtualization platforms. VMware ESXi holds the advantage with advanced features that justify its higher cost, attracting enterprises that prioritize performance and reliability.

Features: RHEV is known for its scalability, open-source approach, and budget-friendly solution, making it suitable for businesses seeking cost-effective virtualization. VMware ESXi excels in performance, reliability, and an extensive feature set, making it ideal for enterprises with high-performance demands. It offers features like high availability, vMotion, and integration with VMware vCenter for efficient management.

Room for Improvement: RHEV could enhance its documentation and support to better serve enterprises with larger IT departments. VMware ESXi can improve by simplifying its deployment process and reducing its higher upfront costs to attract smaller businesses.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: RHEV offers an easy deployment process with simplified management tools, beneficial for organizations with limited IT resources. VMware ESXi, while more complex to deploy, provides robust customer support and comprehensive documentation, aligning well with larger IT departments.

Pricing and ROI: RHEV offers a lower setup cost, presenting an attractive ROI for businesses focused on minimizing IT expenditure. VMware ESXi, with its higher initial costs, offers long-term ROI due to its reliable, feature-rich environment, appealing to enterprises prioritizing performance over initial savings.

To learn more, read our detailed RHEV vs. VMware ESXi Report (Updated: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

RHEV vs. VMware ESXi

September 2026

Download the complete report

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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

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

VMware ESXi

Ranking in Server Virtualization Software

8th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Server Virtualization Software category, the mindshare of RHEV is 2.5%, down from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware ESXi is 2.5%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Server Virtualization Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
VMware ESXi	2.5%
RHEV	2.5%
Other	95.0%

Server Virtualization Software

Featured Reviews

Mike Neuliep

Linux Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

Has supported virtualization projects in side jobs but has required workarounds due to lack of maintenance

In my opinion, the best features of RHEV are that it is a real hypervisor and it is free, so it performs better than VMware. I have used the live migration feature in the past with RHEV. There is a free clone of it that is based on the open source. Live migration is a nifty feature if your app is not highly available and you need to do maintenance on a machine. You can migrate the VM off of it, do your maintenance, and move it back when you are done. RHEV has a high availability architecture with a built-in monitoring feature where you could see machines other than the one you are operating on. I tend to implement high availability not so much in RHEV, but by using standard application high availability strategies. Red Hat has another product specifically for high availability.

Read full review

Gourab Das

Senior Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Virtualization has transformed our data center and delivers consistent uptime with seamless maintenance

The most valuable feature VMware ESXi offers me is the user interface and the ease of handling operations without downtime, which is the biggest advantage, particularly with capabilities for live patching, and VCF 9 in patching areas; the bundled licensing provided simplifies management as I can utilize resources based on my needs without worrying too much about individual licenses. The zero-downtime patching is the feature that makes the biggest difference in my day-to-day operations, as well as managing hosts with an n+1 configuration, using a buffer host to streamline maintenance within a cluster of hosts. The vMotion feature is another important aspect, as we opt for auto vMotion to optimize resources within the cluster, enabling the underlying VMs to be moved seamlessly from one host to another based on utilization without impacting applications. VMware ESXi has positively impacted our organization significantly in terms of operations and cost optimization, as we optimized our environment under a per-core license agreement, achieving around 30 to 40% cost-effectiveness and maintaining almost 99.99% uptime across our environment, where VMware ESXi is run on about 85% of our setup. Improvements in operations were made possible through visibility provided by VMware ESXi into hardware enhancements, such as virtual storage platforms with vSAN, which we incorporated into our environment supported by VMware ESXi 9 to enable effective live patching without impacting operations, and we regularly utilize RV tool reports to track actual utilization and optimize resources, reducing our footprint from 100 VMs on 100 hosts to 47 hosts, yielding substantial financial benefits thanks to the support from our VMware ESXi TAM.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"I advise keeping an open mind. It's an excellent solution."

"Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization can help to optimize their space utilization and optimize their costs."

"This solution is very stable. Much more so than similar products."

"Red Hat is the most stable system; it's better than other OS solutions."

"The platform is scalable, allowing for the installation of multiple nodes."

"We find the ease of use of this solution to be invaluable, as it is user-friendly and integrates well with other software."

"RHEV’s cost is much less compared to VMware."

"It is very stable."

More RHEV pros

"The platform's most valuable features include its role within the vSphere suite, requiring a vCenter Server for management."

"We are using VMware ESXi for virtualization, with vCenter being the core product—these are building blocks for having efficiency and stability in daily operations, and we cannot operate without them."

"The features I find most useful in VMware ESXi are definitely the hypervisor and virtualization server feature, and secondly, the storage features, such as object-based storage, S3-compatible storage systems, and also virtualized SAN, vSAN, and ESA."

"VMware ESXi is a user-friendly solution that is easy to install and supports third-party applications and software."

"The initial setup is not complex at all. It is actually very good and straightforward."

"The most valuable features of the solution are that it is efficient, fast, and affordable."

"VMware ESXi has positively impacted our organization significantly in terms of operations and cost optimization, as we optimized our environment under a per-core license agreement, achieving around 30 to 40% cost-effectiveness and maintaining almost 99.99% uptime across our environment, where VMware ESXi is run on about 85% of our setup."

"The most beneficial features for me are DRS and HA (High Availability). In case of an interruption at the OS level, they ensure the virtual machine automatically comes back up."

More VMware ESXi pros

Cons

"We have found the technical support for this solution to be very slow in responding to our requests for assistance."

"The Administration of the Oracle database and the SAP ERP needs improvement."

"The RHEV management plane could be improved, particularly the management interface."

"The solution should be made more user-friendly."

"Specifically, enhancements in managing virtual machine migrations, cloning, and the creation of different VMs could further optimize its functionality."

"The solution has a very small lifecycle."

"I would love to see better documentation and ease of use."

"I found it a bit more difficult to manage than version seven, which was much easier."

More RHEV cons

"The solution needs to improve its patching process."

"VMware should make recovering the password easier if customers forget it."

"Pricing could be improved."

"The pricing strategy could be improved."

"Some features should be added to the solution to enhance server management"

"Pricing is a major issue with VMware ESXi as it is becoming more expensive."

"The licensing model currently presents challenges."

"The tool's downtime is an area of concern where improvements are required."

More VMware ESXi cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"RHEV offers pricing based on a per-physical-machine licensing model."

"Its price depends on the use cases."

"The solution does not require licencing but a subscription is necessary, which is very affordable."

"The price of RHEV is high. It is an open-source solution, the price should be less. The price should not be on par with a solution, such as VMware. It's not more or equal to VMware, it's less, but the difference should be more substantial."

"We have to pay extra for vulnerability and fault tolerance."

"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."

"This is an open-source solution."

"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

"Broadcom recently purchased VMware, and the pricing scheme has changed. If I need any more features in the tool, I can actually purchase them."

"The product pricing was reasonable before, but recent changes, including bundling, have complicated the cost structure."

"The solution is expensive."

"Since Broadcom's acquisition, the solution's price has been adjusted, and perpetual licenses are no longer offered."

"The solution is priced on the higher side."

"VMware ESXi is a costly solution in Africa and other developing countries."

"If one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the tool's price as an eight."

"The tool has become expensive."

More VMware ESXi pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

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Comparison Review

Thang Le Toan (Victory Lee)

CIO at Robusta Technology & Training

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

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Outsourcing Company

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Outsourcing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	21
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	12
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	17

Questions from the Community

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?

RHEV is not improving because it has been discontinued. It has been discontinued for years. I would love to get back into RHEV, but the job market is difficult and no one is hiring. RHEV is designe...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for RHEV?

I have done some consulting where I used RHEV, taking on side jobs to run virtual machines in the financial industry for a startup. The last time I used RHEV was in my home lab, but that has been d...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware ESXi?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for VMware ESXi has been quite efficient, with a lot of cost savings. I am not dealing with it in this company because higher management handle...

See all answers

What needs improvement with VMware ESXi?

I think VMware ESXi has covered most of what is required regarding the needed improvements.

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering VMware ESXi?

My advice to others looking into using VMware ESXi is that they need to make sure their staff are trained up on VMware to use most of the features on it. VMware ESXi is a very stable infrastructure...

See all answers

Comparisons

Hyper-V vs RHEV

Compared 19% of the time

VMware vSphere vs RHEV

Compared 16% of the time

Proxmox VE vs RHEV

Compared 13% of the time

Oracle VM vs RHEV

Compared 9% of the time

Spot by Flexera vs RHEV

Compared 2% of the time

More RHEV Competitors

Hyper-V vs VMware ESXi

Compared 23% of the time

Red Hat OpenShift vs VMware ESXi

Compared 10% of the time

KVM vs VMware ESXi

Compared 9% of the time

Proxmox VE vs VMware ESXi

Compared 7% of the time

oVirt vs VMware ESXi

Compared 2% of the time

More VMware ESXi Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

RHEV

October 2026

Download RHEV product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware ESXi

September 2026

Download VMware ESXi product report

Also Known As

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization

No data available

Overview

RHEV offers a cost-effective virtualization platform with support for up to 160 cores and 2 TB of RAM per host, emphasizing open-source accessibility and integration with applications like OpenStack.

RHEV stands out with features such as high performance, stability, ease of migration, and robust security. Its integration capabilities with diverse applications and the self-service Power user portal enhance its appeal for IT environments. While the platform's affordability compared to VMware is noted, areas for improvement include the GUI, user-friendliness, network virtualization, and the need for enhanced pricing and support in regions lacking system integrators. RHEV's ability to facilitate seamless migration from legacy systems to virtual environments is widely adopted in sectors such as government, banking, and IT services.

What are the key features of RHEV?

Open-Source Accessibility: Offers flexibility and customization options.
High Performance: Supports up to 160 cores and 2 TB of RAM per host.
Seamless Integration: Integrates well with applications like OpenStack.
Live VM Migration: Enables continuous operations without downtime.
Power User Portal: Provides self-service capabilities for users.

What benefits and ROI can users expect?

Cost Optimization: Provides a cost-effective alternative to VMware.
Scalable Computing: Allows flexible resource allocation and scaling.
Migration Efficiency: Facilitates moving from legacy systems smoothly.
Robust Security: Enhances data protection and privacy management.

RHEV is widely used in high-computing tasks like AI and big data analytics within data centers, supporting cloud solutions, AI, and ERP systems. It's implemented in privacy clouds for industries such as government, banking, and IT services to migrate workloads from physical to virtual environments and optimize operational costs.

Red Hat

VMware ESXi serves as a hypervisor enabling virtualization by transforming physical servers into virtual infrastructures, supporting efficient server management, development, and production environments.

Organizations utilize VMware ESXi for its high availability and ability to host diverse workloads effectively. Known for stability and maturity, it efficiently handles server, networking, and storage demands, with integral features like vMotion and memory compression. ESXi integrates well with data center operations, allowing seamless resource allocation and virtual machine migration. Despite impressive capabilities, users encounter challenges with setup complexity, licensing costs, and technical support delays, leading some to explore different solutions.

What are the main features of VMware ESXi?

High Availability: Ensures continuous operation of virtual machines.
vMotion Capabilities: Facilitates easy virtual machine migration.
Clustering: Enhances resource management and efficiency.
Server Management: Offers efficient management with third-party integration.
Resource Optimization: Utilizes memory compression technologies.

What benefits and ROI do organizations see with VMware ESXi?

Cost Savings: Reduces expenses by consolidating servers.
User-friendliness: Offers a stable and manageable interface.
Multi-OS Support: Enables running Linux and Windows environments.
High Performance: Recognized for speed and efficiency.

Industries deploying VMware ESXi benefit in sectors requiring robust IT infrastructure, including finance, healthcare, and education. Its capability to support high availability and diverse workloads proves essential for critical applications, enhancing productivity and agility in dynamic environments.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Qualcomm and Bonham's Auction House.

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

RHEV vs. VMware ESXi

September 2026

Free Report: RHEV vs. VMware ESXi

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