We performed a comparison between KVM and Oracle VM VirtualBox based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Both KVM and Oracle VM VirtualBox have their strengths and weaknesses. Oracle VM VirtualBox seems to be the more favorable choice of the two, since it offers good scalability whereas scalability seems to be an ongoing issue for KVM users.
"It offers a high-availability environment."
"It is an easily scalable solution."
"I think nine out of the ten supercomputers in the world use Linux KVM, so I think that attests to the fact that it is a scalable product."
"I appreciate the network passcode feature in KVM, as it provides a convenient way to manage DNS and cloud hosting."
"The key aspect is that the KVM directly interacts with the Kronos. There's no clear indication of indirect communication with Kronos. It is not linked to Kronos, and interaction is straightforward without any intermediaries."
"One of the best features of KVM is its user-friendly interface."
"KVM has a rich options set which can be directly used or via wrappers, such as libvirt."
"I like that this is an open-source solution. It is very powerful, and it's easy."
"The solution is very convenient and easy to use."
"The product’s most valuable feature is the ability to manage multiple operating systems through one application."
"I like that it is free and runs on Linux/Ubuntu - I wouldn't use any other solution. I am able to perform small developing tests."
"It is easy to use and does not require complex knowledge."
"Oracle VM Virtualbox is easy to use and does not require much training."
"This is a highly scalable solution."
"The configuration and installation is pretty straightforward."
"This product is extremely easy to install, use, has a great GUI and is incredibly stable."
"The grid interface of KVM needs improvement. It could be more beautiful, especially when compared to VMware."
"Technical support is not top-notch."
"Support for VF is needed, where you can, for example, export from VMware to KVM."
"The main drawback in the solution is probably disaster recovery."
"The initial setup of this solution is more difficult than some of the competing products and it could be improved."
"The networking with wireless devices needs improvement."
"Its resource usage can be improved."
"The solution should be more user friendly. We are struggling with the command lines."
"The solution needs to improve the methods used for starting and stopping the machine."
"The solution is a bit less stable than I would like."
"The technical support needs to improve."
"Oracle needs to improve its hot virtual machine migration. It didn't work as intended. It should allow us to migrate between virtual machines, without stopping the database."
"The solution needs to improve its flexibility. It's not as flexible as VMware."
"Basically, the GUI and command-line interface need improvement."
"Oracle VM VirtualBox doesn't work properly with an antivirus tool."
"We're working with them to be able to allow the local USB ports to be ported over to the remote desktop, running VirtualBox."
KVM is ranked 4th in Server Virtualization Software with 39 reviews while Oracle VM VirtualBox is ranked 5th in Server Virtualization Software with 61 reviews. KVM is rated 8.0, while Oracle VM VirtualBox is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of KVM writes "Delivers good performance because of kernel-based virtualization". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Oracle VM VirtualBox writes "The solution is versatile, simple to use, and stable". KVM is most compared with Proxmox VE, Hyper-V, VMware vSphere, VMware Workstation and Oracle VM, whereas Oracle VM VirtualBox is most compared with Proxmox VE, Hyper-V, Oracle VM, VMware Workstation and VMware vSphere. See our KVM vs. Oracle VM VirtualBox report.
See our list of best Server Virtualization Software vendors.
We monitor all Server Virtualization Software reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.