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.
"The most valuable feature is hypervisor. I can host at the same time different operating systems in Linux Windows."
"If you prefer command-line, there are all kinds of command-line options."
"A very reliable solution which can be used for x86 architecture virtualization with reasonable overhead."
"The product's scalability is good...It's a very stable product."
"I find the density of the product most valuable. It is density that a technologist can just assign page merging. This is what makes KVM one of the important players of the virtualization market."
"One of the best features of KVM is its user-friendly interface."
"It is an easily scalable solution."
"The most helpful aspect of KVM is the fact that the interface is so minimal. It includes just what you need to set up the VMs and manage them, and it's very simple to do so."
"I like that it has a snapshot feature."
"The product gives us the flexibility to try different machines."
"The pause feature is valuable. I can pause, which is something that not all hypervisors allow. The snapshot feature is also valuable."
"Oracle VM VirtualBox has a platform where the support team responds to frequently asked questions by its users. Every time I have had issues with Oracle VM VirtualBox, I always get a solution from Oracle's online platform or GitHub."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that there is no cost because it is open source."
"VirtualBox provides an isolated, consistent environment"
"This solution can be used on many different platforms including Windows and Linux."
"The product’s most valuable feature is the ability to manage multiple operating systems through one application."
"I would like to see more focus on microservices and integration with Kubernetes or OpenShift."
"We are not getting good support from KVM, and it is not that user-friendly."
"The networking with wireless devices needs improvement."
"The stability of this solution is less than other products in the same category."
"The solution should be more user friendly. We are struggling with the command lines."
"Business continuity features need to be added."
"There are some issues with the graphics and some software that is very complex."
"The grid interface of KVM needs improvement. It could be more beautiful, especially when compared to VMware."
"We're working with them to be able to allow the local USB ports to be ported over to the remote desktop, running VirtualBox."
"There are a few bugs that need to be updated."
"The solution should work to simplify the system. However, it should be flexible enough to allow for special cases."
"We're working with them to be able to allow the local USB ports to be ported over to the remote desktop, running VirtualBox."
"The solution needs to improve its flexibility. It's not as flexible as VMware."
"When I select the Ubuntu operating system from within the virtual machine, it sometimes hangs."
"The user interface needs to be improved."
"The solution has to do a better job of promoting the product and its licensing capabilities."
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.