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 tool's most valuable feature is backup. The product makes it easy to manage virtual machines. Other tools require third-party applications like VMware and vSphere. However, KVM doesn't require these applications."
"Very cost-effective."
"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."
"The KVM service is well managed with a central policy interface."
"The most valuable feature is hypervisor. I can host at the same time different operating systems in Linux Windows."
"It is an easily scalable solution."
"I like that this is an open-source solution. It is very powerful, and it's easy."
"The product's scalability is good...It's a very stable product."
"The configuration and installation is pretty straightforward."
"This is a good and easy solution for running virtual environments."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that there is no cost because it is open source."
"The most valuable aspects of the solution were the support and performance of the product and the flexibility it gives you to work."
"The pause feature is valuable. I can pause, which is something that not all hypervisors allow. The snapshot feature is also valuable."
"This solution creates a snapshot of virtual machines so you can create test environments."
"The solution is very convenient and easy to use."
"The snapshot feature is very powerful; it protects us from disaster."
"The solution should be more user friendly. We are struggling with the command lines."
"The KVM tech support is really bad. They are not very responsive."
"Its resource usage can be improved."
"There are some issues with the graphics and some software that is very complex."
"The initial setup of this solution is more difficult than some of the competing products and it could be improved."
"In KVM, snapshots and cloning are areas where there could be a little more sophistication, like VMware."
"The speed is around thirty percent slower than another competitor. This would be something to work on."
"Technical support is not top-notch."
"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 product lacks scalability since it is for desktops and not for servers."
"Having live migrations to move a running server to other hardware would be great."
"We're working with them to be able to allow the local USB ports to be ported over to the remote desktop, running VirtualBox."
"I think that this solution should be more user-friendly."
"The installation is difficult and could be improved."
"The AI and the UI could be improved. The user interface is a little outdated and the AI is not very attractive."
"The solution should work to simplify the system. However, it should be flexible enough to allow for special cases."
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.