We performed a comparison between KVM and RHEV based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: KVM wins out in this comparison. Users find it very fast and super easy to use and manage. It provides excellent security and scales easily. Many users feel RHEV is lacking in some documentation capabilities and security features and that it can be challenging to scale up when needed.
"The initial setup was very easy."
"The product is really good...One can get good performance because of kernel-based virtualization."
"If you are a Linux desktop user, KVM is the solution to go with if you have to start virtual machines with Linux or other operating systems with almost zero extra configuration needed."
"Our production servers are running in Linux, and this solution supports that environment well."
"Documentation and problem-solving troubleshooting are the most valuable features. Performance (when fine-tuned and with "special" HW) is awesome, equal to or more than other enterprise closed-source solutions."
"It is an open ecosystem, and we see there is a benefit in open-source solutions."
"KVM is stable."
"Scaling the solution is easy. You just have to add more hardware."
"Red Hat is the most stable system."
"The most valuable features of RHEV are all the tools, such as virtualization, management of cloud platforms, and integration of container environments. The solution has good compatibility between virtualization, content management, and cloud management. Having the full set of these tools is the advantage of it."
"I can control and manage everything. I know everything that's cooking inside. This is the best part for me."
"The most valuable feature of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization is its pricing."
"The solution is a great all-round product. The virtualization is especially good."
"The solution makes migration easy."
"This solution is very stable. Much more so than similar products."
"RHEV’s cost is much less compared to VMware."
"The initial setup of this solution is more difficult than some of the competing products and it could be improved."
"One thing that maybe could be improved is making it easier to scale. It needs to be more clear on how to scale the storage space for virtual machines."
"Its resource usage can be improved."
"The grid interface of KVM needs improvement. It could be more beautiful, especially when compared to VMware."
"One problem I have is that it's not very scalable when it comes to resizing the VM disk dimensions. For example, if you have initially set a virtual drive to 10 GB and you want to upgrade it to 15 GB, it's not that easy."
"I would like to see more focus on microservices and integration with Kubernetes or OpenShift."
"Monitoring and resolution could be improved."
"In KVM, snapshots and cloning are areas where there could be a little more sophistication, like VMware."
"While everything needs improvement in some way, I have no specifics."
"The UI should be more interactive with additional features."
"We would like the dashboard feature of this solution to be improved, as it is not very detailed at present."
"The availability of technical expertise with the solution may be limited in some areas."
"I heard that there are big differences between Red Hat eight and seven, but it's still quite difficult for me to judge it. I found it a bit more difficult to manage than version seven, which was much easier. In term of features, though, it is still not yet clear which is better. I have no clear idea of which features need to be changed at the moment."
"The solution could use network virtualization."
"With RHEV, the cyberattacks should be fewer. I want RHEV to be better protected."
"A few features of the product do not work as well as those in VMware."
KVM is ranked 4th in Server Virtualization Software with 38 reviews while RHEV is ranked 10th in Server Virtualization Software with 31 reviews. KVM is rated 8.0, while RHEV is rated 7.6. The top reviewer of KVM writes "Delivers good performance because of kernel-based virtualization". On the other hand, the top reviewer of RHEV writes "The solution is scalable and affordable, but it lacks features, and it is not easy to manage". KVM is most compared with Proxmox VE, Oracle VM VirtualBox, Hyper-V, VMware vSphere and Citrix Hypervisor, whereas RHEV is most compared with VMware vSphere, Proxmox VE, Hyper-V, Oracle VM and Nutanix AHV Virtualization. See our KVM vs. RHEV 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.