Compare KVM vs. Oracle VM VirtualBox
KVM is ranked 2nd in Server Virtualization Software with 10 reviews while Oracle VM VirtualBox is ranked 5th in Server Virtualization Software with 13 reviews. KVM is rated 8.2, while Oracle VM VirtualBox is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of KVM writes "Good performance, but better management features and integration are needed". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Oracle VM VirtualBox writes "Fast, very easy to use, and is rock-solid stable". KVM is most compared with Oracle VM VirtualBox, Hyper-V and VMware vSphere, whereas Oracle VM VirtualBox is most compared with KVM, Hyper-V and Proxmox VE. See our KVM vs. Oracle VM VirtualBox report.
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 Find out what your peers are saying about KVM vs. Oracle VM VirtualBox and other solutions. Updated: January 2020. 389,978 professionals have used our research since 2012. | |||||
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros | |
The KVM service is well managed with a central policy interface. The GUI interface makes the management of KVM easier than ever before. I like that this is an open-source solution. It is very powerful, and it's easy. Scaling the solution is easy. You just have to add more hardware. Our production servers are running in Linux, and this solution supports that environment well. 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. The initial setup was simple. It is an open ecosystem, and we see there is a benefit in open-source solutions. | This is a good and easy solution for running virtual environments. This product is extremely easy to install, use, has a great GUI and is incredibly stable. The initial setup was straightforward. The most valuable feature is the ability to copy bidirectionally between the desktop and the virtual machine. This solution can be used on many different platforms including Windows and Linux. The solution is very stable. I think VirtualBox has good stability because I use it in an environment with several resolutions. The most valuable aspects of the solution were the support and performance of the product and the flexibility it gives you to work. |
Cons | |
The initial setup of this solution is more difficult than some of the competing products and it could be improved. Business continuity features need to be added. The virtual manager and the graphical QEMU for KVM need some improvement. The solution should be more user friendly. We are struggling with the command lines. Support for VF is needed, where you can, for example, export from VMware to KVM. The stability of this solution is less than other products in the same category. The KVM tech support is really bad. They are not very responsive. We would like to have a software lifecycle solution included in this solution. We can handle the software needed for KVM, but also the software that we provide. A lifecycle component would be very beneficial. | This should have better support for multiple network cards and some parts of the GUI should be improved. It could improve slightly with enhanced reporting capabilities that show the current status of the network. The solution needs to improve its flexibility. It's not as flexible as VMware. It should have the functionality where if I move the mouse away from one screen, the context changes automatically. The user interface needs to be improved. The solution should have more enterprise features, like migration, high availability storage, disaster recovery, and the ability to deploy to enterprise-scale usage. They should not just offer desktop usage. The technical support needs to improve. The solution has to do a better job of promoting the product and its licensing capabilities. |
Pricing and Cost Advice | |
This solution is an open-source, free platform with paid support. This solution came with the Linux license. It is cheaper than other solutions out there on the market. It is cheaper than other competitors like VMware or Hyper-V. It is free and can be run from your laptop, if needed, unlike VMware. | Everything is free within limitations. Once you go over a certain level of usage you have to license the product. The product is free to use. Pricing does not apply for us, we do not have to pay for the service. It is a very cost-effective solution. |
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Ranking  | |
Views 71,647 Comparisons 65,345 Reviews 10 Average Words per Review 365 Avg. Rating 8.1 | Views 41,227 Comparisons 38,117 Reviews 13 Average Words per Review 448 Avg. Rating 7.9 |
Top Comparisons | |
 Compared 37% of the time.  Compared 23% of the time.  Compared 15% of the time. |  Compared 62% of the time. Compared 20% of the time.  Compared 8% of the time. |
Learn | |
| KVM Video Not Available | Oracle |
Overview | |
| KVM (for Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is a full virtualization solution for Linux on x86 hardware containing virtualization extensions (Intel VT or AMD-V). It consists of a loadable kernel module, kvm.ko, that provides the core virtualization infrastructure and a processor specific module, kvm-intel.ko or kvm-amd.ko. | Oracle VM Virtualbox is a cross-platform virtualizer for x86 servers and desktops, and is also for embedded usage. With this product, you can run multiple operating systems on a single machine, all at the same time, making it a powerful tool to test, develop, demonstrate and deploy solutions. Oracle VM Virtualbox is a professional solution that is also freely available as Open Source Software. It is for both enterprise and home use. This x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization software is high performing and rich in features. Oracle VM Virtualbox currently runs on Windows, Linux, Solaris and Macintosh. It also supports many guest operating systems, such as Windows, DOX/Windows 3. Linux, OS/2, OpenBSD, Solaris and OpenSolaris. For more information on Oracle VM VirtualBox, visit Oracle.com |
Offer | |
Learn more about KVM | Learn more about Oracle VM VirtualBox |
Sample Customers | |
| MediaWiki, Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia, Wikivoyage, Wikidata, Wikiversity, Commons | Airbus, Colorado State University, SCS Africa, Wolf Medical Systems. |
Top Industries | |
Software R&D Company36% Comms Service Provider18% Media Company9% Government7% | Financial Services Firm21% Manufacturing Company11% Aerospace/Defense Firm11% Software R&D Company11% Software R&D Company32% Comms Service Provider13% Media Company12% K 12 Educational Company Or School7% |
Find out what your peers are saying about KVM vs. Oracle VM VirtualBox and other solutions. Updated: January 2020.
389,978 professionals have used our research since 2012.
See also KVM Reviews, Oracle VM VirtualBox Reviews, and our list of Best Server Virtualization Software Companies.
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