# Azure Virtual Machines, VMware vSphere vs Akamai Cloud Computing Comparison

| | Azure Virtual Machines | VMware vSphere | Akamai Cloud Computing | 
|---|---|---|---|
| **Star Rating** | 4.4 out of 5 | 4.5 out of 5 | 4.6 out of 5 | 
| **Total Reviews** | 393 | 761 | 406 | 
| **Largest Market Segment** | Enterprise (35.2% of reviews) | Enterprise (43.6% of reviews) | Small-Business (70.9% of reviews) | 
| **Entry Level Price** | No pricing available | No pricing available | No pricing available | 

---
## Top Pros & Cons

### Azure Virtual Machines

Pros:
- Ease of Use (45 reviews)
- Cloud Storage (29 reviews)

Cons:
- Complexity (26 reviews)
- Cost Issues (23 reviews)

### VMware vSphere

Pros:
- Ease of Use (69 reviews)
- Virtualization Management (57 reviews)

Cons:
- Expensive (56 reviews)
- Licensing Issues (31 reviews)

### Akamai Cloud Computing

Pros:
- Ease of Use (108 reviews)
- Affordable (74 reviews)

Cons:
- Expensive (24 reviews)
- Limited Features (18 reviews)

---
## Ratings Comparison
| Rating | Azure Virtual Machines | VMware vSphere | Akamai Cloud Computing | 
|---|---|---|---|
  | **Meets Requirements** | 9.0 (339 reviews) | 9.2 (338 reviews) | 9.1 (313 reviews) | 
  | **Ease of Use** | 8.6 (339 reviews) | 8.9 (620 reviews) | 9.1 (313 reviews) | 
  | **Ease of Setup** | 8.6 (206 reviews) | 8.6 (562 reviews) | 9.2 (246 reviews) | 
  | **Ease of Admin** | 8.6 (192 reviews) | 9.0 (277 reviews) | 9.0 (196 reviews) | 
  | **Quality of Support** | 8.4 (326 reviews) | 8.5 (313 reviews) | 9.1 (287 reviews) | 
  | **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?** | 8.9 (184 reviews) | 8.6 (283 reviews) | 9.2 (191 reviews) | 
  | **Product Direction (% positive)** | 9.2 (327 reviews) | 8.0 (335 reviews) | 8.9 (299 reviews) | 

---
## Pricing

### Azure Virtual Machines

#### Entry-Level Pricing

No pricing available

#### Free Trial

No information available

### VMware vSphere

#### Entry-Level Pricing

No pricing available

#### Free Trial

No information available

### Akamai Cloud Computing

#### Entry-Level Pricing

No pricing available

#### Free Trial

Yes

---
## Features Comparison By Category

### Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **Azure Virtual Machines** | 8.7/10 | 75 |
| **VMware vSphere** | N/A | N/A |
| **Akamai Cloud Computing** | 8.7/10 | 143 |

#### Infrastructure Provision

| Feature | Azure Virtual Machines | VMware vSphere | Akamai Cloud Computing | 
|---|---|---|---|
| **Public Cloud** | 9.0 (66 reviews) | Not enough data | 9.2 (119 reviews) | 
| **Private Cloud** | 8.6 (55 reviews) | Not enough data | Feature Not Available | 
| **Hybrid Cloud** | 9.0 (53 reviews) | Not enough data | 8.3 (105 reviews) | 
| **Bare Metal** | 7.2 (48 reviews) | Not enough data | Feature Not Available | 
| **High-Performance Computing (HPC)** | 8.3 (54 reviews) | Not enough data | 8.2 (99 reviews) | 
| **Virtual Machines (VMs)** | 9.3 (67 reviews) | Not enough data | 9.1 (125 reviews) | 
| **Edge Computing** | 8.5 (49 reviews) | Not enough data | 8.3 (96 reviews) | 
| **Virtual Networks** | 9.1 (59 reviews) | Not enough data | 8.7 (109 reviews) | 

#### Management

| Feature | Azure Virtual Machines | VMware vSphere | Akamai Cloud Computing | 
|---|---|---|---|
| **Pay by Usage** | 8.9 (62 reviews) | Not enough data | 9.2 (118 reviews) | 
| **Usage Tracking** | 8.9 (55 reviews) | Not enough data | 8.8 (120 reviews) | 
| **Performance Tracking** | 8.7 (55 reviews) | Not enough data | 8.9 (119 reviews) | 

#### Functionality

| Feature | Azure Virtual Machines | VMware vSphere | Akamai Cloud Computing | 
|---|---|---|---|
| **Resource Auto-Scaling** | 8.9 (57 reviews) | Not enough data | 8.6 (106 reviews) | 

### Server Virtualization

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **Azure Virtual Machines** | 8.7/10 | 35 |
| **VMware vSphere** | 8.4/10 | 182 |
| **Akamai Cloud Computing** | N/A | N/A |

#### Performance

| Feature | Azure Virtual Machines | VMware vSphere | Akamai Cloud Computing | 
|---|---|---|---|
| **Scalability** | 8.5 (28 reviews) | 9.2 (171 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Portability** | 8.3 (26 reviews) | 8.9 (167 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Data Recovery** | 8.9 (27 reviews) | 8.8 (171 reviews) | Not enough data | 

#### Functionality

| Feature | Azure Virtual Machines | VMware vSphere | Akamai Cloud Computing | 
|---|---|---|---|
| **OS Integration** | 9.0 (31 reviews) | 9.2 (167 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Resource Saving** | 8.5 (30 reviews) | 9.1 (167 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Performance Management** | 8.7 (29 reviews) | 9.0 (172 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Security** | 9.3 (30 reviews) | 8.9 (166 reviews) | Not enough data | 

#### Agentic AI - Server Virtualization

| Feature | Azure Virtual Machines | VMware vSphere | Akamai Cloud Computing | 
|---|---|---|---|
| **Autonomous Task Execution** | Not enough data | 7.5 (17 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Multi-step Planning** | Not enough data | 8.0 (16 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Cross-system Integration** | Not enough data | 8.3 (18 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Adaptive Learning** | Not enough data | 7.3 (16 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Proactive Assistance** | Not enough data | 7.2 (17 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Decision Making** | Not enough data | 7.5 (17 reviews) | Not enough data | 

### Object Storage Solutions

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **Azure Virtual Machines** | N/A | N/A |
| **VMware vSphere** | N/A | N/A |
| **Akamai Cloud Computing** | 9.0/10 | 17 |

#### Functionality

| Feature | Azure Virtual Machines | VMware vSphere | Akamai Cloud Computing | 
|---|---|---|---|
| **Versioning** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 8.8 (14 reviews) | 
| **Scalability** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 9.4 (16 reviews) | 
| **Speed of access** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 9.4 (15 reviews) | 

#### Reliability

| Feature | Azure Virtual Machines | VMware vSphere | Akamai Cloud Computing | 
|---|---|---|---|
| **Redundancy** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 8.5 (14 reviews) | 
| **Availability** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 9.6 (14 reviews) | 

#### Security

| Feature | Azure Virtual Machines | VMware vSphere | Akamai Cloud Computing | 
|---|---|---|---|
| **Encryption** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 8.9 (14 reviews) | 
| **Auditing** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 8.7 (14 reviews) | 
| **Access control** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 8.9 (14 reviews) | 

#### Compatibility

| Feature | Azure Virtual Machines | VMware vSphere | Akamai Cloud Computing | 
|---|---|---|---|
| **Infrastructure compatibility** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 9.3 (15 reviews) | 
| **Interoperability** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 9.4 (14 reviews) | 

### Load Balancing

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **Azure Virtual Machines** | N/A | N/A |
| **VMware vSphere** | N/A | N/A |
| **Akamai Cloud Computing** | 8.6/10 | 19 |

#### Usability - Load Balancing

| Feature | Azure Virtual Machines | VMware vSphere | Akamai Cloud Computing | 
|---|---|---|---|
| **User Interface Design** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 9.2 (16 reviews) | 
| **Setup Simplicity** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 8.8 (16 reviews) | 
| **Platform Integration** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 8.4 (17 reviews) | 
| **Container Support** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 8.8 (16 reviews) | 

#### Performance Optimization - Load Balancing

| Feature | Azure Virtual Machines | VMware vSphere | Akamai Cloud Computing | 
|---|---|---|---|
| **Global Load Balancing** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 8.4 (16 reviews) | 
| **Dynamic Resource Allocation** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 8.3 (15 reviews) | 
| **Server Health Monitoring** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 8.4 (17 reviews) | 
| **Disaster Recovery** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 8.6 (15 reviews) | 

#### Security & Compliance - Load Balancing

| Feature | Azure Virtual Machines | VMware vSphere | Akamai Cloud Computing | 
|---|---|---|---|
| **SSL/TLS Termination** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 8.6 (16 reviews) | 
| **Application Firewall Integration** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 8.6 (16 reviews) | 
| **DDoS Mitigation** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 8.5 (17 reviews) | 
| **Access Control** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 8.4 (17 reviews) | 
| **IP Whitelisting/Blacklisting** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 9.1 (16 reviews) | 

### Container Management

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **Azure Virtual Machines** | N/A | N/A |
| **VMware vSphere** | N/A | N/A |
| **Akamai Cloud Computing** | 9.2/10 | 19 |

#### Management

| Feature | Azure Virtual Machines | VMware vSphere | Akamai Cloud Computing | 
|---|---|---|---|
| **Access Control** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 9.5 (19 reviews) | 
| **Network Isolation** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 9.4 (19 reviews) | 
| **File Isolation** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 9.4 (18 reviews) | 

#### Organization

| Feature | Azure Virtual Machines | VMware vSphere | Akamai Cloud Computing | 
|---|---|---|---|
| **Packaging ** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 9.1 (18 reviews) | 
| **Container Networking** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 9.1 (19 reviews) | 
| **Orchestration** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 9.4 (17 reviews) | 

#### Development

| Feature | Azure Virtual Machines | VMware vSphere | Akamai Cloud Computing | 
|---|---|---|---|
| **Developer Toolkit** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 9.0 (19 reviews) | 
| **Architecture** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 8.9 (18 reviews) | 
| **Datacenter** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 9.0 (18 reviews) | 
| **Virtualization** | Not enough data | Not enough data | 9.6 (19 reviews) | 

---
## Categories

**Unique to Azure Virtual Machines (2):** [Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/infrastructure-as-a-service-iaas), [Server Virtualization Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/server-virtualization)

**Unique to VMware vSphere (2):** [Server Virtualization Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/server-virtualization), [Container Orchestration Tools](https://www.g2.com/categories/container-orchestration)

**Unique to Akamai Cloud Computing (6):** [Block Storage Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/block-storage), [Object Storage Solutions](https://www.g2.com/categories/object-storage-solutions), [Load Balancing Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/load-balancing), [Container Orchestration Tools](https://www.g2.com/categories/container-orchestration), [Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/infrastructure-as-a-service-iaas), [Container Management Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/container-management)


---
## Reviewer Demographics

### By Company Size

| Segment | Azure Virtual Machines | VMware vSphere | Akamai Cloud Computing | 
|---|---|---|---|
| **Small-Business** | 31.7% | 14.4% | 70.9% | 
| **Mid-Market** | 33.1% | 42.0% | 16.0% | 
| **Enterprise** | 35.2% | 43.6% | 13.2% | 

### By Industry

#### Azure Virtual Machines

- **Information Technology and Services:** 30.3%
- **Computer Software:** 17.6%
- **Computer & Network Security:** 7.4%
- **Accounting:** 4.3%
- **Information Services:** 2.4%
- **Financial Services:** 2.1%
- **Banking:** 1.9%
- **Higher Education:** 1.9%
- **Marketing and Advertising:** 1.6%
- **Computer Networking:** 1.6%
- **Other:** 29.0%

#### VMware vSphere

- **Information Technology and Services:** 15.4%
- **Hospital & Health Care:** 5.4%
- **Government Administration:** 5.1%
- **Financial Services:** 5.0%
- **Telecommunications:** 5.0%
- **Computer & Network Security:** 4.5%
- **Computer Software:** 4.2%
- **Banking:** 4.1%
- **Manufacturing:** 3.9%
- **Higher Education:** 3.4%
- **Other:** 44.1%

#### Akamai Cloud Computing

- **Computer Software:** 21.5%
- **Information Technology and Services:** 21.2%
- **Computer & Network Security:** 7.8%
- **Internet:** 4.5%
- **Education Management:** 3.4%
- **Higher Education:** 2.2%
- **Program Development:** 2.2%
- **Financial Services:** 2.0%
- **Consumer Services:** 2.0%
- **Non-Profit Organization Management:** 1.7%
- **Other:** 31.6%

---
## Alternatives

### Alternatives to Azure Virtual Machines

- [Google Compute Engine](https://www.g2.com/products/google-compute-engine/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (952 reviews)
- [Amazon EC2](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-ec2/reviews) — 4.6/5 stars (1193 reviews)
- [DigitalOcean](https://www.g2.com/products/digitalocean/reviews) — 4.6/5 stars (749 reviews)
- [Vultr](https://www.g2.com/products/vultr/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (286 reviews)
- [Oracle VM](https://www.g2.com/products/oracle-vm/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (73 reviews)
- [Proxmox VE](https://www.g2.com/products/proxmox-ve/reviews) — 4.6/5 stars (36 reviews)
- [VirtualBox](https://www.g2.com/products/virtualbox/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (292 reviews)
- [Hostwinds](https://www.g2.com/products/hostwinds/reviews) — 4.9/5 stars (438 reviews)
- [VMware Cloud Director](https://www.g2.com/products/vmware-cloud-director/reviews) — 4.2/5 stars (17 reviews)
- [Red Hat Enterprise Linux](https://www.g2.com/products/red-hat-enterprise-linux/reviews) — 4.6/5 stars (975 reviews)

### Alternatives to VMware vSphere

- [Red Hat OpenShift](https://www.g2.com/products/red-hat-red-hat-openshift/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (303 reviews)
- [Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)](https://www.g2.com/products/nutanix-cloud-infrastructure-nci/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (324 reviews)
- [VirtualBox](https://www.g2.com/products/virtualbox/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (292 reviews)
- [SC//HyperCore](https://www.g2.com/products/sc-hypercore/reviews) — 4.7/5 stars (265 reviews)
- [DigitalOcean](https://www.g2.com/products/digitalocean/reviews) — 4.6/5 stars (749 reviews)
- [Oracle VM](https://www.g2.com/products/oracle-vm/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (73 reviews)
- [XenServer](https://www.g2.com/products/xenserver/reviews) — 4.2/5 stars (49 reviews)
- [Proxmox VE](https://www.g2.com/products/proxmox-ve/reviews) — 4.6/5 stars (36 reviews)
- [Red Hat Enterprise Linux](https://www.g2.com/products/red-hat-enterprise-linux/reviews) — 4.6/5 stars (975 reviews)
- [Red Hat Virtualization](https://www.g2.com/products/red-hat-virtualization/reviews) — 4.1/5 stars (15 reviews)

### Alternatives to Akamai Cloud Computing

- [DigitalOcean](https://www.g2.com/products/digitalocean/reviews) — 4.6/5 stars (749 reviews)
- [Hostwinds](https://www.g2.com/products/hostwinds/reviews) — 4.9/5 stars (438 reviews)
- [Amazon Lightsail](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-lightsail/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (59 reviews)
- [Amazon EC2](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-ec2/reviews) — 4.6/5 stars (1193 reviews)
- [Google Compute Engine](https://www.g2.com/products/google-compute-engine/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (952 reviews)
- [Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3)](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-simple-storage-service-s3/reviews) — 4.6/5 stars (948 reviews)
- [Cloudflare Application Security and Performance](https://www.g2.com/products/cloudflare-application-security-and-performance/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (601 reviews)
- [Vultr](https://www.g2.com/products/vultr/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (286 reviews)
- [Google Cloud Storage](https://www.g2.com/products/google-cloud-storage/reviews) — 4.6/5 stars (599 reviews)
- [UltaHost](https://www.g2.com/products/ultahost/reviews) — 4.9/5 stars (436 reviews)

---
## Top Discussions

### Azure Virtual Machines

- Title: [What is Azure Virtual Machines used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-azure-virtual-machines-used-for) — 2 comments
  > **Top comment:** "Azure Virtual Machines (VMs) are used to run applications and workloads on virtualized server environments in the cloud. They allow you to deploy and manage..."
- Title: [What operating systems does an Azure virtual machine support?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-operating-systems-does-an-azure-virtual-machine-support) — 2 comments
  > **Top comment:** "2012 and above"
- Title: [What are Azure virtual machines used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-are-azure-virtual-machines-used-for) — 2 comments
  > **Top comment:** "Mission critical workloads"
- Title: [What is virtual machine in Azure portal?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-virtual-machine-in-azure-portal) — 1 comment
  > **Top comment:** "It is a computer file that behaves like a computer,it has computing environment that offers to run different operating system "
- Title: [Azure VM](https://www.g2.com/discussions/36714-azure-vm) — 1 comment, 1 upvote
  > **Top comment:** "Most powerful VM machine"

### VMware vSphere

- Title: [Is ESXi software free?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-esxi-software-free) — 4 comments, 1 upvote
  > **Top comment:** "no 
but you can use the evaluation version for 3 month and then you can take a decision "
- Title: [What is VMware vSphere Hypervisor used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-vmware-vsphere-hypervisor-used-for) — 2 comments
  > **Top comment:** "Virtual platform to host multiple images on a single machine which has limited resources."
- Title: [What is VMware vSphere standard?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-vmware-vsphere-standard) — 2 comments
  > **Top comment:** "vSphere 7 has been rearchitected with native Kubernetes for application modernization. Developers can’t afford infrastructure that slows them down –..."
- Title: [What is ESXi operating system?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-esxi-operating-system) — 1 comment
  > **Top comment:** "yes "
- Title: [What is ESXi used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-esxi-used-for) — 1 comment, 1 upvote
  > **Top comment:** "Virtualization is the creation of a virtual -- rather than actual -- version of something, such as an operating system (OS), a server, a storage device or..."

### Akamai Cloud Computing

- Title: [What is linode used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-linode-used-for) — 3 comments
  > **Top comment:** "Server instances, Load Balancers, and various cloud services."
- Title: [What is Linode used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/linode-what-is-linode-used-for) — 1 comment
  > **Top comment:** "On Linode you can rent serves, storage and even gpu's now."
- Title: [Is linode safe?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-linode-safe) — 1 comment
  > **Top comment:** "Yes absolutely!"
- Title: [How to install two different PHP versions such as 7.X and 8.0 ?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/45571-how-to-install-two-different-php-versions-such-as-7-x-and-8-0) — 1 comment, 1 upvote
  > **Top comment:** "You can containerize your application by using Docker, then you could have different versions of PHP on the server without conflicts since every container is..."
- Title: [What is the best way to upgrade the Ubuntu server version to the latest?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/45529-what-is-the-best-way-to-upgrade-the-ubuntu-server-version-to-the-latest) — 1 comment, 1 upvote
  > **Top comment:** "Comment deleted by user."

---
**Source:** [G2.com](https://www.g2.com) | [Comparison Page](https://www.g2.com/compare/azure-virtual-machines-vs-vmware-vsphere-vs-akamai-cloud-computing)