Proxmox VE Pros and Cons: Top 5 Advantages and Disadvantages

Quick AI Summary Based on G2 Reviews

Generated from real user reviews

Users appreciate the scalability of Proxmox VE, seamlessly integrating into environments while supporting various hardware configurations. (2 mentions)

Users love Proxmox VE for its cost-effective enterprise features, providing robust virtualization without high licensing fees. (1 mentions)

Users value the enterprise-grade virtualization and containerization features of Proxmox VE, enjoying flexibility without costly licenses. (1 mentions)

Users appreciate the seamless integrations of Proxmox VE, allowing smooth operation in existing environments with various hardware. (1 mentions)

Users value the maintenance ease of Proxmox VE, appreciating its smooth integration and active support. (1 mentions)

Users find the steep learning curve of Proxmox VE challenging, requiring advanced technical skills for effective use. (2 mentions)

Users find network issues with Proxmox VE challenging, requiring significant technical skills for effective management and troubleshooting. (1 mentions)

Users find that while Proxmox VE is powerful, it has significant performance issues that require advanced technical skills to manage. (1 mentions)

Users face challenges with poor documentation, especially for HA setups without a subscription, lacking user-friendly guidance. (1 mentions)

Users find that Proxmox VE requires high technical expertise, making it challenging for those less experienced. (1 mentions)

5 Pros or Advantages of Proxmox VE

1. Scalability

Users appreciate the scalability of Proxmox VE, seamlessly integrating into environments while supporting various hardware configurations.

See 2 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Pradeep K.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Proxmox VE: The Open-Source Powerhouse for Virtualization in 2025"

What do you like about Proxmox VE?

What I like best about Proxmox VE is how it gives you enterprise-grade virtualization and containerization features—like clustering, live migration, h

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.5/5

"A bless for small business, a promise for larger infrastructure"

What do you like about Proxmox VE?

can work with almost every hardware. Support zfs natively. Is actively maintained. Can be integrated in an existing environment without pain. Graphic

2. Cost-Effective

Users love Proxmox VE for its cost-effective enterprise features, providing robust virtualization without high licensing fees.

See 1 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Pradeep K.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Proxmox VE: The Open-Source Powerhouse for Virtualization in 2025"

What do you like about Proxmox VE?

What I like best about Proxmox VE is how it gives you enterprise-grade virtualization and containerization features—like clustering, live migration, h

3. Features

Users value the enterprise-grade virtualization and containerization features of Proxmox VE, enjoying flexibility without costly licenses.

See 1 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Pradeep K.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Proxmox VE: The Open-Source Powerhouse for Virtualization in 2025"

What do you like about Proxmox VE?

What I like best about Proxmox VE is how it gives you enterprise-grade virtualization and containerization features—like clustering, live migration, h

4. Integrations

Users appreciate the seamless integrations of Proxmox VE, allowing smooth operation in existing environments with various hardware.

See 1 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.5/5

"A bless for small business, a promise for larger infrastructure"

What do you like about Proxmox VE?

can work with almost every hardware. Support zfs natively. Is actively maintained. Can be integrated in an existing environment without pain. Graphic

5. Maintenance Ease

Users value the maintenance ease of Proxmox VE, appreciating its smooth integration and active support.

See 1 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.5/5

"A bless for small business, a promise for larger infrastructure"

What do you like about Proxmox VE?

can work with almost every hardware. Support zfs natively. Is actively maintained. Can be integrated in an existing environment without pain. Graphic

5 Cons or Disadvantages of Proxmox VE

1. Steep Learning Curve

Users find the steep learning curve of Proxmox VE challenging, requiring advanced technical skills for effective use.

See 2 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Pradeep K.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Proxmox VE: The Open-Source Powerhouse for Virtualization in 2025"

What do you dislike about Proxmox VE?

What I dislike most about Proxmox VE is that while it’s incredibly powerful, it expects a fairly high level of technical skill—especially when it come

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.5/5

"A bless for small business, a promise for larger infrastructure"

What do you dislike about Proxmox VE?

less documentation for HA without a subscription, interface can be improved, repetitive tasks must be executed via script

2. Network Issues

Users find network issues with Proxmox VE challenging, requiring significant technical skills for effective management and troubleshooting.

See 1 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Pradeep K.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Proxmox VE: The Open-Source Powerhouse for Virtualization in 2025"

What do you dislike about Proxmox VE?

What I dislike most about Proxmox VE is that while it’s incredibly powerful, it expects a fairly high level of technical skill—especially when it come

3. Performance Issues

Users find that while Proxmox VE is powerful, it has significant performance issues that require advanced technical skills to manage.

See 1 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Pradeep K.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Proxmox VE: The Open-Source Powerhouse for Virtualization in 2025"

What do you dislike about Proxmox VE?

What I dislike most about Proxmox VE is that while it’s incredibly powerful, it expects a fairly high level of technical skill—especially when it come

4. Poor Documentation

Users face challenges with poor documentation, especially for HA setups without a subscription, lacking user-friendly guidance.

See 1 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.5/5

"A bless for small business, a promise for larger infrastructure"

What do you dislike about Proxmox VE?

less documentation for HA without a subscription, interface can be improved, repetitive tasks must be executed via script

5. Required Expertise

Users find that Proxmox VE requires high technical expertise, making it challenging for those less experienced.

See 1 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Pradeep K.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Proxmox VE: The Open-Source Powerhouse for Virtualization in 2025"

What do you dislike about Proxmox VE?

What I dislike most about Proxmox VE is that while it’s incredibly powerful, it expects a fairly high level of technical skill—especially when it come

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Verified User in International Affairs

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

7/31/2017

"Just switched to version 5 of Proxmox"

5/5

What do you like best about Proxmox VE?

Containers. I've been using Proxmox for 8+ years because of this.

Long before containerization was a thing, long before Docker, Kubernetes and all buzzwords regarding containerization were a thing... it was Proxmox.

There are still features Proxmox support that some virtualization and containerization solutions are still lagging behind, like seamless node migration between machines with zero downtime, memory ballooning and user-space quotas by containers in a shared environment, for example. These features, that are now taking off in commercial solutions, were already present... 8 years ago! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Proxmox VE?

Updating between versions can break things, and due to the nature of LXC containers, switching between kernels can be a pain.

Fortunately, the community is open and easy to interact to, so most issues are easily solvable. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Proxmox VE:

Use distributed storage: Ceph or ZFS over NFS. If you want to benefit from live migrations between nodes of your containers and/or virtual machines, it is mandatory to use them. I know it can be a pain to configure, administer and check that everything works, but at the end it pays off. It's a joy when you have a hardware failure in one node, then you migrate everything to another node and just go a replace the failing hardware without you to worry about data, availability or downtime on your containers/virtual machines... I really recommend you this way,

Also, if you use ZFS, please buy a couple SSDs and add cache to it, as VMs can be really disk-demanding. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Proxmox VE solving and how is that benefiting you?

Microservices isolation, high availability, server sharding and multiple node resilience. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Michael B.

Security Researcher

Computer & Network Security

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

1/31/2017

"Easy to use virtualization platform"

4/5

What do you like best about Proxmox VE?

It is very easy to get started with Proxmox VE, in with the disc or USB-stick, follow some easy on-screen instructions and you have a virtualization environment that is very useful. If you want to build a cluster of machines you can do that as well at no additional cost, while other free virtualization platforms like VMWare ESXi reserve clustering functionality to paying customers only. Don't take me wrong, if you are building a business on that Proxmox will always be there for you then you should buy a support contract - but you don't *need* to do that. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Proxmox VE?

Lack of API support from 3rd party. Proxmox VE isn't Citrix XenServer or VMWare vSphere, meaning that out of the box support from other tools or vendors are limited. Of course there is a well documented API so you can automate all the menial tasks, but there is not so much support from 3rd party products that takes advantage of Proxmox API. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Proxmox VE:

Unless you have a requirement for 3rd party software to control and automate your Proxmox VE I can't recommend it enough. Unfortunately I had such requirements and it would take too much resources from the main objective to add support for Proxmox VE API then to switch to an already supported platform. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Proxmox VE solving and how is that benefiting you?

I was building a lab for malware analysis where free access to the components is a key design requirements because I want make sure that the results can be recreated by anyone on a very limited budget. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

David M.

Technology Consultant

Information Technology and Services

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

10/20/2016

"Efficient, effective, reliable, researchable"

5/5

What do you like best about Proxmox VE?

Clean, clear web interface

Ability to do anything via command line

Can find any solution online, nothing behind paywalls or support contracts

Fast in all areas

Reliable, no crashes, no outages.

Full featured, not crippleware

Regular substantial upgrades Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Proxmox VE?

Nag screen at login, but hey, they put in a lot of resource, so I don't really mind. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Proxmox VE:

Toss it on a spare server, the install is so next..next..next easy.

Give it a run with some test, development and non-production virtual servers

You'll be impressed with range of features, ease of use, scaleability.

As your skills and confidence with it grow, you'll soon be using it for more important loads.

Runs Windows virtual servers flawlessly, and certainly faster than running Windows bare metal on the same hardware. It caches disk better than Windows, so Windows responds quicker.

We've recently seen another company deploy it on 8 x hp dl380 g9's to carry 2 million mailboxes. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Proxmox VE solving and how is that benefiting you?

Small startup business needed two servers for file & application services.

Business has now grown to 50 people, and the Proxmox server has just kept up. More virtual servers added for specific applications. No slowdowns, performance is still exceptional. It can still easily saturate a 1Gbit network link and not be processor or ram overloaded.

Backups are reliable and easy to rollback.

We've now rolled out Proxmox to branch offices on micro server hardware, carrying the firewall & vpn, local caches, local infrastructure logging and local camera recording servers. Very efficient.

Overall benefits have been exceptional value, outstanding reliability, impressive scaling. The business has been able to depend on it's core servers, and get on with business. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Information Technology and Services

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

11/30/2016

"Easily manage VE without much overhead and high availability"

4/5

What do you like best about Proxmox VE?

Initially using it to manage OpenVZ VE, we recently switch to LXC ones following recent change in the product. Proxmox provides us with improved control on our hosted VE and allow easy tuning and management. Pack with powerful features, it still allow simple management. Its integrated firewall, the command line tools, and the transparence of the solution are all contributing to our feeling of freedom. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Proxmox VE?

The biggest improvement I would like to see is in the documentation. You currently have to read forums, faqs, books from third parties in order to really understand and be able to use Proxmox at its full power. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Proxmox VE:

A good alternative to VMWare that allows lighter VE and therefore reduce the hardware cost for an equivalent performance, and without compromise on features. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Proxmox VE solving and how is that benefiting you?

We are hosting on-line application for our clients on Linux based computer. The ability to use lightweight containers, not full virtualisation, to manage them easily and also to secure helps limit our hosting cost and improve the quality of our service to customers. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Fco. Javier P.

DevOps Monkey

Program Development

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

6/23/2016

"Using proxmox since v1"

3.5/5

What do you like best about Proxmox VE?

Easy to use and manage many servers.

Clustered setup is quite easy to build.

Two virtualization methods, paravirtualzation (lxc or Openvz) and full virtualization.

Lots of storage methods.

Easy to debug when problems arrive.

Open Software model, free of charge.

Easy to move vps for one server to another, or even from one cluster to another. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Proxmox VE?

Immaturity of some features like zfs.

Upgrade at your own risk (unless paid version).

Too expensive, if you want/need to use paid version.

Upgrade from major to major needs to be easier, with no downtime will be better. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Proxmox VE:

Try on your own lab before going production. It's really easy to setup, but if you choose a bad combination of file system virtualization method... it will ruin your week.

If you are going to build a cluster, multiple nics is a must, don't even think of it if you don't have at least two networks (internal and external).

Give a try to externa storage, it will be easier to implement proxmox.

Backup system is nice and works great but if you use to recover single files or directories don't use it on qemu machines. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Proxmox VE solving and how is that benefiting you?

We have a not so big ISP, we are using Proxmox as part of our virtualization system. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Gianni P.

SOC Manager (Interim)

Information Technology and Services

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5/25/2016

"A practical, open-source solution for those looking for a quick and stable virtualization solution"

5/5

What do you like best about Proxmox VE?

It's open-source nature. Virtualization platforms can range in the thousands- it can also be deployed in a matter of minutes. This is crucial when IT departments are constantly being pressed to quickly deploy assets such as servers. Also, features like a web interface are a plus to avoid client installations that are often cumbersome to carry due to directory policies, deployment strategies, etc. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Proxmox VE?

Promox’s control panel requires additional aspects such as historical usage, as opposed to current utilization. In addition, the console applet would improve by showing better definition boot screens along with a VNC activated by default. This would definitely improve user experience. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Proxmox VE:

As with any virtualization product, planning your hardware is crucial. Although Proxmox runs on top of Debian, ensure you understand its limitations and other requirements such as back-end storage. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Proxmox VE solving and how is that benefiting you?

Reduce operating costs. Testing environments (VMs) are always being created as a result of sandboxing and other in-house security practices. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Computer Software

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

3/28/2017

"Easy to use and very stable"

3.5/5

What do you like best about Proxmox VE?

Easy to use interface, regular updates and stable interface Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Proxmox VE?

Better reports and Data analysis would be helpful Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Jack-Benny P.

Owner

Information Technology and Services

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

3/10/2016

"I've been using Proxmox for almost 5 years now, and been happy with it from start"

3.5/5

What do you like best about Proxmox VE?

It's a free dedicated virtual machine server with a nice GUI that uses standard technologies such as KVM and OpenVZ. It has good built-in features such as automatic backups & fail-over (HA). It has support for both local and remote disks (NFS, iSCSI etc). It's core is based on Debian, which vouch for stability. Everything is open-source and free, but for the one who wants customer service and access to enterprise repositories this can be purchased as well. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Proxmox VE?

I don't really like the Java-based console to access the machines, mostly since I don't have Java installed on many of my machines. This has almost been a deal-breaker for me, but I've learned to live it, and Java is now easily installed on both Linux, Mac OS X and Windows. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Proxmox VE:

Take you time to get to know the system before going live. There are many many good features as well as some quirks (such as the Java consol) one has go learn and get used to. All in all Proxmox is a great product for everyone looking to run both KVM and OpenVZ on the same machine, and administer it through a web-based GUI. It's all free, except for various service agreement you purchase for Proxmox. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Proxmox VE solving and how is that benefiting you?

With Proxmox I can run my own virtual machine park both at home and for my own businesses without paying lots and lots of money. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

James D.

IT Infrastructure Engineer

Oil & Energy

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4/27/2016

"More flexible than ESXi"

5/5

What do you like best about Proxmox VE?

Web management

KVM and Containers.

Ease of use Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Proxmox VE?

Removal of OpenVZ.

Lack of clustering over WAN. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering Proxmox VE:

Proxmox is a great alternative to VMware and SolusVM. Highly Recommended Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is Proxmox VE solving and how is that benefiting you?

We were looking for a hypervisor for a small company however the costs involved in VMware were not worth while.

We now have a single server in the office rather than 4 and we can quickly setup extra VM's for development and testing purposes. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Categories on G2

Server Virtualization

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