--- title: VMware vSphere Reviews meta_title: 'VMware vSphere Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 761 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how VMware vSphere works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 4.5 review_count: 761 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-07-07' parent_category: name: IT Infrastructure url: https://www.g2.com/categories/it-infrastructure --- # VMware vSphere Reviews **Vendor:** Broadcom **Category:** [Server Virtualization Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/server-virtualization) **Average Rating:** 4.5/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 761 ## About VMware vSphere VMware vSphere with VCF 9.1 is the enterprise workload engine that modernizes compute infrastructure with a future-ready, scalable infrastructure and simplified management that enables organizations to extract maximum value from their current server investments and hardware footprint, rather than requiring a total refresh. vSphere provides a powerful foundation for modern, AI and traditional workloads, while enabling intrinsic security out-of-the-box. ## VMware vSphere Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users love the **intuitive setup** of VMware vSphere, making virtualization management straightforward and efficient. (138 reviews) - Users praise the **intuitive setup and management** capabilities of VMware vSphere for virtual environment efficiency. (110 reviews) - Users value the **ease of use** and seamless integration of VMware vSphere, enhancing their daily operational efficiency. (60 reviews) - Users value the **unmatched efficiency and manageability** of VMware vSphere for optimizing server virtualization. (49 reviews) - Users value the **high reliability** of VMware vSphere, ensuring minimal downtime with automated failover capabilities. (44 reviews) - Stability (43 reviews) - Customer Support (40 reviews) - User Interface (34 reviews) - Integrations (33 reviews) - Resource Management (33 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Users are concerned about the **high licensing costs** of VMware vSphere, which can burden small businesses significantly. (106 reviews) - Users are frustrated by the **shifting licensing requirements** of VMware vSphere, feeling forced to adapt to new policies. (70 reviews) - Users express concern over **pricing issues** with VMware vSphere, with recent increases prompting searches for alternatives. (30 reviews) - Users find the **high licensing costs** of VMware vSphere challenging, particularly for smaller organizations with tight budgets. (29 reviews) - Users are frustrated by the **constant cost increase** of VMware vSphere, particularly after the Broadcom acquisition. (22 reviews) - Users are frustrated with the **poor customer support** from VMware vSphere, impacting their experience and satisfaction. (20 reviews) - Update Issues (19 reviews) - Upgrade Issues (19 reviews) - Pricing Complexity (16 reviews) - Complexity (14 reviews) ## VMware vSphere Reviews ### 1. Robust Virtualization with Centralized Management **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Sanjeev S. | Cybersecurity Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 09, 2026 **What do you like best about VMware vSphere?** I like VMware vSphere's stability and how it simplifies managing virtual infrastructure through a centralized console. I find features like live migration, resource allocation, and high availability very effective in daily operations. It makes provisioning and managing virtual machines much easier compared to dealing with physical servers individually. Once the environment is properly set up, it's generally reliable and doesn't require constant intervention. I also appreciate how the centralized console facilitates easier administration by allowing monitoring, provisioning, and managing multiple systems from one place, unlike managing individual physical servers. **What do you dislike about VMware vSphere?** One area where VMware vSphere could improve is licensing and overall cost, especially for small environments. The centralized console is useful, but troubleshooting certain issues can sometimes feel complex and take time. Also, upgrades and compatibility checks between different VMware components need careful planning to avoid unexpected issues during maintenance. **What problems is VMware vSphere solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use VMware vSphere for virtualization, consolidating workloads into VMs, improving resource utilization, simplifying server management, and facilitating faster system provisioning. It reduces dependency on physical hardware and enhances uptime with minimal disruption during upgrades. ### 2. Simplifies Virtualization, Minor Upgrade Downtime **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Yannick K. | Infrastructure Engineer, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 29, 2026 **What do you like best about VMware vSphere?** I like how simple VMware vSphere is to use, especially in the user interface. It offers a great interface for people to use, and it allows engineers to be a lot more hands-on compared to old KVM solutions. The initial setup was very easy, with support from some PSO teams and our own experience helping. We've used VMware vSphere for quite a while now. **What do you dislike about VMware vSphere?** I think VMware vSphere's licensing system could be improved. There are a lot of bugs in the older versions, and you have to upgrade to the latest version for everything, which causes a lot of downtime during the upgrade procedures. If there's a way to improve the downtime aspect, that would be great. **What problems is VMware vSphere solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use VMware vSphere for our platform virtualization, which solves the problem of relying on cloud resources. It allows us to scale with our own private infrastructure, saving on the significant costs that cloud solutions generate nowadays. ### 3. Reliable, Complete Virtualization with vMotion, HA/DRS, and Scalable vCenter Management **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Nayan G. | Linux Administrator, Information Technology and Services, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 31, 2026 **What do you like best about VMware vSphere?** What I like most about VMware vSphere is its reliability and overall completeness. It stays very stable even under heavy workloads, and vMotion makes it possible to migrate VMs with zero downtime. I also appreciate how HA and DRS automate failover and load balancing, which reduces manual effort. On top of that, vCenter keeps management straightforward, even when you’re operating at scale. **What do you dislike about VMware vSphere?** The licensing cost is high. I also worry about vendor lock-in, and the setup can feel complex—especially when trying to understand and choose between the different licensing tiers. **What problems is VMware vSphere solving and how is that benefiting you?** VMware vSphere helps solve several key infrastructure problems. It reduces server sprawl by consolidating multiple VMs onto fewer hosts. It also minimizes downtime, since HA and vMotion help keep services running. For day-to-day operations, it cuts down on manual management through centralized control via vCenter. Finally, it addresses resource imbalance by using DRS to automatically balance workloads across the environment. ### 4. VMware vSphere: A Comprehensive Enterprise Virtualization Review **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** amit s. | I am working as Cloud operation admin for Nutanix, VMware and other public clouds., Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 13, 2026 **What do you like best about VMware vSphere?** I have over 13 years of hands-on experience working with VMware vSphere technologies, including vCenter, ESXi, and vRealize Operations (vROps), and this review reflects real-world production use. VMware vSphere is an enterprise-class server virtualization platform that provides a strong foundation for software-defined data centers (SDDC). It remains one of the most mature and feature-rich virtualization solutions available. vSphere is well suited for organizations that require high performance, scalability, strong availability, and advanced automation. Its stability and broad feature set make it a solid choice for running mission-critical workloads. Overall, the platform supports efficient workload consolidation, high availability, and advanced resource management across both on-premises and hybrid cloud environments. VMware provides very efficient service support for their customers. **What do you dislike about VMware vSphere?** vSphere licensing and support costs can be expensive, especially for small and medium-sized organizations. Many of the more advanced features are tied to higher-tier licenses, which can make it harder to justify the overall spend. Because of its extensive feature set, vSphere also tends to require skilled administrators. Initial deployment, tuning, and ongoing troubleshooting can be complex for teams without prior VMware experience, and the learning curve may be steep at the beginning. **What problems is VMware vSphere solving and how is that benefiting you?** VMware vSphere solves a wide range of problems that IT teams and enterprises face when managing server infrastructure, workloads, and data centers. Features like vMotion, High Availability (HA), and Fault Tolerance (FT) ensure workloads can move seamlessly between hosts, maintain uptime, and continue running even if hardware fails. ### 5. vSphere is the most comprehensive and easiest to use management for hyper-visors. **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ben S. | Senior Systems Engineer / Infrastructure Architect, Information Technology and Services, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 20, 2019 **What do you like best about VMware vSphere?** The interface is 100% web based so it is easy accessible from anywhere. Integrates directly into Active Directory for easy role based access and authentication. All management was moved from the client to the web interface. **What do you dislike about VMware vSphere?** The management interface can be slow to load and takes a while to find some of the settings. Overall they did a good job making it self explanatory. **Recommendations to others considering VMware vSphere:** In comparing hyper-V to vSphere look at the total cost of management, support, licensing, as well as downtime and the complexity of management. **What problems is VMware vSphere solving and how is that benefiting you?** We are now able to add and manage all hyper-visors in a single management interface. We have now gained the ability to vMotion and storage vMotion all of our virtual machines. ### 6. Easy and Stable, but Licensing Costs Are Pushing Us to Migrate **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Kiel U. | IT Manager, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 26, 2026 **What do you like best about VMware vSphere?** I used to enjoy the ease of use, the stability, the upgradability, and the cost. Now the cost of licensing has forced us to strategize migrating off the platform. **What do you dislike about VMware vSphere?** The exorbitant costs of licensing that increased when they were acquired. I understand it, but I do not like it. It's terrible for SMBs **What problems is VMware vSphere solving and how is that benefiting you?** It is our primary platform for our virtual hosts and guests, housing DCs, SQL servers, File Servers, etc ### 7. Rock-Solid VMware vSphere: Stable, Scalable, and Built for Critical Workloads **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** HARIOM S. | Storage admin, Information Technology and Services, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 22, 2026 **What do you like best about VMware vSphere?** What I like best about VMware vSphere is its stability and maturity. It’s rock-solid for running critical workloads, and features like vMotion, High Availability (HA), and DRS make managing virtual machines smooth and reliable. On top of that, it scales really well and has a huge ecosystem, so it fits everything from small setups to large enterprise environments. **What do you dislike about VMware vSphere?** What I dislike most about VMware vSphere is the cost and licensing complexity, especially after recent pricing changes—it can get expensive fast. It also has a steeper learning curve for new admins, and upgrades or version compatibility can sometimes feel more complicated than necessary. **What problems is VMware vSphere solving and how is that benefiting you?** VMware vSphere solves the problem of inefficient, hard-to-manage physical servers by virtualizing compute resources into a single, manageable platform. It simplifies server consolidation, workload isolation, high availability, and disaster recovery, which reduces downtime and hardware sprawl. The benefit to me is greater reliability and flexibility—I can deploy, move, and scale workloads quickly, keep systems running during failures, and manage infrastructure more efficiently with less manual effort. ### 8. Reliable Virtualization, High Cost Barrier **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jasvinder S. | Sr. Technical Engineer, Information Technology and Services, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 16, 2026 **What do you like best about VMware vSphere?** I use VMware vSphere to run and manage all our virtual machines, and it makes virtualization easy to handle. The platform is very stable and reliable, allowing us to adjust VM configurations whenever we need without any hassle. I appreciate how vSphere lets us manage our entire virtual environment, including virtual networks, VMs, and physical hosts, all from a single console. This makes day-to-day operations much easier and more efficient. The initial setup was straightforward, and following the documentation made installing, connecting the ESXi hosts, setting up vCenter, and starting VM management easy. Managing our environment has been smooth, and I didn't face major challenges during the setup. **What do you dislike about VMware vSphere?** VMware vSphere is great, but it can still improve in a few areas. The licensing and pricing are on the higher side, which makes upgrades expensive. Some advanced features also feel a bit complex for new users. In some cases, updates and compatibility checks take time, so simplifying that experience would make it even better. **What problems is VMware vSphere solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use VMware vSphere to manage our virtual machines, solving hardware dependency issues, reducing server downtime and physical load. It simplifies virtualization, allowing easy resource scaling and system maintenance from a single console, making operations efficient and reliable. ### 9. Cost-Effective Server Virtualization with Central Management **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Yitagessu H. | Senior Hardware Engineer, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 19, 2024 **What do you like best about VMware vSphere?** I find VMware vSphere cost-effective and appreciate its central management capabilities. I like the resource management it offers, which helps in managing server virtualization efficiently. The feature I value the most is vSAN, as it effectively utilizes storage resources by virtualizing all local storage contributing to the vSAN environment. Even though the initial setup may not be very easy, it has good features that are easy to understand. **What do you dislike about VMware vSphere?** I think it is better to use a small bandwidth for backup and replication. It may not be very easy, but it has a good feature to understand easily. **What problems is VMware vSphere solving and how is that benefiting you?** VMware vSphere offers central management and is cost-effective for resource management, helping me use storage resources effectively with vSAN. ### 10. Stable, Full-Featured Virtualization with Strong Management and HA/DRS **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jose S. | IT Sysadmin Mid, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 16, 2026 **What do you like best about VMware vSphere?** - VMWare Hosts Management - Full Virtualization Solution - Replication Features - Networking Features - DRS - FT - HA Features - Stable Solution - Everything needed for Virtualization - Easy to Use. You do not need Virtualization background to get use to it - Everyday Solution - You do not need certifications or something to implement - Integration Features with other Platforms via API, agent, etc **What do you dislike about VMware vSphere?** - Licensing Model And pricing after Broadcome Adquisition **What problems is VMware vSphere solving and how is that benefiting you?** - Virtualization of VMs - HA Setup - 2 VMware ESXi Cluster - Replication - Acronis integration for Backups and Replication - Zabbix Integration via API Its easy to use so any person can administrate it. ## VMware vSphere Discussions - [Is ESXi software free?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-esxi-software-free) - 4 comments, 1 upvote - [What is ESXi used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-esxi-used-for) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [What is VMware vSphere Hypervisor used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-vmware-vsphere-hypervisor-used-for) - 2 comments - [What is VMware vSphere standard?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-vmware-vsphere-standard) - 2 comments - [What is ESXi operating system?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-esxi-operating-system) - 1 comment - [View VMware vSphere pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/vmware-vsphere/reviews/vmware-vsphere-review-7808763?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-07-10+09%3A56%3A22+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=80108e29-910b-41b8-bd64-7ae327e98f09&secure%5Btoken%5D=f2c14b2e0be418fbd9933acbfe372755b2bca2cb104eb4967c47440a63f4487d&format=llm_user) ## VMware vSphere Integrations - [Acronis Cyber Protect](https://www.g2.com/products/acronis-acronis-cyber-protect/reviews) - [Azure Portal](https://www.g2.com/products/azure-portal/reviews) - [Veeam Data Platform](https://www.g2.com/products/veeam-data-platform/reviews) - [VMware NSX](https://www.g2.com/products/vmware-nsx/reviews) - [Zabbix](https://www.g2.com/products/zabbix/reviews) ## VMware vSphere Features **Core Functions** - Server Virtualization - Storage Virtualization - Network Virtualization **Infrastructure Provision** - Public Cloud - Private Cloud - Hybrid Cloud - Bare Metal - High-Performance Computing (HPC) - Virtual Machines (VMs) - Edge Computing - Virtual Networks **Performance** - Scalability - Portability - Data Recovery **General Functionality** - Dynamic Scaling - High Availability - Data Security - Backup and Recovery **Management** - Pay by Usage - Usage Tracking - Performance Tracking **Functionality** - OS Integration - Resource Saving - Performance Management - Security **Configuration** - Appliance Independence - Hardware Integration **Functionality** - Resource Auto-Scaling **Agentic AI - Server Virtualization** - Autonomous Task Execution - Multi-step Planning - Cross-system Integration - Adaptive Learning - Proactive Assistance - Decision Making **Agentic AI - Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) Solutions** - Autonomous Task Execution - Adaptive Learning - Decision Making ## Top VMware vSphere Alternatives - [Azure Virtual Machines](https://www.g2.com/products/azure-virtual-machines/reviews) - 4.4/5.0 (377 reviews) - [Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI)](https://www.g2.com/products/nutanix-cloud-infrastructure-nci/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (290 reviews) - [SC// HyperCore Virtualization Suite](https://www.g2.com/products/sc-hypercore-virtualization-suite/reviews) - 4.7/5.0 (317 reviews)