Compare Oracle VM VirtualBox to VMware Workstation (2023)

Oracle VM VirtualBox is a robust next-generation virtualization solution based on AMD64/Intel64 and x86 processors that is well suited for home use and powerful enough to meet the needs of a busy business organization. This professional solution is open source and offers super fast, high performance and many unique value-added features. VirtualBox works effectively on Windows, macOS, Solaris, Linux and more. Users can benefit from VirtualBox's commitment to continuous product development and providing continuous progressive updates and releases. The solution is backed by a trusted, dedicated community of professionals and is backed by Oracle, ensuring the product is able to consistently meet and exceed quality control and protocol requirements.

Features of Oracle VM VirtualBox

Oracle VM Virtual Box offers many value-added features. These functions include, among others:

  • consolidation: Oracle VM VirtualBox makes it easy for users to seamlessly run multiple VMs on a small number of hosts and also facilitates end-to-end load balancing between VMs. This helps minimize and consolidate the hardware needed across the enterprise.
  • Diagnose:VirtualBox offers excellent testing and disaster recovery. Users can use the VHD as a container. This container can be copied, frozen, backed up, or moved between hosts. Virtual machines (VMs) allow users to easily test multi-node network services for network, software configuration, or operating system issues.
  • Snapshots:Snapshots allow users to save or freeze a specific VM state and revert to a protected state when needed. Users can make changes or experiment in the computer area. In case of problems, users can revert to the selected snapshot; This eliminates the need for frequent backups and restores.
  • Flexibility:The solution makes it easy to run different operating systems (OS) at the same time. Users can run software designed for one operating system on another operating system. For example, users can easily run Windows on Mac without having to reboot. Because users can configure the types of virtual hardware to appear with each operating system, there is greater flexibility in operating system selection, and users can even select older operating systems or ones not currently supported by the original operating system.
  • Economically:Virtualization with Oracle VM VirtualBox allows users to significantly reduce total costs by reducing the amount of hardware needed and the associated costs of supporting physical machines across the enterprise. These enormous cost savings lead to a return on investment in a very short time.

Reviews from real users

“Oracle VM VirtualBox is easy to use and doesn't require much training. Consumes fewer resources. Teams using new OS versions can quickly test and deploy them. This would make the development of new software versions faster and easier.It also helps users to write, test and maintain the program on multiple platforms.It has a good community because it's open source.” - Satishbabu G., Oracle ACE

“It's easy to use and doesn't require complicated knowledge.Consumes fewer resourcesThis is a requirement as it is used to connect hardware and there are very few resources available.” – PeerSpot user who is an IT Architect – AI in CGI

VMware Workstation is part of a suite of robust virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) or desktop hypervisor tools that enable users to run Kubernetes clusters, containers and virtual machines (VMs). Users can choose between VMware Workstation Pro or VMware Workstation Player to ensure they get the most out of VMware Workstation.

Workstation Player works best as a command line or as a single graphical operation. It is very well suited for running different operating systems via a secure, closed sandbox on a normal consumer PC. Workstation Player is an industry popular player for use in educational environments to improve your knowledge of computer systems and global information technology. Workstation Pro is designed for smart programmers and IT professionals. The solution offers an intuitive next-generation user interface and gives users the ability to seamlessly run multiple virtual machines simultaneously. Users can easily create clones, configure virtual networks, connect to vSphere, and more with a clear, visually enhanced dashboard that offers full transparency to view multiple virtual machines and more.

VMware Workstation solutions are based on next-generation 64-bit x86 processor components to build robust, secure virtual machines capable of running a wide range of operating systems and all their applications. Modern VMware workstation technology intuitively connects physical hardware devices with virtual machine resources so that each virtual machine has its own I/O devices, memory, disks and processors in addition to the equivalent of a standard real x86 machine. It installs easily on the host operating system and provides extensive hardware support by leveraging the original host's device support.

Benefits for VMware workstations

VMware Workstation offers many desirable benefits. These benefits include, but are not limited to:

  • Improved general IT processes.
  • Better and more efficient deployment outcomes.
  • Increased application performance.
  • Better server availability.
  • Less physical hardware and additional devices.
  • Economically.
  • Less downtime or downtime.
  • Share apps and resources faster.
  • Reduced energy consumption.
  • Reduced environmental impact.

Reviews from real users

Walter G., owner of Secacon Gygli Engineering LLC, says: “The most valuable featureVMware WorkstationIseasy creation of a development environment. When you do different development work, you often need to create many different development environments. With this workstation you get a development environment for everything you build.”

Toni L., CEO of Virtual Consultants Sverige AB, says: “VMware Workstation's most valuable features are DirectX support; You can run Microsoft Hyper-V in virtual environments, which for me is good for testing different installations. In addition, you can configure different VLANs and in generalit is a complete solution“.


"HaveUser-friendly control panelis important for me. I'm not a programmer, although I do program something. Also, I don't use the command line interface if I can avoid it. When I need to use it, I double-check what to type and then type it. PeerSpot user who is technical director in a construction company.

are Workstation is part of a suite of robust virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) or desktop hypervisor tools that enable users to run Kubernetes clusters, containers and virtual machines (VMs). Users can choose between VMware Workstation Pro or VMware Workstation Player to ensure they get the most out of VMware Workstation.

Workstation Player works best as a command line or as a single graphical operation. It is very well suited for running different operating systems via a secure, closed sandbox on a normal consumer PC. Workstation Player is an industry popular player for use in educational environments to improve your knowledge of computer systems and global information technology. Workstation Pro is designed for smart programmers and IT professionals. The solution offers an intuitive next-generation user interface and gives users the ability to seamlessly run multiple virtual machines simultaneously. Users can easily create clones, configure virtual networks, connect to vSphere, and more with a clear, visually enhanced dashboard that offers full transparency to view multiple virtual machines and more.

VMware Workstation solutions are based on next-generation 64-bit x86 processor components to build robust, secure virtual machines capable of running a wide range of operating systems and all their applications. Modern VMware workstation technology intuitively connects physical hardware devices to the virtual machine's virtual resources so that each virtual machine has its own I/O devices, memory, disks and processors in addition to the equivalent of a standard real x86 machine. VMware easily installs on the host operating system and provides extensive hardware support using the original host's device support.

Benefits for VMware workstations

VMware Workstation offers many desirable benefits. These benefits include, but are not limited to:

  • Improved general IT processes.
  • Better and more efficient deployment outcomes.
  • Increased application performance.
  • Better server availability.
  • Less physical hardware and additional devices.
  • Economically.
  • Less downtime or downtime.
  • Share apps and resources faster.
  • Reduced energy consumption.
  • Reduced environmental impact.

Reviews from real users

"The most valuable featureVMware WorkstationIseasy creation of a development environment. When you do different development work, you often need to create many different development environments. With this workstation you get a development environment for everything you create.” Walter G., owner of Secacon Gygli Engineering LLC

“The most valuable features of VMware Workstation are DirectX support; You can run Microsoft Hyper-V in virtual environments, which for me is good for testing different installations. In addition, you can configure different VLANs and in generalit is a complete solution". Toni L., CEO von Virtual Consultants Sverige AB

A technical director of a construction company says: “PropertyUser-friendly control panelis important for me. I'm not a programmer, although I do program something. Also, I don't use the command line interface if I can avoid it. When I need to use it, I double-check what to type and then type it.

FAQs

Compare Oracle VM VirtualBox to VMware Workstation? ›

VirtualBox supports a variety of virtual disc types (VMDK, VHD, HDD, and QED), as well as integration tools like Vagrant and Docker whereas VMware does not support a large number of different disc formats. Virtual machines created by VMware are faster than those created by VirtualBox.

What is the difference between Oracle VM and VMware? ›

Oracle VM supports hard partitioning which can significantly reduce software applications licensing costs. VMware vSphere is a powerful and complete server virtualization platform that allows its users to create and manage virtual data centers and machines.

Why is VirtualBox faster than VMware? ›

Answer: Some users have claimed that they find VMware to be faster compared to VirtualBox. Actually, both VirtualBox and VMware consume a lot of resources from the host machine. Therefore, the physical or hardware capabilities of the host machine are, to a great extent, a deciding factor when virtual machines are run.

Which is best for low end PC VMware or VirtualBox? ›

Key takeaways. Workstation/Fusion is obviously the better choice is you already work in a VMware environment. VirtualBox is excellent if you only need to run VMs on a few machines and want access to a command line interface in addition to the GUI.

What are the major differences between Hyper V VMware workstation and VirtualBox? ›

Hyper-V and Oracle VM VirtualBox are both server virtualization products designed to run virtual machines. Hyper-V is a type 1 hypervisor that manages operating systems by running directly on a computer's hardware. In contrast, Oracle VM VirtualBox is a type 2 hypervisor, which runs on the host operating system.

What are the advantages of Oracle VM Virtual Box? ›

Oracle VM VirtualBox enables you to run more than one OS at a time. This way, you can run software written for one OS on another, such as Windows software on Linux or a Mac, without having to reboot to use it.

Can Oracle VM run on VMware? ›

Oracle fully supports the virtualization of Oracle software on VMware.

What are the disadvantages of Oracle VirtualBox? ›

VirtualBox Disadvantages
  • Though VirtualBox uses the computer's hardware hence relies on it. ...
  • If the host machine consists of any flaws and the OS has only one virtual machine then only that system will be affected if there are more virtual machines running on a single OS all of them will be affected.

What are the limitations of Oracle VirtualBox? ›

VirtualBox has limited support for 3D graphics (up to OpenGL 3.0, Direct3D 9). 3D acceleration must be enabled in the VM settings manually. A maximum 128 MB of video memory is supported. Graphics drivers must be installed on the host machine, and VirtualBox Guest Additions must be installed on the guest machine.

Is VirtualBox the best virtual machine? ›

Most Versatile Virtual Machine Software

The best free virtual machine software for Linux is also the most versatile for other operating systems. Oracle VM VirtualBox is an open-source software that supports the widest range of guest operating systems of any virtual machine software on this list.

What are the disadvantages of using a virtual machine? ›

Disadvantages of virtual machines
  • Compatibility issue. Migrating existing systems into VM environments can be difficult due to compatibility issues between software versions used across different platforms. ...
  • Performance overhead. ...
  • Hardware limitations. ...
  • Complexity. ...
  • Security risks. ...
  • License cost. ...
  • Single point of failure.
Mar 24, 2023

What is best virtual machine to run Windows? ›

Best Virtual Machine Software Programs of 2023
  • Best Overall: VMware Workstation.
  • Best for Mac Users: VMware Fusion.
  • Best Free Option: Oracle VM VirtualBox.
  • Best for Running Windows and macOS: Parallels Desktop.
  • Best for (Some) Windows 10 Users: Hyper-V Manager.
  • Best for Linux Users: QEMU.
May 19, 2023

Is VirtualBox or VMware safer? ›

In terms of security, it is biased on both sides; VMWare is closed-source meaning only the employees have access to the source code which does make it harder to exploit (since the attacker cannot just read the source code to find problems but would have to spend lots of time manually reversing and testing on repeat), ...

What is the best host for VirtualBox? ›

Linux Mint is often considered the best Linux distro for VirtualBox, and rightfully so. That's because it comes with an intuitive and beautiful user interface. Above all, it's beginner-friendly and user-oriented. You can also customize the look and feel of the interface by using themes and plugins.

What can VMware do that Hyper-V Cannot? ›

For example, while VMware can use more logical CPUs and virtual CPUs per host, Hyper-V can accommodate more physical memory per host and VM.

Is Oracle VirtualBox a hypervisor? ›

A well-known example of a hosted hypervisor is Oracle VM VirtualBox.

What are the disadvantages of VMware? ›

One of the main drawbacks of VMware is its cost. VMware products are not free, and you may need to purchase licenses, subscriptions, or support plans to use them. VMware also requires more resources than Hyper-V, as it runs on top of an existing operating system, rather than being part of it.

Why do people use VirtualBox? ›

VirtualBox allows any system to install and operate as many virtual machines as its memory and disc space allow. Depending on the host system's configuration, one can use this solution to deploy anything from desktop-class machines and small embedded systems to cloud environments and large datacenter deployments.

Is Oracle VM VirtualBox free or paid? ›

A powerful, open source, virtual machine platform. To get started on your virtualization journey, VM VirtualBox offers a free virtual machine license for personal, educational, or evaluation use.

Can I run VirtualBox inside VMware? ›

Let's take a look at VirtualBox nested virtualization with VMware ESXi. Nested virtualization with VirtualBox can go either way. You can use either nested VirtualBox inside of ESXi or ESXi inside VirtualBox.

Can I have VMware and VirtualBox? ›

Oracle VirtualBox, formerly Sun VirtualBox, is an open source virtualization platform that allows you to run multiple operating systems on a single machine. If you are switching from VMware to VirtualBox, you can import or read a VMware virtual machine in VirtualBox.

Can you use a VirtualBox VM on VMware? ›

VirtualBox to VMware

Click the File menu in VirtualBox and select Export Appliance. Select the virtual machine you want to export and provide a location for it. VirtualBox will create a nOpen Virtualization Format Archive (OVA file) that VMware can import.

Is VirtualBox discontinued? ›

It is discontinued as of February 2019. Users were migrated to VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus and VMware vRealize Operations Standard.

Is VirtualBox no longer supported? ›

In December 2019, VirtualBox started supporting only hardware-assisted virtualization, dropping support for Software-based one.

What is the difference between Oracle VirtualBox and Oracle VM? ›

Oracle VM supports hard partitioning which can significantly reduce software applications licensing costs. Oracle VM VirtualBox is a robust AMD64/Intel64 and x86 next-generation virtualization solution that functions well for home use and is also powerful enough to handle the needs of a busy enterprise organization.

What is alternative for Oracle VirtualBox? ›

Top 10 Alternatives to VirtualBox
  • Citrix DaaS.
  • VMware Workstation Pro.
  • VMware Horizon.
  • VMware Fusion.
  • Proxmox VE.
  • Vagrant.
  • Amazon WorkSpaces.
  • VMware vSphere Hypervisor.

How much RAM does Oracle VirtualBox use? ›

Depending on what guest operating systems you want to run, you will need at least 512 MB of RAM (but probably more, and the more the better). Basically, you will need whatever your host operating system needs to run comfortably, plus the amount that the guest operating system needs.

What are the advantages of VMware? ›

Benefits of VMware

security based on a zero-trust model, along with better security than container systems like Kubernetes; better provisioning of applications and resources; simplified data center management; and. increased efficiency and agility of data center systems.

Which VM to choose? ›

Choosing the right type of VM is as simple as matching your workload against the type of VM designed to run that workload. Example 1: If you're in a testing/development phase, run low traffic web servers or host a small-to-medium database, the General Purpose VM Type would be a good choice.

Is VirtualBox good for Windows? ›

This professional solution is open source and provides super-fast high performance in addition to many outstanding value-added features. VirtualBox functions effectively on Windows, macOS, Solaris, Linux, and more.

Is VirtualBox good for Windows 10? ›

You can install VirtualBox on Windows 10 and create guest VMs instead. VirtualBox is a free virtualization program that makes it extremely convenient to set up virtual machines on different operating systems.

Does running a virtual machine slow down your computer? ›

When you run a virtual machine, it takes up resources from your computer's CPU. This can cause your computer to slow down or even crash if you are not careful. VMs can also cause your computer to overheat if you are running too many VMs at once.

What are three 3 advantages of using a virtual machine? ›

Advantages include increased reliability, network speed, security and better monitoring of data usage.

What are three reasons why a virtual machine might fail to power on? ›

The failure of a VM to power on may be caused by any of the following reasons:
  • ESXi OS problems.
  • File corruption.
  • File locks.
  • Guest OS problems.
  • License problems.
  • Network problems.
  • Storage Array/Datastore problems.
  • User permissions.
Jan 11, 2022

How much RAM should I have to smoothly run a virtual machine? ›

RAM Sizing for Specific Workloads and Operating Systems

A good starting point is to allocate 1GB for 32-bit Windows 7 or later desktops and 2GB for 64-bit Windows 7 or later desktops.

What is the best RAM for virtual machine? ›

As much as you give it. With virtual machines RAM is user configurable. For decent performance at least 8GB would be recommended if you have a computer with 16GB or more. Linux in general works best with at least 4GB of RAM, but it all depends on the workload.

How much RAM do I need for Windows 10 virtual machine? ›

4GB is the minimum RAM required but depending on the guest operating systems you plan to install in your VMs, you will probably need much more. Virtualization support enabled in the BIOS or UEFI: Hardware-assisted virtualization – Intel VT or AMD-V.

Do you need antivirus for VirtualBox? ›

The answer is yes, as virtual machines are just as vulnerable to viruses and malware as physical machines. Virtual machines are a great way to save money and resources, but they can also be a target for malicious software. To protect your virtual machine, you should install antivirus software and keep it up to date.

Is VMware a good workstation? ›

VMware Workstation Pro is the best buy and a must-have tool

It's so easy to install and manage. Also it is useful if you have a Vcenter environment. With the help of VMware Workstation Pro you can easily connect to Vcenter servers, ESXi servers and you can do most of the management tasks from there with comfort.

Is VMware Workstation free? ›

VMware Workstation Player is free for personal, non-commercial use (business and nonprofit use is considered commercial use). If you would like to learn about virtual machines or use them at home, you are welcome to use VMware Workstation Player for free.

Which Windows works best in VirtualBox? ›

VirtualBox

Then VirtualBox is a good choice because it supports an amazingly wide selection of host and client combinations. Windows from XP onwards, any Linux level 2.4 or better, Windows NT, Server 2003, Solaris, OpenSolaris and even OpenBSD Unix. There are even people that nostalgically run Windows 3.

Why is VirtualBox so slow Windows 10? ›

Change Power Plan to High Performance. Another reason for the slow performance of VirtualBox, especially if you are using a laptop, is the power plan you use for how your device consumes and saves power. In order for VirtualBox to run smoothly and without delays, Power Plan must be set to High Performance.

Does VirtualBox use a lot of RAM? ›

VirtualBox itself doesn't need that much RAM. Usually, 4 GB will do if you want to run one large or two or three smaller VMs.

What is the main drawback of Hyper-V? ›

Hyper-V Disadvantages:

A crash of the primary OS will crash all VMs. OS must be installed in order for the Hypervisor Layer to operate. Frequent OS and security updates translate into more overhead. Lack of support for service templates.

Should I run VMware or Hyper-V? ›

VMware is more efficient with memory usage due to its support for memory duplication. This feature allows more applications and services to run simultaneously without running out of memory. While Hyper-V supports more memory in the host server, VMware supports a higher maximum memory allotment per VM.

Can you run Hyper-V and VMware Workstation on the same computer? ›

VMware Workstation version 15.5. 5 and anything above should be compatible to run together with Hyper-V as long as the 'Windows Hypervisor Platform' is also enabled, as VMware Workstation is then able to use these API's to work alongside Hyper-V.

Should I use Hyper-V or VirtualBox? ›

If you are in a Windows-only environment, Hyper-V is the only option. But if you are in a multiplatform environment, then you can take advantage of VirtualBox and run it on any operating systems of your choice.

Does Oracle VirtualBox require Hyper-V? ›

No configuration is required. Oracle VM VirtualBox detects Hyper-V automatically and uses Hyper-V as the virtualization engine for the host system. The CPU icon in the VM window status bar indicates that Hyper-V is being used.

Can I use VirtualBox for commercial use? ›

Oracle VM VirtualBox Enterprise includes commercial license and support.

What does VM mean in Oracle? ›

A virtual machine (VM) can be defined as a virtualized operating system with its associated software and applications. It runs in one of three virtualization modes, also named domain types: Hardware virtualized (HVM). An unmodified guest operating system executes in complete isolation.

What type of hypervisor is Oracle VM? ›

Oracle VM is built upon Xen technology, using the Xen hypervisor. The Xen hypervisor is a small, lightweight bare metal hypervisor for x86-compatible computers. The Xen hypervisor securely executes multiple virtual machines on one host computer.

What is the difference between Oracle VM and Docker? ›

The key difference between the two is in how they facilitate this isolation. Recall that a VM boots up its own guest OS. Therefore, it virtualizes both the operating system kernel and the application layer. A Docker container virtualizes only the application layer, and runs on top of the host operating system.

Is Oracle VM server a hypervisor? ›

Oracle VM Server is based on the Xen hypervisor. Oracle VM Server can be managed using Oracle VM Manager, or it can be managed as a standalone product with OpenStack. Xen is a bare-metal (type 1) hypervisor.

What is the difference between Oracle VirtualBox and virtual machine? ›

Oracle VM supports hard partitioning which can significantly reduce software applications licensing costs. Oracle VM VirtualBox is a robust AMD64/Intel64 and x86 next-generation virtualization solution that functions well for home use and is also powerful enough to handle the needs of a busy enterprise organization.

Is Oracle a good VM? ›

PeerSpot users give Oracle VM VirtualBox an average rating of 7.8 out of 10. Oracle VM VirtualBox is most commonly compared to Proxmox VE: Oracle VM VirtualBox vs Proxmox VE. Oracle VM VirtualBox is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 60% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot.

Is Oracle VM end of life? ›

As of 31 March 2021, Premier Support for OVM will end and the product goes into lifetime sustaining support.

What is the difference between a hypervisor and a virtual machine? ›

Virtual machines are files that recreate the computing environment of a physical computer. A hypervisor is software that runs these files. Hypervisors allocate hardware resources to virtual machines and ensure they remain independent from one another, thereby maintaining the system.

Is VirtualBox a hypervisor or virtual machine? ›

VirtualBox is a Type 2 hypervisor. Unlike Hyper-V, which takes control of the BIOS or UEFI automatically when the computer starts, users can start or stop VirtualBox manually on demand.

Is Oracle Virtual Box or VMware workstation an example of a hypervisor? ›

A well-known example of a hosted hypervisor is Oracle VM VirtualBox. Others include VMware Server and Workstation, Microsoft Virtual PC, KVM, QEMU and Parallels.

Should I use Docker or VM? ›

The docker containers are suited for situations where you want to run multiple applications over a single operating system kernel. But if you have applications or servers that need to run on different operating system flavors, then virtual machines are required.

Should I use Docker instead of VM? ›

Advantages of Docker Containers

Docker is fast. Very fast. While a VM can take an at least a few minutes to boot and be dev-ready, it takes anywhere from a few milliseconds to (at most) a few seconds to start a Docker container from a container image.

Which is better Docker or VMware? ›

What Are The Major Differences? VMware emulates machine hardware whereas Docker emulates the operating system in which your application runs. Docker is a much more lightweight virtualization technology since it does not have to emulate server hardware resources.

What type of hypervisor is VMware workstation? ›

VMware Workstation and Oracle VirtualBox are examples of a type 2 hypervisor.

Does Oracle VM need Hyper-V? ›

No configuration is required. Oracle VM VirtualBox detects Hyper-V automatically and uses Hyper-V as the virtualization engine for the host system.

What hypervisor does VMware use? ›

VMware offers the ESXi hypervisor and vSphere virtualization platform. VMware ESXi is a bare-metal hypervisor that installs directly onto a physical server and helps you to consolidate your hardware.

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