# Compare VirtualBox vs Amazon EC2 2026 | Capterra

> Unsure of what to choose? Check Capterra to compare VirtualBox and Amazon EC2 based on pricing, features, product details, and verified reviews.

Source: https://www.capterra.com/compare/169939-219781/VirtualBox-vs-EC2

---

# VirtualBox vs Amazon EC2 Features and Cost Comparison

Last updated May 13th, 2026

Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews  
moderated by our Reviews Verification team.[Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/)

Your comparison:

VirtualBoxAmazon EC22/4 selected

[VirtualBox](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/)[4.6 (887)](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/reviews/)

[Amazon EC2](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/)[4.7 (173)](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/reviews/)

[## VirtualBox](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/)[4.6 (887)](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/reviews/)

Starting Price

Contact vendor

Value-for-Money

4.7

Functionality

4.5

Ease of Use

4.3

Customer Service

4.1

Reviews Sentiment

Based on [887 reviews](#user-reviews)

Positive

836

Neutral

49

Negative

2

[## Amazon EC2](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/)[4.7 (173)](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/reviews/)

Starting Price

Contact vendor

Value-for-Money

4.3

Functionality

4.7

Ease of Use

4.1

Customer Service

4.1

Reviews Sentiment

Based on [173 reviews](#user-reviews)

Positive

162

Neutral

9

Negative

2

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## Summary

* * *

Features in Virtual Machine Software

11 / 39

Only VirtualBox

-   Data Synchronization
-   Desktop Virtualization
-   Graphical User Interface

Best performer

15 / 39

Only Amazon EC2

-   Access Controls/Permissions
-   Activity Dashboard
-   Backup and Recovery

User satisfaction

User satisfaction

4.6

User reviews[887](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/reviews/)

Ease of use

4.3

Functionality

4.5

Value for money

4.7

Customer support

4.1

User satisfaction

4.7

User reviews[173](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/reviews/)

Ease of use

4.1

Functionality

4.7

Value for money

4.3

Customer support

4.1

Price starts from

Price starts from

\--

-   Free version
-   Free trial

Price starts from

\--

-   Free version
-   Free trial

Best for

Best for

Designed for enterprise and home use, it is a virtual machine solution that helps control multiple virtual machines, manage multiscreen resolutions, connect with iSCSI storage servers, and more.

Best for

Not provided by vendor

## User reviews

Pros & cons

Iman G.

Student

> "It contains lots of customizable features for running various VMs from the ISO files of the OSes, and is pretty easy to set up. Since it is very..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___6663323)

Harshul S.

Senior. Technical Support Specialist for Network Operations

> "Updates can break extensions or guest additions, and then I need to reinstall things."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___7150572)

Harshul S.

Senior. Technical Support Specialist for Network Operations

> "For a free virtualization tool, it does the job well and helps me experiment without risk."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___7150572)

Harshul S.

Senior. Technical Support Specialist for Network Operations

> "Also, networking randomly stops working sometimes and I need to restart the VM."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___7150572)

Harshul S.

Senior. Technical Support Specialist for Network Operations

> "What I like most about VirtualBox is how easy it is to spin up test environments without messing with my main system."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___7150572)

DM

Daniel M.

tech engineer

> "I sometimes feel like VirtualBox's interface feels a bit outdated compared to newer tools. "

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___6832368)

DM

Daniel M.

tech engineer

> "What I like most about VirtualBox is how easy it is to spin up virtual machines and test different operating systems without touching my main setup."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___6832368)

VR

Verified Reviewer

Internship for software development

> "Some virtual machines failed and the logs were not helpful at all, didn't describe or provide extra information about the error."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___6511976)

Harshul S.

Senior. Technical Support Specialist for Network Operations

> "It’s reliable enough for daily use, and once a VM is set up it usually runs fine."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___7150572)

Vasilis K.

Web Developer

> "The setup process can be intimidating for beginners."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___6680562)

GY

Gene Y.

IT Engineer

> "Allows me to create separate secure virtual environments for various testing and user oriented applications without being tied to any specific hardware..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___5014821)

FjaA

Firas jumaah ahmed A.

Laser printer maintenance expert

> "Secondly, I cannot run large programs with very high capabilities, such as designer programs and some servers."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4982758)

Alex D.

UI Designer

> "I love it, because it allows just with a few clicks, I can spin up virtual machines that mirror popular Android and iOS devices, complete with different..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___6043085)

Alex D.

UI Designer

> "Occasionally, I've experienced lag and responsiveness issues within the virtual machines, which can hinder the testing process."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___6043085)

SA

Samer A.

Open source contributor

> "It is my first choice and the best software in machine virtualisation."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___7110652)

MS

Maha S.

Assistant Professor

> "The installation of the VM tools to provide a better resolution to the guest OS is also not that intuitive."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4917429)

AE

Amal E.

Freelancer

> "This flexibility allowed me to work on diverse projects, develop, and test software in different operating systems, all within the convenience of a..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___6021423)

MS

Maha S.

Assistant Professor

> "The USB support is not enabled and requires a lot of configuration to make it work."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4917429)

Harshul S.

Senior. Technical Support Specialist for Network Operations

> "Overall my experience with VirtualBox has been good for testing and learning."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___7150572)

VR

Verified Reviewer

Service Operation Manager

> "We need a improovement on this site. If I compare with VMWare i can´t use Virtual Box"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___5086536)

RS

Rasheed S.

Network Administrative

> "VirtualBox is compatible with various operating systems,The ability to take snapshots of virtual machines and clone entire VMs are highly regarded..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___6063999)

LT

Lorenzo T.

Administrative

> "It doesn't have cons for me, because we had a huge problem to use an internal program when changed to windows 11."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4933576)

Raul Antonio Z.

Graduate

> "The flexibility it offers to customize the resources allocated to each virtual machine was also a plus as I was able to tailor it to my specific needs."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4951301)

RL

Rebekah L.

Laboratory Technician

> "It was used solely to run a single program that was no longer supported by newer operating systems. "

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___5023940)

DDC

Diwakar Dixit C.

IT Manager

> "Guest addons helps seamless movement between physical and virtual devices and supports copying files between physical and virtual host."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___6236696)

Emre K.

Security Software Engineer

> "I think my least favorite part is that sometimes there are points in the configuration settings that I have difficulty understanding."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___5048991)

AE

Amal E.

Freelancer

> "With VirtualBox, I can easily run both Windows and Linux on my computer as a virtualization solution that works seamlessly."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___6021423)

VR

Verified Reviewer

Crm Advisor

> "Sometimes something doesn't work and sometimes I had to recreate VMs from scratch."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___5017189)

AO

Arjan O.

IT Helpdesk

> "When I have programs that only run on Windows XP or Windows 7, Virtual Box is a great way to run these applications on a safe closed off environment."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___5091036)

SA

Samuel A.

Software

> "Its operational hiccups occasionally disrupt workflow and demand frequent restarts, while updates occasionally clash with OS compatibility, wasting..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4813850)

VR

Verified Reviewer

Cybersecurity Researcher

> "I love the UI design in the most recent update, the easy to use settings and menus navigation. And by far the functionality I use most is creating a..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4959746)

WI

Wassim I.

Associate Professor

> "Moreover, sharing drives between the host and guest is not always supported."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4918060)

MC

Mohit C.

Annotation Expert

> "VirtualBox excels with its user friendly interface, versatile, Virtualization options, and effective management feature."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4984072)

TB

Travis B.

Quality Engineer

> "This doesn't support every use case when there was legacy hardware that was used for physical I/O as the host system would need the same I/O. Drivers..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___3607988)

BB

Benny B.

SysAdmin

> "Easy to deploy new machines in no mater what your original desktop system comes from; you can virtualize a bunch of Linux, MacOS, Windows machines and..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4988286)

MF

Marc F.

Ph.D. Student

> "Firstly, the limited support for 2D/3D graphics can be a hindrance for developers working on graphics-intensive applications like mobile-games."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4724269)

AE

Amal E.

Freelancer

> "With VirtualBox, I effortlessly created and managed virtual machines, switching between Windows and Linux environments at will."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___6021423)

DDC

Diwakar Dixit C.

IT Manager

> "User interface needs lot of improvement as i am seeing the same interface for almost 10+ years."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___6236696)

AE

Amal E.

Freelancer

> "VirtualBox truly became my go-to tool for exploring the Linux realm while maintaining my Windows environment."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___6021423)

Christopher S.

Owner

> "A few things that I don't like about VirtualBox are: it is difficult to set up, it is not compatible with all operating systems, and it does not offer..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___3853664)

AE

Amal E.

Freelancer

> "The user-friendly interface and ease of use made the transition between these environments a breeze, and the ability to snapshot and clone VMs..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___6021423)

Justin P.

IT Consultant

> "If you don't have directions or someone assisting you during the first one or two runs at creating and running a VM, then you have a chance of getting..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___3607978)

ME

Matthew E.

Founder

> "VirtualBox allows me to contain the app in a siloed environment that is independent from my main system for testing, keeping it away from any system..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___3798020)

VR

Verified Reviewer

Cyber Analyst

> "VirtualBox does not support every piece of hardware, and some drivers might not function properly with virtualized hardware."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4745916)

Marianela F.

Water Treatment and Environmental Management Consultant

> "One of the greatest advantages of using a virtual machine like VirtualBox is being able to have software that is in charge of emulating certain..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4220407)

VR

Verified Reviewer

Research Professional

> "There is no support for discrete GPUs which makes it impossible to use graphic intensive tools inside VMs."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___3790453)

NZ

Najmeh Z.

PhD student

> "VirtualBox supports a wide range of operating systems, providing flexibility for various needs."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___6064324)

Richard S.

Remote Assistant

> "It is slightly less intuitive than VM Workstation, leading to a steeper learning curve for those who are less familiar with virtual machine programs."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___3629985)

TA

Turan A.

Information Technology Admin.

> "It is installed in a few steps and you can start creating virtual machines immediately."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4934324)

VR

Verified Reviewer

Software Engineer

> "You need to learn about mounts and reads on drive types before you even have a clue how to install an operating system. "

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4553200)

Vasilis K.

Web Developer

> "I love the fact that it's free and open source."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___6680562)

Fábio S.

Senior Software Security Analyst

> "Sometimes the extension for USB support fails to start properly and then a shutdown is required (restart is not enough)"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4297483)

Iman G.

Student

> "That this is free and open source."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___6663323)

RS

Ranu S.

Software Developer

> "Other software takes lot of time to load and even creates lot of adapters that aren't with it."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___3857667)

ME

Matthew E.

Founder

> "Additionally, there are rare cases where I have to use Linux, and VirtualBox allows me to quickly spin a Linux environment up without having to worry..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___3798020)

VR

Verified Reviewer

developper

> "Some updates/bugs may cause virtual machines to crash, while backing up these machines is not a simple task."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4344491)

SL

Stefan L.

Sales Manager

> "Very easy to configure your virtual machine with a simple user interface that allows the quick allocation of resources."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___6002495)

RS

Ranu S.

Software Developer

> "I am using it from last 5 years and I have witnessed it conflicts with operating system and there is the point where it lags."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___3857667)

GY

Gene Y.

IT Engineer

> "Very useful for creating remotely accessible virtual environments for multiple users."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___5014821)

CW

Christina W.

Help Desk Supervisor

> "Requires more knowledge to setup and maintain than a product like VMWare and less support."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___3609193)

Matthew J.

Application Support Engineer

> "I like the fact that it is an open-source tool and helps excellently when it comes to virtualization and you can do a whole lot more with it."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4889481)

VR

Verified Reviewer

Software Engineering Intern

> "It uses a lot of disk space. If the VirtualBox is installed on a device with low specifications, it starts lagging behind and the machine takes too long..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___3249821)

IAS

Isis Arnaud S.

CEO

> "For me, VirtualBox's versatility is its greatest strength, offering a range of customization options and compatibility with various operating systems."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4764671)

Adji Maloum M.

Agent comptable et de liaison

> "This refuses to load some vmi files downloaded online."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4327906)

JM

Julius M.

ICT Assistant

> "My overall experience with VirtualBox has been really great, management of instances without downtime has been one of the benefits i enjoy."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___5013770)

Fathy M.

IT help desk

> "sometimes you get performance degrade in the host machine."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___3634880)

Sugam P.

Project Manager

> "VirtualBox is a valuable tool for creating a versatile virtual environment."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___5075001)

JS

Jason S.

Systems Specialist

> "It's also a memory and storage space hog if you have many VMs, so it's not great for running multiple VMs on your local PC."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___3392744)

WI

Wassim I.

Associate Professor

> "Much more advanced features that can overcome the limitations in VirtualBox."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4918060)

AJ

Arnaud J.

Computer Engineering student

> "Issues occur occasionally related to scaling and can be difficult to resolve."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___3846320)

RL

Rebekah L.

Laboratory Technician

> "It was very helpful for running a program that would not operate on newer operating systems."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___5023940)

VR

Verified Reviewer

software engineer

> "The cursor speed is a little slow, which makes me impatient."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4533907)

Caio D.

Graphic Designer

> "It is beneficial when you need to use software not available in your primary OS or if you just need a secure and fast way to test applications on..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4562260)

JC

Joe C.

IT Manager

> "Slow because of operating system overhead required to run."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4073796)

VR

Verified Reviewer

Software Engineer

> "I'm using it for local development and infosec ops. If you need a throw-away machine or you're a computer science student who's learning operating..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4553200)

NJ

Nikodem J.

R&D Control Engineer

> "Sometimes I encounter issues with screen resizing (might be caused by guest OS) or shared folders (need to disable and re-enable them to make them work)."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___3559838)

MF

Marc F.

Ph.D. Student

> "It's saved me a lot of money by allowing me to test my games on multiple virtual environments without having to purchase additional hardware."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4724269)

PM

Prescot M.

Taxi

> "It takes forever to load and connect sometimes"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___3642224)

Raul Antonio Z.

Graduate

> "The user interface is friendly and easy to navigate, which made it easy to create and manage my virtual machines."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___4951301)

WC

William C.

CEO

> "Many times, the nominal method for setting up a network is inadequate, and it takes some effort to configure the produce to behave."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#Capterra___3368144)

[View Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/reviews/)

SB

Swaibu B.

AWS Solution Architecture

> "Amazon EC2 offers flexible, scalable computing power and a wide range of instance options. While it offers strong performance, cost..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___6690107)

JO

Joshua O.

Infrastructure Engineer

> "The cost of running an EC2 instance is too expensive, and Switching between different zones like US-East-1, US-East-2 and US-West-1 ,..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___6336829)

WI

Wassim I.

Associate Professor

> "Amazon EC2 was the leader in IaaS since the cloud computing inception and it kept proliferating to support more and more cloud services..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___4952509)

VR

Verified Reviewer

Lead Engineer

> "Its little bit costly for managing different servers."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___6679815)

WI

Wassim I.

Associate Professor

> "After initially setting the registration and authentication with a private/public key pair, creating and managing virtual machines is..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___4952509)

VP

Vidya P.

Cloud engineer

> "It can get expensive if not monitored closely on the EC2 usage."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___6772748)

Monica G.

Cloud Engineer

> "The integration with auto scaling groups and ALBs are a must."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___6821427)

Monica G.

Cloud Engineer

> "Searching for AMIs in the AWS console is clunky."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___6821427)

VR

Verified Reviewer

MERN Developer

> "Amazon EC2 is one of the best web service for flexible cloud computing which supports the deploy of virtual machines so fast."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___6061729)

ARG

Ana Rafaela G.

System Engineer

> "The documentation provided can be somewhat lacking, which can make it challenging for users, especially newcomers, to navigate the..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___5092317)

HV

Harish V.

Software Engineer

> "Scaling up and down the instances of EC2 can be really easy task which can can be cost effective."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___6646086)

VR

Verified Reviewer

CTO

> "Sometimes the control panel can look a bit overwhelming in particular in regards to the billing and users management"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___4568751)

Monica G.

Cloud Engineer

> "I appreciate the 3rd party integrations, like our CI/CD tool."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___6821427)

Abhinav S.

Cloud Technical Solutions Engineer

> "The auto disable and turn off feature sometimes does not work as expected."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___4230619)

VR

Verified Reviewer

Industry Principal Consultant

> "EC2 has accelerate our journey towards cloud computing by enabling us to provision and tear down infrastructure as needed."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___4843448)

DW

Duane W.

B2B Sales

> "Horrible services, bad support, keeping charging when their instances not working properly."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#GetApp___3764733)

WI

Wassim I.

Associate Professor

> "Deploying various types of servers on EC2 virtual machines makes the realization of enterprise applications very simplified."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___4952509)

AA

Adebayo A.

Software Engineer

> "The downside to having all the control is that it can be very challenging and complex sometimes. "

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___4328828)

ARG

Ana Rafaela G.

System Engineer

> "This platform is particularly sysadmin-friendly, providing the tools and flexibility needed to manage and optimize your system..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___5092317)

Mahek V.

Intern

> "The only thing to dislike about it is It has so many feature and don’t have a proper documentation so it becomes difficult for the..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___2996899)

Monica G.

Cloud Engineer

> "The initial setup is difficult, but once done the service is reliable."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___6821427)

EO

Edward O.

CTO

> "DNS configuration is a bit difficult."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___4152507)

DM

Dhavan M.

Software Engineer

> "I like the way EC2 provide flexibility to choose different kind of instances based on the requirement."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___4870961)

Darian P.

Senior Developer

> "EC2 does not have a built in solution to handle both of these steps. Although I mentioned the flexibility of the configurations, the cost..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___3526739)

VL

Vinicius L.

Software Engineering

> "Amazon EC2 simply offers so many awesome features."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___6707448)

EM

Eric M.

CEO

> "Of my experience with many other providers like Oracle Cloud, Liquid Web, Azure, Linode, Digital Ocean, AWS is by far the most..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___3288503)

VR

Verified Reviewer

MERN stack developer

> "It made my backend very easy to scale and highly available without lagging."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___6689162)

GM

George M.

MD

> "I used the trial version but the price was a bit scary."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___4777986)

MG

Muralidhar G.

Consultant

> "AWS is a seasoned platform with a variety of features, I like especially the variety of Data transfer methods and tools it has in..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___4187934)

Priyansh K.

Owner

> "There are latency issue."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___3643136)

Samuel C.

Engineer

> "It is modern, complete, integrates easily with all other AWS services and comes at a great price with an ever-decreasing pricing that..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___3662609)

HV

Harshul V.

Software Developer

> "It's little bit complex to manager for new user"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___4626148)

David Felipe C.

VP of Engineering

> "It's a powerful tool when used for a good use case , for example a couple years ago the only way to run a prometheus database on Amazon..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___4246803)

AT

Akash T.

Quality Assurance Analyst

> "Sometime can't find the oldest version OS"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___4634728)

MS

Maha S.

Assistant Professor

> "Using SSH and remote desktop it feels like working on a local server."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___5001448)

DL

David L.

reviews

> "it can be very confusing at first if you are new to using it"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___3863169)

VR

Verified Reviewer

Backend Developer

> "On top of it it provides smooth scalability and easy integration with other AWS services."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___6014895)

MG

Muralidhar G.

Consultant

> "In my scope of use, I did not see anything as least"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___4187934)

ARG

Ana Rafaela G.

System Engineer

> "With a wide variety of pre-configured operating systems available, setting up your environment is a breeze."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___5092317)

AWC

Abdul Waudud C.

Mobile App Developer

> "It takes a while to navigate through the different aspects of the service and requires some technical knowledge."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#GetApp___3278950)

VR

Verified Reviewer

CIO

> "It is also very easy to version and create templates to automate the creation of this resources and there are always ways of monitoring..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___4220049)

MAH

Mohammad Arif H.

Graduate Teaching Assistance

> "The software is a bit expensive for some users like students."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___2986230)

Filippo C.

Senior Data Scientist

> "A wide range of machine type is available to fit every need."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___6004249)

Matthew N.

Technical Lead

> "We pay them more than $10K/month, and it's crazy we can't even send them a support email or do a chat without paying hundreds more per..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___2854220)

AA

Adebayo A.

Software Engineer

> "One issue we had was the instance always restarting which changes the IP address and ends up affecting our configuration. But overall the..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___4328828)

MaB

Melikşah B.

Software Developer

> "The network and load balancer things was hard to understand."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___3298013)

Nujan S.

Managing Director

> "It's incredibly straightforward, thanks to their clean UI. When we install software from the EC2 marketplace, everything is essentially..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___4159797)

Ariel W.

Ecommerce Manager

> "Pretty much everything else, all of terminology is foreign and complex, finding anything in the dashboard is absolute nightmare."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___2675028)

Abhinav S.

Cloud Technical Solutions Engineer

> "I have been a keen user of EC2 since years and I like the elasticity it provides which also gives flexibility to pay as per exact usage."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___4230619)

VR

Verified Reviewer

Assistant Professor

> "A little bit expensive."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#GetApp___2598367)

AP

Alejandro P.

Producer

> "It was so easy that I was shocked the first time I took away my afraid, read the documentation and launched my first VM, which saves me..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___4578381)

Ariel W.

Ecommerce Manager

> "So all in all it's been a pain to use and manage."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#Capterra___2675028)

[View Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/reviews/)

## User interface

[VirtualBox](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/)

4.56 (887)

[Amazon EC2](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/)

4.66 (173)

### Features

VirtualBox

11/39

-   Access Controls/Permissions
-   Activity Dashboard
-   AI Copilot
-   Alerts/Escalation
-   API
-   Archiving & Retention
-   Backup and Recovery
-   Cloud Computing
-   Compliance Management
-   Configuration Management
-   Database Support
-   Data Replication
-   Data Synchronization
-   Data Verification
-   Desktop Virtualization
-   Disaster Recovery
-   File Transfer
-   Generative AI
-   Graphical User Interface
-   Issue Tracking
-   Mobile Access
-   Remote Access/Control
-   Remote Monitoring & Management
-   Remote Update/Installation
-   Reporting & Statistics
-   Secure Data Storage
-   Secure Login
-   Server Monitoring
-   Status Tracking
-   Task Management
-   Third-Party Integrations
-   Two-Factor Authentication
-   User Management
-   VDI
-   Virtualization
-   Virtual Machine Encryption
-   Virtual Machine Migration
-   Virtual Machine Monitoring
-   Virtual Server

[See all features](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/#features)

Amazon EC2

Top features

15/39

-   Access Controls/Permissions
-   Activity Dashboard
-   AI Copilot
-   Alerts/Escalation
-   API
-   Archiving & Retention
-   Backup and Recovery
-   Cloud Computing
-   Compliance Management
-   Configuration Management
-   Database Support
-   Data Replication
-   Data Synchronization
-   Data Verification
-   Desktop Virtualization
-   Disaster Recovery
-   File Transfer
-   Generative AI
-   Graphical User Interface
-   Issue Tracking
-   Mobile Access
-   Remote Access/Control
-   Remote Monitoring & Management
-   Remote Update/Installation
-   Reporting & Statistics
-   Secure Data Storage
-   Secure Login
-   Server Monitoring
-   Status Tracking
-   Task Management
-   Third-Party Integrations
-   Two-Factor Authentication
-   User Management
-   VDI
-   Virtualization
-   Virtual Machine Encryption
-   Virtual Machine Migration
-   Virtual Machine Monitoring
-   Virtual Server

[See all features](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/#features)

### Recognition

No recognitions have been awarded to VirtualBox

No recognitions have been awarded to Amazon EC2

### Deployment & support

VirtualBox

Deployment

-   Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based
-   Desktop Mac
-   Desktop Windows
-   Desktop Linux
-   On-Premise Windows
-   On-Premise Linux
-   Desktop Chromebook
-   Mobile Android
-   Mobile iPhone
-   Mobile iPad

Support

-   Email/Help Desk
-   FAQs/Forum
-   Knowledge Base
-   Phone Support
-   24/7 (Live rep)
-   Chat

Training

-   In Person
-   Live Online
-   Webinars
-   Documentation
-   Videos

Amazon EC2

Deployment

-   Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based
-   Desktop Mac
-   Desktop Windows
-   Desktop Linux
-   On-Premise Windows
-   On-Premise Linux
-   Desktop Chromebook
-   Mobile Android
-   Mobile iPhone
-   Mobile iPad

Support

-   Email/Help Desk
-   FAQs/Forum
-   Knowledge Base
-   Phone Support
-   24/7 (Live rep)
-   Chat

Training

-   In Person
-   Live Online
-   Webinars
-   Documentation
-   Videos

### Company Details

VirtualBox

-   By Oracle
-   Located in United States
-   Founded in 1977

Amazon EC2

-   By Amazon Web Services
-   Located in United States
-   Founded in 2006

## Popular Comparisons

[VirtualBox](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/)[4.56 (887)](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/reviews/)

vs

[Microsoft Azure](https://www.capterra.com/p/16365/Azure/)[4.58 (1,960)](https://www.capterra.com/p/16365/Azure/reviews/)

Contact vendor for pricing

Price

$31.39/month

4.5

Features

4.6

4.3

Ease of Use

4.2

[View full comparison](https://www.capterra.com/compare/16365-169939/Azure-vs-VirtualBox)

[Amazon EC2](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/)[4.66 (173)](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/reviews/)

vs

[Microsoft Azure](https://www.capterra.com/p/16365/Azure/)[4.58 (1,960)](https://www.capterra.com/p/16365/Azure/reviews/)

Contact vendor for pricing

Price

$31.39/month

4.7

Features

4.6

4.1

Ease of Use

4.2

[View full comparison](https://www.capterra.com/compare/16365-219781/Azure-vs-EC2)

[VirtualBox](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/)[4.56 (887)](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/reviews/)

vs

[Vinchin Backup & Recovery](https://www.capterra.com/p/180134/Vinchin-Backup-Recovery/)[4.64 (166)](https://www.capterra.com/p/180134/Vinchin-Backup-Recovery/reviews/)

Contact vendor for pricing

Price

$0/month

4.5

Features

4.6

4.3

Ease of Use

4.7

[View full comparison](https://www.capterra.com/compare/169939-180134/VirtualBox-vs-Vinchin-Backup-Recovery)

[Amazon EC2](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/)[4.66 (173)](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/reviews/)

vs

[Vinchin Backup & Recovery](https://www.capterra.com/p/180134/Vinchin-Backup-Recovery/)[4.64 (166)](https://www.capterra.com/p/180134/Vinchin-Backup-Recovery/reviews/)

Contact vendor for pricing

Price

$0/month

4.7

Features

4.6

4.1

Ease of Use

4.7

[View full comparison](https://www.capterra.com/compare/180134-219781/Vinchin-Backup-Recovery-vs-EC2)

[VirtualBox](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/)[4.56 (887)](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/reviews/)

vs

[NAKIVO Backup & Replication](https://www.capterra.com/p/161328/NAKIVO/)[4.81 (458)](https://www.capterra.com/p/161328/NAKIVO/reviews/)

Contact vendor for pricing

Price

$99one time

4.5

Features

4.7

4.3

Ease of Use

4.8

[View full comparison](https://www.capterra.com/compare/161328-169939/NAKIVO-vs-VirtualBox)

[Amazon EC2](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/)[4.66 (173)](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/reviews/)

vs

[Google Cloud](https://www.capterra.com/p/268690/Google-Cloud-Platform/)[4.68 (2,287)](https://www.capterra.com/p/268690/Google-Cloud-Platform/reviews/)

Contact vendor for pricing

Price

Contact vendor for pricing

4.7

Features

4.6

4.1

Ease of Use

4.5

[View full comparison](https://www.capterra.com/compare/219781-268690/EC2-vs-Google-Cloud-Platform)

[VirtualBox](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/)[4.56 (887)](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/reviews/)

vs

[Iperius Backup](https://www.capterra.com/p/129287/Iperius-Backup/)[4.49 (189)](https://www.capterra.com/p/129287/Iperius-Backup/reviews/)

Contact vendor for pricing

Price

€29one time

4.5

Features

4.5

4.3

Ease of Use

4.6

[View full comparison](https://www.capterra.com/compare/129287-169939/Iperius-Backup-vs-VirtualBox)

[Amazon EC2](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/)[4.66 (173)](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/reviews/)

vs

[Iperius Backup](https://www.capterra.com/p/129287/Iperius-Backup/)[4.49 (189)](https://www.capterra.com/p/129287/Iperius-Backup/reviews/)

Contact vendor for pricing

Price

€29one time

4.7

Features

4.5

4.1

Ease of Use

4.6

[View full comparison](https://www.capterra.com/compare/129287-219781/Iperius-Backup-vs-EC2)

[VirtualBox](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/)[4.56 (887)](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/reviews/)

vs

[Google Cloud](https://www.capterra.com/p/268690/Google-Cloud-Platform/)[4.68 (2,287)](https://www.capterra.com/p/268690/Google-Cloud-Platform/reviews/)

Contact vendor for pricing

Price

Contact vendor for pricing

4.5

Features

4.6

4.3

Ease of Use

4.5

[View full comparison](https://www.capterra.com/compare/169939-268690/VirtualBox-vs-Google-Cloud-Platform)

[Amazon EC2](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/)[4.66 (173)](https://www.capterra.com/p/219781/EC2/reviews/)

vs

[Parallels Desktop for Mac](https://www.capterra.com/p/170006/Parallels-Desktop-for-Mac/) [4.43 (147)](https://www.capterra.com/p/170006/Parallels-Desktop-for-Mac/reviews/)

Contact vendor for pricing

Price

Contact vendor for pricing

4.7

Features

4.5

4.1

Ease of Use

4.4

[View full comparison](https://www.capterra.com/compare/170006-219781/Parallels-Desktop-for-Mac-vs-EC2)

[VirtualBox](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/)[4.56 (887)](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/reviews/)

vs

[VMware Workstation Pro](https://www.capterra.com/p/212916/VMware-Workstation-Player/)[4.79 (57)](https://www.capterra.com/p/212916/VMware-Workstation-Player/reviews/)

Contact vendor for pricing

Price

$149

4.5

Features

4.8

4.3

Ease of Use

4.6

[View full comparison](https://www.capterra.com/compare/169939-212916/VirtualBox-vs-VMware-Workstation-Player)