--- title: "VirtualBox Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra" description: "Is VirtualBox the right Virtual Machine solution for you? Explore 888 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/reviews/" page_type: "reviews" language: "en" publication_date: "2026-10-19" --- VirtualBox 4.4 (885) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated October 19th, 2026 # Reviews of VirtualBox Ease of use 4.3 Customer Service 4.1 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews Iman G StudentComputer Software, Self-employedUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “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 popular, it also has a lot of tutorials available online for customizations or while facing any errors.“ January 20, 2025 Harshul S Senior. Technical Support Specialist for Network OperationsInformation Technology and Services, 10,001+ employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Updates can break extensions or guest additions, and then I need to reinstall things.“ May 14, 2026 Harshul S Senior. Technical Support Specialist for Network OperationsInformation Technology and Services, 10,001+ employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “For a free virtualization tool, it does the job well and helps me experiment without risk.“ May 14, 2026 Harshul S Senior. Technical Support Specialist for Network OperationsInformation Technology and Services, 10,001+ employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “Also, networking randomly stops working sometimes and I need to restart the VM.“ May 14, 2026 Adam M Senior Technical WriterComputer Software, 5,001 - 10,000 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “I use this at work to work with development builds of our SaaS product.“ September 1, 2026 Adam M Senior Technical WriterComputer Software, 5,001 - 10,000 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “It looks dated and there are web based mordern alternatives.“ September 1, 2026 Harshul S Senior. Technical Support Specialist for Network OperationsInformation Technology and Services, 10,001+ employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “What I like most about VirtualBox is how easy it is to spin up test environments without messing with my main system.“ May 14, 2026 DM Daniel M tech engineerComputer Networking, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “I sometimes feel like VirtualBox's interface feels a bit outdated compared to newer tools. “ June 12, 2025 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 885 available reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Adam M. Senior Technical Writer Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Don't overlook this robust tool" September 2, 2026 4.0 I use this at work to work with development builds of our SaaS product. I can then document it accurately as the user will see it. A basic tool but it shouldn't be overlooked. Pros It is reliable and it works for me. You can configure a powerful resource if necessary altough for us a mid range PC is enough to test and document SaaS deployments in a vitrual environment. Cons It looks dated and there are web based mordern alternatives. However my developer collegue favors it because of reliability. Review Source Harshul S. Senior. Technical Support Specialist for Network Operations Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Great for testing and learning, just needs smoother performance" May 21, 2026 4.0 Overall my experience with VirtualBox has been good for testing and learning. I use it at work when I need a quick VM to try something without touching production systems. It’s reliable enough for daily use, and once a VM is set up it usually runs fine. There are small issues like performance drops, extension pack problems, or random network glitches, but nothing major that stops me from using it. For a free virtualization tool, it does the job well and helps me experiment without risk. Pros What I like most about VirtualBox is how easy it is to spin up test environments without messing with my main system. At work I use it for trying out different OS setups, testing software, and running small labs. It’s lightweight and doesn’t eat too many resources compared to some other tools. The interface is simple enough that I can create a VM in a few minutes. Networking options are flexible too, so I can test things like NAT, bridged mode, etc. For a free tool, it gives a lot of features and works pretty stable. Cons Sometimes VirtualBox struggles with certain OS versions, especially newer ones, and I have to tweak settings a lot. Performance isn’t always great when running heavy workloads. Updates can break extensions or guest additions, and then I need to reinstall things. USB passthrough is hit or miss, and I’ve had issues where devices don’t show up. The interface looks a bit old and could be cleaner. Also, networking randomly stops working sometimes and I need to restart the VM. Review Source R Reviewer Web designer Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "“Una delle migliori soluzioni gratuite per creare macchine virtuali" May 13, 2026 4.0 La mia esperienza è stata positiva. Ho utilizzato VirtualBox per provare distribuzioni Linux e fare test software senza modificare il sistema principale. L’installazione è stata semplice e il programma si è dimostrato affidabile nella maggior parte delle situazioni. Pros La cosa migliore è sicuramente la possibilità di usare più sistemi operativi sullo stesso PC senza complicazioni. Mi sono piaciuti anche gli snapshot, la compatibilità con molti sistemi e il fatto che sia gratuito e open source. Cons Le performance non sempre sono perfette, soprattutto con macchine virtuali più pesanti. Anche l’interfaccia grafica sembra un po’ datata e alcune configurazioni avanzate possono risultare poco intuitive. Review Source Samer A. Open source contributor Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "It is my first choice in virtualization" March 13, 2026 4.0 It is my first choice and the best software in machine virtualisation. I have used it several times. Pros It is my first choice for virtualisation on my laptop, and that is because of the ease of use, installation and deployment. And due to the fact that it provides many features for free. It is connectable to many devices, and many features can be added. and having it frequently updated with the latest, keeping the edge in performance in comparison to other alternative software. Cons It requires so many computational resources, even if the VM is allocated a small allocation, so even if I like working on it, I have to delete it from the laptop after finishing the necessary work. Review Source R Reviewer sviluppatore software Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "oluzione completa e intuitiva per la virtualizzazione desktop, con limiti in ambito server" February 26, 2026 4.0 Nel complesso, è una soluzione solida e adatta a studenti, sviluppatori e professionisti che necessitano di ambienti virtuali desktop, pur presentando margini di miglioramento nella gestione remota avanzata. Pros Semplicità d'uso, ampia compatibilità con tutti i sistemi operativi, possibilità di esportare delle machcine virtuali in modo da avere sempre delle macchine configurate come si preferisce, semplicemente da importare e iniziare a usare. Cons Mancanza della possibilità di eseguire macchine virtuali in ambiente senza desktop environment e/o connettersi al desktop della macchina tramite VNC o desktop via browser per un setup server-like. Review Source Verified Reviewer Software Engineer Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Great tool to host a local VM" January 22, 2026 4.0 I didn't find another tool which can currently replace VirtualBox to host my VMs for testing and still a great tool free of charge. Pros We use virtualbox to host some old windows operating system like win 7/8/9 etc. It is easy to use, you only need to find the virtualbox file online and import it to the tool, you also don't need to worry about the networking, it is all preconfigured for you. Cons VirtualBox is not updating feature set as frequently as before anymore, and some advanced features like configuring local network etc. lacks of documentation, also not a very active community right now. Review Source R Reviewer Instructor Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "VirtualBox Review" November 26, 2021 4.0 My overall experience with VirtualBox is good because I have used it for a long time and have found many ways around some technical challenges. Pros This software allows me to easily setup a virtual machine, run a test on a software before I want to install it on a production machine. The best part is I can easily download it on the Oracle website and use it without worrying about licensing. Cons Configuring network is quite difficult on VirtualBox versus doing it on other similar software. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Fullstack developer Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Cannot be taken as a professional tool" January 2, 2025 2.0 Since I was an student this has been the same tool, around 5 years ago. I hasn't evolved and introduced up to date features Pros It's free to use and offers basic Virtual machine configurations Cons I'm not able to do a lot of things that many other virtual machine managers can. Review Source Hung V. Solution architect Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "VirtualBox for quickly initial new environment for testing" December 20, 2019 5.0 I use VirtualBox to initial my testing environment for my shell script function which needs to run in Centos, RedHat, Debian and Ubuntu, I download the virtual OS and add into VirtualBox which alow me quickly verify my script and when I work with Kubernetes, it already support installation environment as Virtual OS and we use VirtualBox to host it. Pros With VirtualBox, I easily create a test and dev environment for different OS, it supports all type of OS from Window, Ubuntu, Centos. VirtualBox Guest system is quickly created and start and I could share data between Host OS and Guest OS including copy/paste, disk sharing and drag-drop. VirtualBox consume very little resource and is able to host multiple Guest OS at same time, it is an excellent feature when we want to test our script in different OS Cons Using VirtualBox is quite complex to setup Guest OS, special to enable access to Host OS hardware such as Printer, switch between Host OS and Guest OS have delayed time Review Source Harshit B. Software Engineer Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "VirtualBox, The little brother to the Workstation. " February 13, 2020 4.0 The ability to spin up and test instances of our application and also new flavours is the primary business purpose and virtual box ticks all thos boxes is a great asset to have to meet the business goals. Pros Have been using VirtualBox to spam new distributions of linux and other open source operating systems and also use Virtual box to deploy our application as well and we use it as a benchmarking mechanism tool. Cons The least thing we like about this is the amount of compute it takes to run the application on the slight less specked machine and it does a take on the battery life, otherwise the application is good. Review Source Daniel M. tech engineer Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "VirtualBox Has Been in My Toolkit for Years and It Still Delivers" June 17, 2025 5.0 I think virtualbox remains the ultimate software for testing different operating systems as it gives me the flexibility to clone VMs, take snapshots, and simulate network setups with ease. The ability to run multiple environments on one machine saves me a ton of time. Its stability and ability to support just about every OS I need makes me stick with it. Pros 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. It’s fast, lightweight, and gives me full control over the environment. As someone working in a computing company, I use it daily for testing software in isolated systems. It just works, and I can count on it to be stable and reliable, even with complex setups. Cons I sometimes feel like VirtualBox's interface feels a bit outdated compared to newer tools. I encounter small compatibility issues with newer guest OS versions, but old is gold, and it's still a solid tool I rely on every day. Review Source R Reviewer Founder Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Virtualbox is a winner!" September 16, 2025 5.0 Very, very good! I would recommend it to anyone who's looking for a great, dependable sandbox experience. Pros It is free! It is intelligent and does not take up much space. Easy to set up and receives a lot of updates and support. Cons On older machines, the virtual machines take longer to boot and function. Especially if it is feature-rich. Review Source Vasilis K. Web Developer Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "A powerful for running virtual machines" February 10, 2025 5.0 I've been using VirtualBox for more than 10 years mostly for running isolated environments for development purposes and my overall experience is very positive despite the fact that there are many bugs from time to time. Especially on macOS. Pros I love the fact that it's free and open source. It also has a big community support. Cons The setup process can be intimidating for beginners. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Internship for software developer Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Running Virtual Machines with VirtualBox" November 12, 2024 5.0 I've been using VirtualBox to run virtual machines to deploy web apps and other software. Pros Features to import and export virtual machines, check logs for errors, running multiple virtual machines at the same time. Cons Since VirtualBox runs virtual machines, it consumes more resources and my device got slower when using it. Review Source Josué G. Support analyst Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "The tool needed to virtualize and test software in secure environments" November 20, 2019 4.0 VirtualBox has allowed me to develop and test applications on different operating systems in a safe and controlled environment. It is really an excellent tool to develop all kinds of tests the idea of being able to virtualize any operating system and within being able to apply test settings verify its behavior and even more its compatibility with the system is fantastic. It is even ideal to test an operating system with some internal modification, as in my case a Linux distribution to which a modified kernel was implemented in which different types of tests were performed before placing it in production, It is definitely safe reliable and robust Therefore, I would not hesitate to recommend its use as a virtualization tool. Pros VirtualBox has the quality of virtualizing almost any operating system with excellent driver compatibility using VirtualBox from the versions where it was necessary to capture the mouse and keyboard to use it on the guest and then release them with the Ctrl key to use it on the host, and I can say that the development and constant updating by the community have made this a great virtualization software that has great driver support. and the most attractive point is that it is free and is backed by a great company such as Oracle, it is important to highlight that VirtualBox is an excellent tool for home virtualization because in the business field we have more specialized ones, an important extra is that once installed the host host, it is possible to obtain additional functionalities, such as clipboard sharing, drag & drop support and adaptation of the host screen to the size of the host even by resizing one of its excellent features lies in the possibility of customizing each machine to the required needs Hardware with CPU, Memory, storage among others. In the networks section, the configuration capacity that can be obtained due to its different network modes is excellent, such as: Bridge mode, NAT, Internal network, host-only and Not connected, this can be said to be a tool Very complete virtualization. Cons In some operating systems such as Linux, the configuration of the extras that allow us for example the auto resizing of the screen and the other features mentioned in the pro section can be complicated. Additionally there is a point that, although I would not consider it so much a negative aspect of the tool if it is necessary to mention, and it is the subject of the resources of the host team because of this the performance of the virtual machines will depend, and that is that the essence of virtualization, one needs many system resources to take full advantage of the host and virtual machine simultaneously and finally I can not fail to mention the inability to make changes to the hardware of the virtual machine running, otherwise it is a excellent tool that more than positive aspects prevail over negative ones. Review Source Marianela F. Water Treatment and Environmental Management Consultant Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Advantages of VirtualBox to have heterogeneous platforms running on a single computer." November 17, 2022 5.0 The virtual machine is a fast, convenient, and secure method of running software that we normally can't use on our native operating system. It really shows its value in professional client-level applications, this makes it an invaluable tool when trying to support more than one operating system simultaneously. In addition, VirtualBox is constantly making updates to its code, which improve performance and increase existing features. Pros 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 hardware, taking advantage of the real resources of our computer and, on top of it, allowing us to install an operating system as if it were a real computer. The virtualized operating system works as if it were a main operating system, so all its functions and features are available from it. Cons VirtualBox makes the job easier when it comes to running applications that can only run on a specific operating system, the important thing is that we allocate adequate memory and storage resources to be able to have both VirtualBox and the primary operating system of the computer. After having considered this, we can have two environments, apparently heterogeneous, simultaneously without any problem. Review Source R Reviewer Freelancer Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "VirtualBox makes virtualization effortless" November 16, 2023 5.0 Using VirtualBox on my desktop to run both Windows and Linux has been an incredibly enjoyable experience. It provided me with a seamless and efficient way to immerse myself in the world of Linux programming for an extended period. With VirtualBox, I effortlessly created and managed virtual machines, switching between Windows and Linux environments at will. This flexibility allowed me to work on diverse projects, develop, and test software in different operating systems, all within the convenience of a single machine. The user-friendly interface and ease of use made the transition between these environments a breeze, and the ability to snapshot and clone VMs simplified my development workflow. VirtualBox truly became my go-to tool for exploring the Linux realm while maintaining my Windows environment. Pros With VirtualBox, I can easily run both Windows and Linux on my computer as a virtualization solution that works seamlessly. With few resources, a test environment may be quickly and easily configured and operational. Also, lacks many of the complex and needless requirements that I have observed in other programs. The good thing about VirtualBox is that most users find it to be a cost-effective option because to its free license. Cons Regarding this product, I have nothing but positive things to say. Any problems I run into are simple to handle. Review Source R Reviewer CTO Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Virtualization done right" July 5, 2023 5.0 Experience has been great. Everything I wanted to virtualize I have done it with sucess. Pros Ease of use, great perfomance everything that a virtualization app needs you habe it with Virtualbox. I have Linux, Windows, Free-bSD, router apps and everyrhing works great. Cons The only real Con I could say and maybe its just me is the facts that I have is not being able to run it with secure boot enabled. Other than that never had a complaint. Review Source R Reviewer Research Assistant Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "As a graduate student majoring in Computer Science, I use VirtualBox a lot to set up Ubuntu." February 9, 2018 5.0 I pay nothing to gain all the functionalities that I need to implement my coursework and research experiment. Although I am a Mac user, I can also install Windows on VirtualBox and use Office conveniently. Pros Firstly, VirtualBox is free. But it doesn't mean that it has bad quality. Its various features and functionalities are totally enough, especially for students to use for the academical purpose. I am using Ubuntu on VirtualBox to develop an Operating System kernel this semester. VirtualBox is the first recommendation by my professor. My laptop is Mac OS and only has 4G memory. Since VirtualBox is lightweight and uses smaller memory than VMware, startup or shutdown of the virtual machine on my laptop is very fast, only a few seconds. For students, VirtualBox initial settings are simpler than those on VMware. Most of the time, those settings have nothing to do with coursework or academic experiment. We usually use default values. Too many settings will distract our attention. So the simpleness of VirtualBox can help students focus on their coursework topic. Cons Compared to VMware, drag-and-drop functionality on VirtualBox is less convenient. Although we can do sequence settings on VirtualBox to make it support drag-and-drop functionality between host and virtual machine, it is time-consuming and easy to make mistakes to learn and implement these settings. Review Source regan T. manager Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Great Virtualization Software for Multiple Platforms" May 22, 2023 4.0 Using VirtualBox has been instrumental in solving various business problems. It allows me to test software on different platforms, isolate development environments, and run legacy applications effortlessly. The flexibility and versatility of VirtualBox have resulted in significant time and cost savings for my organization. Pros VirtualBox provides excellent virtualization capabilities, allowing me to run multiple operating systems seamlessly on my computer.The product is user-friendly and offers a straightforward installation process. Setting up virtual machines is a breeze.Integration with my existing business processes was smooth and hassle-free. It seamlessly integrates with other tools and applications I use. Cons The user interface could benefit from some improvements to enhance usability and make certain features more intuitive.While VirtualBox offers a wide range of features, there are a few advanced functionalities that could be added to further enhance the virtualization experience. Review Source Verified Reviewer Analyst Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Virtualization in Minutes - Virtual Box" May 22, 2019 5.0 Overall VirtualBox servers the total purpose. It can be installated on any operating system, so no matter if your Server is sitting on Windows or Linux box, VirtualBox can be installed and used flawlessly without any powerful configurations. So if you have a Server which in turn is connecting to multiple different servers sitting at different sites at your organization, you can use VirtualBox to bring all the Servers in one instance and make the process more efficient and streamlined. Pros VirtualBox is a really lightweight but powerful virtualiztion software. It allows us to build machines within machines and interconnect each machine in a personalised manner of networking. It is helps hugely on Servers for creating minor servers within one parent server which facilitates the basic functioning of any Server. Additionally we can create multiple machines and run all of them at once considering cores of your base machine and each virtual machine will work as a dedicated system serving the purpose. Cons Support can be a con for this software. We can get a lot of open source/ public communities supporting this software but there is not formal teaching lessons/ vedios from Oracle explainig the functioning of this software in detail. So learning the software can consist of alot of reaching which eventually becomes frustating at times but overall you learn more when you research. But Oracle can publish some offical videos exolaning the software which will be a lot more helpful. Review Source Ismaël Huberson C. founder Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "VirtualBox" December 1, 2022 5.0 Pros I was looking for a virtualization software and I found this. VirtualBox is a free, cross-platform virtualization program for x86 and AMD64/Intel 64 hardware. It's extremely useful for testing and developing software and operating systems, and works on Windows, Mac, Linux and Solaris. VirtualBox is very easy to use and supports a wide range of guest operating systems (see the full list of supported operating systems). Cons VirtualBox is a free virtualization tool, especially for people like me who are on a budget. Review Source R Reviewer Ingeniero de sistemas Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "is a very practical application that allows to install additional operating systems within another " March 9, 2018 4.0 You can install several operating systems on a desktop, Hosts and cross-platform guests, including Windows, Linux and Oracle Solaris, and Mac OS X as host, has Teletransport of virtual machines running between hosts without interruption, has a high performance, supports loads of Massive work of up to 32 virtual CPUs and compatibility with OVF format. Pros It is an open source software compatible with a large number of guest operating systems, its versatility makes it compatible with x86 / amd64 architectures, it is an application that allows to install additional operating systems, known as "guest systems", within another system operative "host", each with its own virtual environment. In terms of hardware emulation, the hard disks of the guest systems are stored in the host systems as individual files in a container called Virtual Disk Image, incompatible with the other virtualization softwares. Cons they add great complexity to the system at runtime. The main disadvantage of the virtual machine, is that in the application of some process will have the effect of the slowness of the computer, that is, the computer in which this process is running must have a quite remarkable capacity must be of great capacity or powerful. The languages based on virtual machine, have a disadvantage is that they are actually slower than fully compiled languages, due to the overload generated by having an intermediate software layer between the application and the computer hardware, however, This limitation does not it's too critical. Review Source R Reviewer Network engineering Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Use of virtual machine on virtual box" March 4, 2024 5.0 I will say that it is a pretty high useful software to practice laboratories about networking and telecommunications and useful to test some functions on real life data centers Pros It is cheap and easy to install it runs very smoothly on your pc or laptop Cons Sometime is really hard to confirure virtual machines and it requires alot space in your main pc. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Software Engineering Intern Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "The easiest way of running multiple operating systems on one device" December 15, 2021 4.0 VirtualBox has made it easier for me to test applications without actually installing them on my machine. If I make a mistake configuring the system on my virtual machine, I can easily fix it without ruining my host machine. It also allows me to run applications that are not compatible with the operating system that I mainly use. I totally recommend it to anyone who is new to virtualization. Pros I can run a different operating system without replacing the one I already have. For example, I run Windows OS on my laptop but for school and work purposes I need to use Linux. Instead of permanently switching an OS, I just use VirtualBox to install the other OS needed. It is very easy to install and use even for a beginner who has never used virtual machines before. It allows you to allocate different specifications for your virtual machines depending on how much RAM your device has. The number of virtual machines you can have all depends on the memory of your device. Cons 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 to boot. Review Source Similar Products Featured