# vSphere Software Pricing, Alternatives & More 2026 | Capterra > With the help of Capterra, learn about vSphere Software - reviews, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other Virtualization products and more. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/93512/VMware-Horizon --- # vSphere Software Review 2026: Features, Integrations, Pros & Cons Last updated on March 13, 2026 Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Description](#description)[Use cases](#use-cases)[Alternatives](#alternatives)[FAQs](#faqs)[Users](#users)[Pros and Cons](#pros-cons)[Features](#features)[Pricing](#pricing)[Support](#support)[Reviews](#reviews) vSphere ## What is vSphere? Cloud-based virtualization platform which helps enterprises with data consolidation, infrastructure security and remote support. VMware streamlines the journey for organizations to become digital businesses that deliver better experiences to their customers and empower employees to do their best work. Our software spans App Modernization, Cloud, Networking & Security and Digital Workspace. ## What is vSphere used for? [Virtualization](https://www.capterra.com/virtualization-software/)[Virtual Private Server](https://www.capterra.com/virtual-private-server-software/)[Network Monitoring](https://www.capterra.com/network-monitoring-software/) Top alternative Featured Overall rating Based on 433 user reviews Reviews sentiment Positive 98% Neutral 2% Negative 0% Pros & cons Consistent performance and uptime Efficient cluster resource management High and unpredictable pricing Web client usability issues Starting price $576.96 Per User, Per Year Free trial not available Free version not included Capterra Shortlist charts the highest-rated and most popular products... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Do you work for vSphere?[Manage this product listing](https://digitalmarkets.gartner.com/get-listed/claim-bx?url=http://www.vmware.com&name=vSphere) ## Compare with a popular alternative Capterra selects software alternatives based on relevant features, verified user reviews and user interactions. Placement may be influenced by client status. ### vSphere 4.7 (433) VS. [4.7 (353)](https://www.capterra.com/p/168192/Site24x7/reviews/) Starting Price $576.96 Per User, Per Year Starting Price $10 Flat Rate, Per Month Free Trial Free Version Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version Ease Of Use 4.4 (433) Ease Of Use 4.5 (352) Value For Money 4.2 (362) Value For Money 4.5 (322) Customer Service 4.3 (344) Customer Service 4.5 (318) ## vSphere alternatives Highest Rated [5.0 (23)](https://www.capterra.com/p/147724/Open-Virtual-Desktop-Enterprise/reviews/) Starting price $8.55 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 100% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [4.6 (266)](https://www.capterra.com/p/172323/ManageEngine-Applications-Manager/reviews/) Starting price $395.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 97% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [4.6 (309)](https://www.capterra.com/p/251336/ManageEngine-OpManager/reviews/) Starting price $95.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 98% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [4.6 (43)](https://www.capterra.com/p/10008506/ManageEngine-OpManager-Plus/#reviews) Starting price $1233.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 98% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [View all alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/93512/VMware-Horizon/alternatives/) ## FAQs about vSphere Overview ### What problems does vSphere solve? vSphere solves server sprawl, underused hardware, risky maintenance windows, and fragmented VM administration by centralizing virtualization, clustering, live migration, and failover management. IT administrators, infrastructure engineers, datacenter teams, and VDI managers use it to consolidate physical servers, migrate workloads without downtime, standardize environments, and keep critical applications available. Answer based on 330 reviews Overview ### Which roles and teams benefit most from vSphere? vSphere is most used by IT managers, system administrators, systems engineers, and network administrators who run virtualized infrastructure. IT leaders use it to improve resource allocation, uptime, and scalability, while engineers, analysts, and consultants rely on it to deploy workloads, manage servers, streamline maintenance, and support disaster recovery planning. Answer based on 426 reviews Overview ### What company size and industries is vSphere built for? vSphere is a cloud-based data virtualization platform built mainly for small businesses, which make up 49% of reviewers, and IT and Services teams at 29%. It also serves enterprises at 30% and midsize businesses at 21%, with additional adoption in Computer Software at 9% and Computer & Network Security at 6%. Answer based on 433 reviews Features and Usability ### What are the key features of vSphere? vSphere includes core virtualization and virtual server management, with centralized control through the web client and dashboard. Reviewers also focus on VM monitoring, server monitoring, templates, snapshots, and load balancing. Differentiator features include high availability, vMotion live migration, DRS resource scheduling, and role-based user management for infrastructure control. Answer based on 267 reviews Pricing ### How much does it cost and what fees or limitations are included? vSphere offers entry pricing at $576.96/year/user for the Essential Kit, while Standard costs 1268.0/year flat rate, Enterprise Plus 4350.0/year flat rate, and Essential Plus Kit 5596.0/year flat rate. No free trial is listed, but reviewers describe pricing and licensing as expensive and sometimes confusing, especially for smaller companies. Answer based on 118 reviews Integrations ### Which third-party tools and platforms does vSphere integrate with? vSphere integrates with StarWind Virtual SAN, Ubuntu, Altaro VM Backup, VMware Horizon, VMware NSX, Veeam Data Platform, and Web Application Firewall tools. These integrations span storage, Linux operating systems, backup and disaster recovery, virtual networking, desktop virtualization, and security management for VMware-based environments. Answer based on 19 reviews Getting Started and Support ### How easy is it to onboard and train a team on vSphere? vSphere takes time to learn, especially for admins new to virtualization or teams migrating from other hypervisors. IT staff with infrastructure experience usually get productive quickly, while nontechnical users need more support. Training is available through live virtual classes, in-person instruction, certifications, knowledge-base articles, forums, and third-party materials. Answer based on 36 reviews Getting Started and Support ### What customer support options does vSphere offer, and how do users rate the experience? vSphere offers FAQ/forum resources and a knowledge base. Users often describe the documentation, training materials, and community help as extensive and useful for troubleshooting. Support experiences appear mixed overall: many report fast, helpful assistance, while others mention slow first responses, confusing guidance, language barriers, and inconsistent case handling. Answer based on 52 reviews Security ### How does vSphere handle data security and access control? vSphere uses user- and role-based access control, permissions management, centralized administration, and secure remote access to protect virtual environments. Reviewers also highlight frequent security updates and patches, snapshots for emergency recovery, and backup or replication support. Some note security can depend on technical expertise, unsupported hardware, or specific versions. Answer based on 28 reviews ## Who uses vSphere? Based on Capterra reviews from the past 6 years Talk to a software expert to get a free software list tailored to your business needs Company size Based on 118 reviews 100% 75% 50% 25% Smallbusiness Midsizebusinesses Enterprise Top job functions Based on 118 reviews IT & Software Development 60% IT & Software Development 60% Engineering 13% Administrative 8% Consulting 6% Others 13% Top industries Based on 118 reviews Information Technology and Services 64% Computer & Network Security 10% Computer Software 10% Education Management 8% Other 8% ## Pros and Cons Consistent performance and uptime 97% positive reviews out of 34 Most users report stability and reliability ensure minimal downtime, smooth operations, and dependable server environments. High and unpredictable pricing 70% negative reviews out of 79 Most users report pricing is steep, especially for smaller businesses, with recent changes causing budgeting and affordability challenges. Efficient cluster resource management 97% positive reviews out of 32 Most users comment cluster management enables high availability, easy scaling, centralized control, and seamless maintenance. Web client usability issues 52% negative reviews out of 52 Some reviewers find the web client slow, occasionally buggy, missing features, and less responsive than previous applications. Comprehensive datacenter virtualization 97% positive reviews out of 32 Most reviewers indicate cloud and datacenter features simplify management, centralize resources, and support flexible infrastructure. jesus V. Server Administrator, 501 - 1,000 employees. "Amazing management to discover datastores created in the physical storages." Complex and costly licensing 82% negative reviews out of 34 Most reviewers describe licensing as expensive, confusing, frequently changing, and difficult for organizations to navigate or renew. Anonymous User Technical Consulting Engineer, 10,001+ employees. "The new pricing and licensing scheme makes it difficult to use this product." ## Features Features with the highest number of reviews are displayed first. Those that have no reviews appear next, sorted alphabetically. Virtual Machine Monitoring 4.6 (59) 79.66% of 59 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Track and manage virtual machines (VMs) running on physical host machines Data Migration 4.7 (52) 76.92% of 52 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Move from one database to another, or upgrade the version of database software being used Server Monitoring 4.7 (50) 72.00% of 50 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Continuously scan servers on a designated network to monitor health and search for any irregularities or failures Configuration Management 4.5 (44) 81.82% of 44 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Identify component attributes like servers, hardware, software, and manage relationships across all services Version Control 4.4 (35) 54.29% of 35 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Track revisions and updates made to files and navigate between different versions Namespace Management 4.0 (27) 48.15% of 27 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Prevent naming collisions across files, folders and systems vSphere 23 features Application programming interface that allows for integration with other systems/databases Measure the actual bandwidth available on a local network (LAN or WiFi) Identify component attributes like servers, hardware, software, and manage relationships across all services Assembly of graphs and charts for visualizing and tracking statistics/metrics Removes data that is incomplete, inaccurate, or irrelevant from a dataset Discover and connect variety of data sources to the application for analysis Ability to handle large datasets Move from one database to another, or upgrade the version of database software being used Offers dedicated resources like RAM, CPU, bandwidth, and storage for managing hosting, software installation, and other operations. Process and analyze large volume of data Process of distributing a set of tasks over a set of resources, with the aim of making their overall processing more efficient Share, track, and store machine learning models and data. Process of testing an ML algorithm by feeding it training data to learn from Observe and track the demand, usage, progress or quality of a system, product, or user Prevent naming collisions across files, folders and systems Organize and manage the accomplishments and development of employees or performance of applications or systems Continuously scan servers on a designated network to monitor health and search for any irregularities or failures Sample files or documents that could be customized as needed or used as is Track revisions and updates made to files and navigate between different versions Encrypts all information within a virtual machine including data, files, OS and software programs. Track and manage virtual machines (VMs) running on physical host machines Creates a virtual server that replicates all the functionalities of a dedicated physical server Create a virtual version of operating systems, storage devices, or computer network resources Get Advice We can help you find the software with the features you need. Features 4.6 (433) 4.6 Based on 433 reviews ## Pricing Value for money 4.2 (362) [View pricing plan details](https://www.capterra.com/p/93512/VMware-Horizon/pricing/) vSphere Essential Kit $576.96 Per User,Per Year It includes: - All-in One Solution - Server Virtualization and Consolidation - Simplify Software Upgrades - Vsphere Hypervisor (Esxi) and Vcenter Server Essentials vSphere Essential Plus Kit $5,596 Flat Rate,Per Year It includes: - Business Continuity and Always-Available IT - Cross Switch Vmotion - Improve Service Levels and Application Quality - Save on IT Hardware Costs - Strengthen Security and Data Protection - Vcenter Server Essentials. Vsphere Data Protection. Vsphere High Availability (HA) - Vsphere Hypervisor (Esxi) - Vsphere Vmotion - Vsphere Vshield Endpoint and Vsphere Replication vSphere Standard $1,268 Flat Rate,Per Year It includes: - Entry-Level Solution - High Availability - Next-Gen Infrastructure Image Management - Reduce Hardware Cost - Vshield Endpoint and Vsphere Replication - Vsphere Hypervisor (Esxi) Vmotion vSphere Enterprise Plus $4,350 Flat Rate,Per Year It includes: - Data-at-Rest Encryption - High Availability - Run Modern Applications - VM Encryption and Vsphere Replication - Vmotion - Vshield Endpoint - Vsphere Hypervisor (Esxi) - Vsphere Trust Authority Value for money 4.2 (362) 4.2 Based on 362 reviews Connect with a Capterra advisor for a free 15-minute consultation Get a personalized software list aligned to your business needs with guidance from our expert advisors. Our team has helped 1 million+ businesses like yours find options that fit their needs. ## Support, customer service and training options Customer Service 4.3 (344) Support - Email/Help Desk - FAQs/Forum - Knowledge Base - Phone Support - 24/7 (Live rep) - Chat Training - In Person - Live Online - Webinars - Documentation - Videos Deployment - Web - Android - iPhone/iPad Typical users - Freelancers - Small businesses - Mid size businesses - Enterprises Customer Service 4.3 (344) 4.3 Based on 344 reviews ## User reviews Overall rating 4.7 Based on 433 reviews Filter by rating 5(294) 4(131) 3(7) 2(1) 1(0) Mentioned topic Sorted by most recent BS Ben S. Infrastructure Architect Education Management ### "VMWare vSphere has been a leader but Broadcom may be its downfall. " 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 3.0 3.0 Features 3.0 3.0 Customer Service 1.0 1.0 Likelihood to Recommend 5/10 April 27, 2026 I have been administrating the VMWare vSphere platform since it was first released. The product has done very well over the years, but lately cracks have forms and us along with most companies are looking for alternatives. Pros VMWare vSphere has been the backbone of the hypervisor infrastructure for almost two decades. Because of this, they currently have the best integrations with all vendors. Cons Since Broadcom’s acquisition of VMWare vSphere, costs have completely gotten out of control, we are no longer able to correctly budget for the product, there have been major disruptions with resellers, and the product feels dated. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. CQ Connor Q. Team Lead Media Production ### "The Gold Standard; - At least until clients are completely priced out" 3.0 Overall Rating 3.0 3.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 4.0 4.0 Likelihood to Recommend 3/10 April 15, 2026 Vsphere overall remains in my opinion the industry leader in enterprise virtualisation, and absolutely still sets the standard that others are mesaured against. Weighed heavily against that though is the crushing price model that have forced the majority of smaller and medium sized businesses (and even some larger enterprise corporations) into choosing less mature solutions and competitors; so much so that it almost completely removes Vsphere and it's associated suite from the runnings, if not immediately then at least long enough for administrators to figure out a plan to migrate away. As a result these competitors are receiving more funding and seem to be catching up much faster than previous years (Hyper-V, Nutanix, Openshift, etc) Pros A solid industry standard platform that provides reliable virtualisation at scale. As the industry leader it excels at consolidating workloads, VM availability and providing excellent host and VM control for live/production environments. Features like vMotion, HA and DRS and critical and non-negotiable for maintaining resources without disruption and providing a seemless experience for end users and hosted applications. keeping downtime minimal and providing reliable infrastructure management and uptime helps VMWare and Vsphere sit comfortably at the head of the table, especially when discussing on-premise (non cloud) virtualisation options. Cons The biggest issue with Vsphere, by far, is the remodelling of their pricing and licensing structure. Since Broadcom purchased the vendor, they have narrowed their desired client-base to a fraction of their existing market, meaning that many small and medium enterprises are left in a very difficult situation, having to choose between switching to less mature technologies, or choosing to maintain their current stack at significantly hiked price margins. The recent shift away from perpetual licensing and towards core-based subscriptions has created a much more volatile and inflexible cost case for the vast majority of customers, and the constant restructuring of varying editions and packages makes it much more confusing when navigating renewals and the associated uncertainties. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. AM Alessandro M. System administrator senior Government Administration ### "Always the best virtualisation platform" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 February 10, 2026 The experience is always good and reliability is a warranty. Integration with 3rd party solutions, as backup software or repository plug-in is a plus and I like it. Pros Compatibility with different brands, easy to use and many KB on the net to explain and solve issues. Very good ticketing service Cons Broadcom has changed license system and update policies and now it's a bit tricky but I can manage it Alternatives considered [Proxmox VE](https://www.capterra.com/p/210797/Proxmox-VE/) Reasons for choosing vSphere Compatibilità, diffusione sul mercato e presenza di Knowledge base Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. BW Bradley W. Architect Information Technology and Services ### "VMware vSphere gets better and better on each revision" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 9/10 December 29, 2025 A product that just gets better and better as more investment is made on the various streams. Now developed is VCF and complete framework trying to tie in all these streams into a single based product. Pros The new release of VMware VCF version 9.x is a complete package all wrapped up to deliver virtually any technical requirement a business could need. Cons The patching of the vCentre and ESXi servers unfortunately still need a reboot to complete and this can be a problem for businesses gaining downtime and losing access / service during the reboot and restart. Reasons for choosing vSphere As this time we needed a solid support wrapper as many of our production services were being migrated to virtual machines using vSphere products. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. CH Carlos Hugo Martin C. Consultor Information Technology and Services ### "vSphere Review" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 8/10 December 25, 2025 We have used it for the local deployment of monitoring solutions that run directly on the VM as well as on PODs, in addition to facilitating high availability and disaster recovery processes. Pros In recent versions, implementing orchestrators like Kubernetes or OpenShift is much easier. This allows for the simple and controlled use of pre-built images for each node, whether for a local or hybrid implementation. Cons Over time, it has become more restrictive with the prerequisites needed for each version, not only for the installation of the hypervisor, but also for the use of the latest versions of operating systems, causing many cases to require migration to other hypervisors. Switched from [VirtualBox](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/) The latest versions that support the latest versions of operating systems no longer support the hardware currently available. Alternatives considered [VirtualBox](https://www.capterra.com/p/169939/VirtualBox/) Reasons for choosing vSphere Due to its support capacity for large environments, in addition to its implementation and deployment facilities. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RC Roberto C. Ingeniero Internet ### "Excelente y Eficiente" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 June 13, 2025 Muy buena y sin ningun problema , muchas empresas usan vmware y la seguiran usando por su facilidad al implementarse Pros Que tiene la implementacion en cualquier modelo de servidor existente sin ningun tipo de problema ya sean generaciones antiguas y las nuevas Cons no hay algo que no me guste , tiene todo a la mano y el soporte que ofrecen es algo muy satisfactorio Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RB Rene B. Administrator Automotive ### "Switch from HyperV to vmWare" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 6/10 June 6, 2025 Overall its a good alternative to HyperV and easy to setup. The Updates a fast and not often necessary. Pros It has a clear dashboard you can see the CPU, RAM, and Network Outage. You can easily add new hard drive storage to Servers or edit the RAM. With templates you can add new Server rlly fast and implement them in your environment. Cons The new Price politic is a rlly bad thing for costumers who bought it before. Now when you have to get a new licence the price is doubled or trippled. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. SM Soe Moe T. System Engineer Infrastructure Information Technology and Services ### "Excellent Virtualization Platform" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 0.0 0.0 Likelihood to Recommend 9/10 May 11, 2025 Pros As a System Engineer, Vmware Virtualization is very excellent platform. We don't need to spend the a lot of physical server. The most I like about vSphere features are: 1. High Availability and DRS 2. Live Migration with vMotion 3. very simple and easy to use other than virtualization 4. A lot of Knowledge Base and strong community 5. Vmware Site Recovery Manager 6. VM Host Affinity Rules Cons I don't have much about vSphere. But now We can't download the vmware and vcenter path file in Broadcom portal. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. SB Scott B. Network Engineer Computer & Network Security ### "Great product" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 4.0 4.0 Likelihood to Recommend 6/10 May 6, 2025 Great product, hopefully the purchase process for this product will be simplified like it used to be. Pros Very simple management product for vmware servers. Easily handles multiple hosts and virtual servers in one simple interface. Cons Price of product can be high, and since the Broadcom acquisition its nearly impossible to purchase the product. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. PS Pyae S. HPE support Engineer Information Technology and Services ### "vSphere client" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 0.0 0.0 Likelihood to Recommend 8/10 April 12, 2025 VMware vSphere is a popular virtualization platform with several advantages and some drawbacks. Pros Most of pros, this vSphere when we use it. its ability to manage a large number of virtual machines (VMs) from a single interface, simplifying operations, security and central control management. Cons Yes, licensing cost, especially for smaller businesses and complex network setup need to professional. Review source Incentivized review: software users are invited to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive for their time and effort. All incentivized reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. [View all Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/93512/VMware-Horizon/reviews/) ## Top-rated software of 2026 ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox. Popular comparisons [ManageEngine OpManager vs vSphere](https://www.capterra.com/compare/93512-251336/VMware-Horizon-vs-ManageEngine-OpManager)[Google Cloud vs vSphere](https://www.capterra.com/compare/93512-268690/VMware-Horizon-vs-Google-Cloud-Platform)[ManageEngine Applications Manager vs vSphere](https://www.capterra.com/compare/93512-172323/VMware-Horizon-vs-ManageEngine-Applications-Manager) [Amazon EC2 vs vSphere](https://www.capterra.com/compare/93512-219781/VMware-Horizon-vs-EC2)[Datadog vs vSphere](https://www.capterra.com/compare/93512-135453/VMware-Horizon-vs-Datadog-Cloud-Monitoring)