Kubernetes vs. VMware vSphere

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Kubernetes
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Kubernetes is an open-source container cluster manager.N/A
VMware vSphere
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
An enterprise workload platform, vSphere is used to improve the performance for a data center. It is used to boost operational efficiency, supercharge workload performance, and accelerate innovation.
$995
per year
Pricing
KubernetesVMware vSphere
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Standard
$995.00
per year
Enterprise
$3,995.00
per year
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
KubernetesVMware vSphere
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Features
KubernetesVMware vSphere
Container Management
Comparison of Container Management features of Product A and Product B
Kubernetes
7.8
1 Ratings
0% above category average
VMware vSphere
-
Ratings
Security and Isolation10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Container Orchestration7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Cluster Management9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Storage Management9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Resource Allocation and Optimization8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Discovery Tools5.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Update Rollouts and Rollbacks5.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Analytics, Monitoring, and Logging9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Server Virtualization
Comparison of Server Virtualization features of Product A and Product B
Kubernetes
-
Ratings
VMware vSphere
8.9
66 Ratings
7% above category average
Virtual machine automated provisioning00 Ratings9.261 Ratings
Management console00 Ratings8.966 Ratings
Live virtual machine backup00 Ratings9.059 Ratings
Live virtual machine migration00 Ratings9.664 Ratings
Hypervisor-level security00 Ratings8.161 Ratings
Best Alternatives
KubernetesVMware vSphere
Small Businesses
Portainer
Portainer
Score 9.3 out of 10
Proxmox VE
Proxmox VE
Score 9.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
Score 9.2 out of 10
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
Score 9.2 out of 10
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
VMware vSOM (discontinued)
Score 10.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
KubernetesVMware vSphere
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(16 ratings)
9.1
(69 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(6 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.3
(10 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(24 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
8.4
(5 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
9.7
(3 ratings)
User Testimonials
KubernetesVMware vSphere
Likelihood to Recommend
Kubernetes
K8s should be avoided - If your application works well without being converted into microservices-based architecture & fits correctly in a VM, needs less scaling, have a fixed traffic pattern then it is better to keep away from Kubernetes. Otherwise, the operational challenges & technical expertise will add a lot to the OPEX. Also, if you're the one who thinks that containers consume fewer resources as compared to VMs then this is not true. As soon as you convert your application to a microservice-based architecture, a lot of components will add up, shooting your resource consumption even higher than VMs so, please beware. Kubernetes is a good choice - When the application needs quick scaling, is already in microservice-based architecture, has no fixed traffic pattern, most of the employees already have desired skills.
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VMware by Broadcom
vSphere is well suited for multiple VMWare hosts and can be very useful in larger enterprises where vMotion is used to load balance and failover running virtual machines. In smaller businesses with one or two hosts then the features can be overkill. The addition of virtual TPM support is a very nice addition to provide vm security in a more Microsoft supported methodology.
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Pros
Kubernetes
  • Complex cluster management can be done with simple commands with strong authentication and authorization schemes
  • Exhaustive documentation and open community smoothens the learning process
  • As a user a few concepts like pod, deployment and service are sufficient to go a long way
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VMware by Broadcom
  • vMotion that provides seamless movement of Virtual Machines between physical hosts and datastores.
  • Ease of Manage: vCenter provides very good management experience to the users.
  • It provides hassle free upgrade of versions, which requires good planning.
  • Easy to manage datastore, networks, CPU and memory resources.
  • It also allows to convert the physical machine and bring it to vSphere Environment with minimum effort.
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Cons
Kubernetes
  • Local development, Kubernetes does tend to be a bit complicated and unnecessary in environments where all development is done locally.
  • The need for add-ons, Helm is almost required when running Kubernetes. This brings a whole new tool to manage and learn before a developer can really start to use Kubernetes effectively.
  • Finicy configmap schemes. Kubernetes configmaps often have environment breaking hangups. The fail safes surrounding configmaps are sadly lacking.
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VMware by Broadcom
  • Allow enable EVC without requiring host shutdown
  • More detail in recent tasks. Instead of just showing a task called "Reconfigure virtual machine" also have a link to more detailed information as to what was reconfigured, changed or removed.
  • Allow searching tasks or events
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Likelihood to Renew
Kubernetes
No answers on this topic
VMware by Broadcom
We are constantly looking for change that will benefit our company. We are not ones to stick with a product simply because it is what we know, but rather looking for what fits us best. We can't imagine another product on the market today doing a better job of handling our infrastructure than vSphere.
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Usability
Kubernetes
No answers on this topic
VMware by Broadcom
It is a highly documented suite. If you are unsure of how to do something, a simple search will yield hundreds of results showing you how to do it. Support is also available if you need to talk to an expert.
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Support Rating
Kubernetes
No answers on this topic
VMware by Broadcom
I rarely ever have to contact support and when I do need to resolve an issue, there is always an abundance of kb articles and research information available that can help quickly resolve the issue. Depending on the type of support contract you have, you may get support from some offshore group in another country and this could be a little challenging because of the language barrier.
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Implementation Rating
Kubernetes
No answers on this topic
VMware by Broadcom
Just make sure that when you implement, that the person implementing truly knows what they are doing and has a plan of action coming in. Since our initial implementation using a consulting service, I have implemented a few vSphere just from what I learned at the initial implementation and use over time, and the person implementing really needs to know what they are doing or you will miss out on features that may help you down the line
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Alternatives Considered
Kubernetes
Most of the required features for any orchestration tool or framework, which is provided by Kubernetes. After understanding all modules and features of the K8S, it is the best fit for us as compared with others out there.
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VMware by Broadcom
vSphere has a lot more feature sets than Hyper-V but at a much higher cost of entry versus MS Hyper-V. I have not been able to play with Hyper-V as much as I would have liked, but the setup and ongoing maintenance seems to be easier in vSphere than with Hyper-V
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Kubernetes
No answers on this topic
VMware by Broadcom
The contract terms are very clear and can be updated as per the project requirement. Customer support is also included in the contract which help us to troubleshoot critical issues very easily. Training included in contract will really help the client team to empower and hands-on on the latest updates and enhancements
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Professional Services
Kubernetes
No answers on this topic
VMware by Broadcom
As I said earlier, they're always ready to understand our issues and propose the best and most appropriate solution for issues all the time. The security patches solution is accordingly to the business needs. Another scenario is their Knowledge Base where
they're many articles that help you in order to solve something which
is wrong.
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Return on Investment
Kubernetes
  • Because of microservices, Kubernetes makes it easy to find the cost of each application easily.
  • Like every new technology, initially, it took more resources to educate ourselves but over a period of time, I believe it's going to be worth it.
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VMware by Broadcom
  • Having vSphere helped my business quickly recover from a ransomware attack which would have crippled us for weeks if we were not virtualized. I think the ROI on something like that is immeasurable.
  • vSphere has allowed my company to purchase bigger server hardware to host 3 or 4 virtual servers, which was at a cost much lower than buying 3 or 4 server hardware boxes, saving us thousands each time we need to upgrade hardware.
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ScreenShots