KVM vs oVirt
KVM
linux-kvm.org
oVirt
ovirt.orgSide by side
| Figure | KVM | oVirt |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 2 |
| Spec score · Server Virtualization Software | 8.5 (#2) | 8.6 (#1) |
| Spec score · Hypervisor Software | 8.6 (#4) | 8.6 (#5) |
| Spec score · Virtual machine software | 8.7 (#4) | 8.5 (#6) |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Live migration | The FAQ states that KVM supports moving running virtual machines between hosts without downtime. | Running virtual machines can be moved between hosts in a cluster without service interruption. |
| Project origin | KVM was announced in 2006 and entered the Linux kernel the following year. | Red Hat announced the oVirt project in December 2011 with Canonical, Cisco, IBM, Intel, NetApp and SUSE to develop an open virtualization community. |
| Rating on TrustRadius | 9.4 out of 10 from 19 reviews | 10 out of 10 from 3 reviews |
| Self-hosting | KVM is installed and operated on the user’s own Linux host; most distributions ship its kernel modules and user-space packages. | The engine can run as a virtual machine in a self-hosted-engine deployment, while hosts can be oVirt Node or Enterprise Linux systems. |
| Virtualization | KVM is a full virtualization solution for Linux on x86 hardware with Intel VT or AMD-V extensions. | oVirt uses the KVM hypervisor and is built on community projects including libvirt, Gluster, PatternFly, and Ansible. |
| What it does | KVM is an open-source Linux virtualization technology that lets Linux operate as a hypervisor for multiple isolated virtual machines. | oVirt is a free, open-source distributed virtualization platform for managing enterprise infrastructure through a centralized interface. |
Plans
KVM
- KVM open-source softwareFree
- KVM open-source softwareFree
- KVM commercial supportPriced on request
In their own words
KVM
KVM is an open-source virtualization solution for Linux hosts with Intel VT or AMD-V extensions. It runs multiple virtual machines using unmodified Linux or Windows images, each with virtualized hardware such as a network card, disk, and graphics adapter. The documented capabilities include live migration, nested guests, CPU and PCI hotplug, virtio devices, and device assignment; snapshots and GPU acceleration are also listed. KVM’s kernel component is part of mainline Linux, while its userspace component is part of mainline QEMU. Linux distributions commonly package the required modules and tools, and Windows guest drivers are available separately. Documented processor coverage includes Intel, AMD, ARM, PowerPC, and 64-bit S390 systems. KVM can be used with upper layers including QEMU, libvirt, OpenStack, and oVirt. It is available for Linux and self-hosted use, and the listed plan is free. The host must have Intel VT or AMD-V virtualization extensions.
oVirt
oVirt is a free, open-source distributed virtualization system for managing enterprise infrastructure. It uses the KVM hypervisor and builds on community projects including libvirt, Gluster, PatternFly, and Ansible. Deployment options include a self-hosted Engine and a standalone Engine; the project recommends the self-hosted option, which runs as a virtual machine on specialized hosts and is highly available without external HA management. Centralized storage holds virtual machine disks, ISO files, and snapshots, with options including NFS, GlusterFS, iSCSI, local storage, Fibre Channel, pNFS, and other POSIX-compliant filesystems. Automation and integration are available through Ansible roles and collections, Python, Java, and Ruby SDKs, and a REST API. The download page identifies version 4.5.7 as intended for production use, with Engine and host support for Enterprise Linux 9 or 10 and CentOS Stream 9 or 10. Installation is by command line. At least one additional host is required for advanced features such as migration and high availability. The project points users to community forums, IRC, and Matrix, and invites contributions.