Can Hyper-V replace VMware?

In-Depth Answer

The mantra has been clear for years, “If you’ve already paid for VMware, keep it.” Support costs were only slightly higher than buying all of System Center just for Virtual Machine Manager, and VMware undeniably held the crown as the best platform. There was no compelling reason to rock the boat—until Broadcom grabbed the helm.

Hyper-V has been capable of running production SMB workloads without breaking a sweat since Windows Server 2019.  Even the free version, Hyper-V Server 2019, was a solid choice at the right price point for small shops running mostly Linux VMs.

But now, mid-size and large enterprises might find the potential cost savings too tempting to ignore. There’s no doubt that VMware still leads the pack in terms of advanced functionality with cutting-edge features, but Hyper-V may have reached a tipping point of being good enough at the right price point. Now, organizations are starting to ask themselves if it’s time to do something different and consider Hyper-V as a viable solution.

In 2025, IT teams are likely to get the question, “Could Hyper-V work for us?” The whispers to this answer have already begun, even if only used to leverage VMware negotiations. By 2026, the needle may be moving towards Hyper-V, especially if companies realize they don’t need the full might of VMware to get their jobs done.