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Oracle VM VirtualBox VS VirtualBox

Compare Oracle VM VirtualBox VS VirtualBox and see what are their differences

Oracle VM VirtualBox logo Oracle VM VirtualBox

Server Virtualization

VirtualBox logo VirtualBox

VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as...
  • Oracle VM VirtualBox Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-22
  • VirtualBox Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-17

Oracle VM VirtualBox features and specs

  • Free and Open Source
    Oracle VM VirtualBox is available for free under the GPL license, allowing users to freely download, use, and modify the software according to their needs.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    VirtualBox runs on multiple host operating systems including Windows, macOS, Linux, and Solaris, offering broad compatibility for users across different platforms.
  • Versatile and Feature-Rich
    Includes a range of features such as snapshots, seamless mode, and shared folders, along with support for a wide array of guest operating systems, making it highly versatile.
  • Community Support and Documentation
    Being open source, it has a strong community offering support, extensive documentation, and forums which can be beneficial for troubleshooting and learning.
  • Portability
    Virtual machines created in VirtualBox can be easily imported and exported, enhancing ease of sharing and deployment across different systems.

Possible disadvantages of Oracle VM VirtualBox

  • Performance Limitations
    Compared to native hypervisors like VMware or Hyper-V, VirtualBox might deliver lower performance especially for resource-intensive tasks.
  • Resource Usage
    VirtualBox can be demanding on system resources, as it requires significant CPU and RAM to operate multiple virtual machines efficiently.
  • Complexity for New Users
    Although detailed, the feature set and configuration settings can be overwhelming for beginners who might find the interface and options complex to navigate initially.
  • Less Frequent Updates
    Updates and new features are released less frequently compared to some commercial virtualization solutions, potentially leading to slower adoption of cutting-edge technologies.
  • Limited Enterprise Features
    While it is feature-rich, some advanced enterprise-level features available in other solutions like VMware vSphere are either limited or absent in VirtualBox.

VirtualBox features and specs

  • Open Source
    VirtualBox is open-source software, which means it is freely available for personal and commercial use. Users can access and modify the source code, enhancing flexibility and customization.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    VirtualBox supports multiple operating systems, including Windows, macOS, Linux, and Solaris, making it highly versatile and suitable for various environments.
  • Ease of Use
    VirtualBox offers a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for both beginners and experienced users to create and manage virtual machines.
  • Snapshot Feature
    VirtualBox allows users to take snapshots of their virtual machines, enabling them to save the current state and revert back to it if necessary, which is useful for testing and debugging.
  • Guest Additions
    VirtualBox provides Guest Additions that enhance the performance and usability of guest operating systems. Features include shared folders, clipboard sharing, and improved graphics performance.

Possible disadvantages of VirtualBox

  • Performance Overhead
    VirtualBox may introduce performance overhead compared to running software directly on physical hardware. This can affect the speed and responsiveness of the virtual machines.
  • Limited 3D Graphics Support
    The 3D graphics support in VirtualBox is not as robust as some other virtualization solutions, which may be a limitation for users requiring heavy graphical applications.
  • Lack of Enterprise-Level Features
    While VirtualBox is suitable for personal and small-scale use, it may lack some advanced features and scalability options required for large enterprise environments.
  • Complex Network Setup
    Setting up complex networking configurations in VirtualBox can be challenging and may require additional knowledge and effort.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running multiple virtual machines in VirtualBox can be resource-intensive, potentially leading to system slowdowns if the host machine does not have sufficient CPU and memory resources.

Oracle VM VirtualBox videos

Oracle VM VirtualBox Review (Real User: Erik Benner)

VirtualBox videos

VirtualBox vs VMware Player - In-Depth Comparison on Ubuntu 18.04

More videos:

  • Review - Oracle VM VirtualBox Review (Real User: Erik Benner)
  • Tutorial - How to Use VirtualBox (Beginners Guide)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Oracle VM VirtualBox and VirtualBox)
Cloud Computing
15 15%
85% 85
Office & Productivity
100 100%
0% 0
Virtualization
0 0%
100% 100
Group Chat & Notifications

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Oracle VM VirtualBox and VirtualBox

Oracle VM VirtualBox Reviews

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VirtualBox Reviews

Best Alternatives of VirtualBox for Windows
I’m sure you can appreciate the irony in the name of this program, but this is also a very accurate description of what Portable-VirtualBox is. In essence, this free and open source program is VirtualBox and does not need to be installed, making it useful even if it is contained on a USB drive. Portable-VirtualBox works by virtually downloading and installing VirtualBox on...
10 Best VMware Alternatives and Similar Software
VirtualBox now supports a broad number of guest operating systems and operates on Windows, Linux, Macintosh, and Solaris hosts. VirtualBox is constantly evolving, with regular patches and an ever-growing list of features, and it supports various OSs and platforms.
12 Best FREE Virtual Machine (VM) Software in 2020
VirtualBox is an open-source hypervisor for x86 computers. This tool supports the creation and management of virtual machines. It runs on Windows, Linux, BSD, and others.
Source: www.guru99.com
What are the Top Most Open Source Virtualization Software?
VirtualBox provides full virtualization for any operating system to run in a virtual environment with all the software installed within, abstracted from the existing operating system.
7 VirtualBox Alternatives You Can Consider
There are lots of virtualization software out there that let you run multiple applications from different platforms in the same hardware. One of them is VirtualBox by Oracle Corporation. VirtualBox is an open source and freeware that lets users create a virtual environment to run a different operating system on the same machine. It runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, and Solaris....

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, VirtualBox seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 32 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Oracle VM VirtualBox mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Oracle VM VirtualBox yet. Tracking of Oracle VM VirtualBox recommendations started around Mar 2021.

VirtualBox mentions (32)

  • Barbie Secret Agent game for Mac
    Also, if your sister has an Intel Mac instead of an M1 Mac, I highly suggest VirtualBox and setting up something like Windows XP on that instead of Windows 11-- the steps will be pretty similar, and VirtualBox is free. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Is virtualbox.org down?
    I am unable to reach any page within the virtualbox.org domain including forums, but I can't find any post online about others having this issue. Is there a known problem at virtualbox.org or should I look locally? I usually get the error 502 - Bad Gateway. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Multipass: Ubuntu Virtual Machines Made Easy
    Some of these tools include Oracle VM VirtualBox (that I've used since before the acquisition of Sun Microsystems by Oracle), VMWare Workstation Player, and QEMU, but last year, I found out about Multipass. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Can I use a Mac?
    You can use a Mac, then use Parallels or Virtual Box for any virtual machines you might need(I prefer Parallels). There are Educational versions of Windows amongst other Microsoft products available to you through NJIT. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Will anyone continue on debian 11?
    I thought Debian doesn't have VB packages? Or are you the talking about the ones from http://virtualbox.org web site? Source: almost 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Oracle VM VirtualBox and VirtualBox, you can also consider the following products

Inuvika OVD Enterprise - A cost-effective alternative to Citrix or VMware Horizon for virtualized apps and desktops. Requires less infrastructure and fewer Microsoft licenses. Lower your TCO by up to 60%. Easy admin and great user experience.

VMware Workstation - VMware Workstation is a multiple operating system handler to easily evaluate the any other type of new operating systems.

flexVDI - The Open Full-Stack VDI Solution

QEMU - QEMU (short for "Quick EMUlator") is a free and open-source hosted hypervisor that...

LISTEQ Cloud Desktop - LISTEQ Cloud Desktop is a software to create a complete Virtual Desktop Service (DaaS, Desktops-as-a-Service).

Proxmox VE - Proxmox is an open-source server virtualization management solution that offers the ability to manage virtual server technology with the Linux OpenVZ and KVM technology.