Oracle VirtualBox vs VMware Workstation Pro
Two of the top three virtual machine programs, compared rule by rule on published facts.
In short
- Oracle VirtualBox has 92 points and VMware Workstation Pro 79, 13 apart on our virtual machine software rules.
- Oracle VirtualBox earns more on systems, virtual machines and openness and upkeep; VMware Workstation Pro earns more on nothing.
- Cheapest licence for work use: Oracle VirtualBox $0, VMware Workstation Pro $0.
- Only Oracle VirtualBox meets: virtual TPM and Secure Boot, nested virtualization and open source.
- Only VMware Workstation Pro meets: security advisories published.
Oracle VirtualBox92/100 #1 of 12
Best for: People who want a free, open-source virtual machine app on Windows.
VMware Workstation Pro79/100 #2 of 12
Best for: Windows users who want a free hypervisor with snapshots and shared folders.
Points by group
| Group | Oracle VirtualBox | VMware Workstation Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Systems of 17 | 17 | 15 |
| Virtual machines of 27 | 23 | 14 |
| Devices of 24 | 24 | 24 |
| Openness and upkeep of 14 | 10 | 8 |
| Price of 18 | 18 | 18 |
| Total | 92 | 79 |
Rule by rule
What each vendor publishes, and the points it earns. Sources are on each product page.
| Rule (points) | Oracle VirtualBox | VMware Workstation Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Guest systems (8) | Windows, Linux 8 | Windows, Linux 8 |
| Also runs on other hosts (4) | macOS, Linux 4 | Linux 2 |
| Works on Windows Home (5) | Yes 5 | Yes 5 |
| Snapshots (8) | Yes 8 | Yes 8 |
| Virtual TPM and Secure Boot (5) | Yes 5 | Not published 0 |
| Network modes (6) | NAT, Bridged, Host-only 6 | NAT, Bridged, Host-only 6 |
| Nested virtualization (4) | Yes 4 | Not published 0 |
| Starts from a ready-made image (4) | No 0 | Not published 0 |
| 3D graphics for guests (8) | Yes 8 | Yes 8 |
| USB devices in the guest (6) | Yes 6 | Yes 6 |
| Shared folders (6) | Yes 6 | Yes 6 |
| Shared clipboard (4) | Yes 4 | Yes 4 |
| Open source (6) | Yes 6 | Not published 0 |
| Security advisories published (4) | Not published 0 | Yes 4 |
| Updated in the last 12 months (4) | Yes 4 | Yes 4 |
| Free edition (6) | Yes 6 | Yes 6 |
| Cheapest licence for work use (12) | $0 12 | $0 12 |
Oracle VirtualBox
VirtualBox suits anyone who wants a no-cost virtual machine app with open-source code on Windows, macOS or Linux. It lists snapshots, shared folders, nested virtualization and virtual TPM 2.0 with Secure Boot. The catch: the manual does not describe a ready-made image gallery, and the separate Extension Pack carries a personal-use licence.
VMware Workstation Pro
VMware Workstation Pro is free for commercial, educational and personal use from version 17.5.2, which removes the price question. It runs on Windows 10 and 11 and Linux hosts and documents snapshots, shared folders, USB devices and three network modes. The catch: free users get community support only, and there is no macOS host version.
Both products are scored by the same rules: how we score virtual machine programs.