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Proxmox vs VirtualBox
March 09, 2025 | Author: Michael Stromann
15★
Proxmox Virtual Environment is a complete server virtualization management solution, based on KVM virtualization and containers. Powerful and easy to use - Complete server virtualization management with KVM and containers.
7★
Oracle VirtualBox is a powerful virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2. See "About VirtualBox" for an introduction.
Proxmox and VirtualBox have quite a bit in common, much like two slightly eccentric cousins who both insist on wearing socks with sandals but argue over whether they should be pulled up or rolled down. They both let you run multiple virtual machines on a single host, take snapshots of your digital misadventures and tinker with networks in ways that would make even the most seasoned IT professional mutter, "Well, that’s interesting." And, of course, they both support an impressive range of guest operating systems, because what’s the point of virtualization if you can’t make Linux, Windows and various obscure BSD flavors sit awkwardly together at the same table?
Proxmox, however, is the serious, suit-wearing cousin who insists on discussing "enterprise-grade solutions" at dinner. It was born in Austria in 2008, which means it has had plenty of time to grow into a fully-fledged virtualization and containerization powerhouse. It prefers to run directly on hardware, scoffs at the idea of working within another operating system and comes with a sleek web-based interface for those who enjoy the thrill of clicking buttons remotely. It also supports clustering, live migration and all the sorts of things that make system administrators cackle with joy—assuming they’ve had enough coffee.
VirtualBox, on the other hand, is the slightly disheveled but infinitely likable cousin who shows up late, drinks too much tea and prefers to run on whatever OS happens to be lying around. Originally from Germany (2007, back when the internet still made sense), it was later adopted by Sun Microsystems and then Oracle, which, as history has shown, is a bit like being adopted by a well-meaning but overbearing aunt. It’s perfect for testing, development and those moments when you need to spin up a virtual machine just to prove a point. It doesn’t do clustering or live migration, but it makes up for it by being delightfully easy to use and occasionally refusing to explain why it won’t start.
See also: Top 10 Virtualization platforms
Proxmox, however, is the serious, suit-wearing cousin who insists on discussing "enterprise-grade solutions" at dinner. It was born in Austria in 2008, which means it has had plenty of time to grow into a fully-fledged virtualization and containerization powerhouse. It prefers to run directly on hardware, scoffs at the idea of working within another operating system and comes with a sleek web-based interface for those who enjoy the thrill of clicking buttons remotely. It also supports clustering, live migration and all the sorts of things that make system administrators cackle with joy—assuming they’ve had enough coffee.
VirtualBox, on the other hand, is the slightly disheveled but infinitely likable cousin who shows up late, drinks too much tea and prefers to run on whatever OS happens to be lying around. Originally from Germany (2007, back when the internet still made sense), it was later adopted by Sun Microsystems and then Oracle, which, as history has shown, is a bit like being adopted by a well-meaning but overbearing aunt. It’s perfect for testing, development and those moments when you need to spin up a virtual machine just to prove a point. It doesn’t do clustering or live migration, but it makes up for it by being delightfully easy to use and occasionally refusing to explain why it won’t start.
See also: Top 10 Virtualization platforms
