Numerous enterprises are assessing potential alternatives to VMware vSphere. Among the options under consideration, Arcfra Enterprise Cloud Platform (AECP) and Proxmox Virtual Environment (VE) stand out as promising choices, despite differences in their scope of replacement and core components. This blog will provide an in-depth examination of these two solutions, comparing their focus areas, key features, use cases, and the advantages they offer as alternatives to VMware.

Arcfra Enterprise Cloud Platform (AECP)

Focus

Arcfra aims to offer a full-stack modern enterprise cloud infrastructure software that streamlines enterprises’ cloud experience. Its main product, Arcfra Enterprise Cloud Platform (AECP), provides complete cloud infrastructure capabilities encompassing compute, storage, networking, security, backup, disaster recovery, and Kubernetes services within a single platform.

Key Features

• KVM-Based Virtualization: Arcfra offers Arcfra Virtualization Engine (AVE), KVM-based virtualization for production environments, equipped with complete compute virtualization and VM lifecycle management functionalities.
• Full-stack Capabilities: Besides virtualization, AECP provides full-stack infrastructure resources including distributed storage, software-defined networking, container management, distributed firewall, backup & DR, etc.
• Elevated Performance and Efficiency: High-performance storage, virtualization, Kubernetes, and security — all optimized for performance and efficiency.
• Inspired by Cloud, Built for Enterprise IT Needs: Elastic, flexible, and simple. Scalable architecture with easy-to-manage cloud service modules.
• Seamless Migration: Arcfra Migration Tool is an agentless migration tool that allows seamless migration from VMware ESXi to Arcfra Virtualization Engine with minimal downtime.
• Reduced Cost: Save over 50% Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) with lower upfront costs and an easy-to-use interface that streamlines operations and enhances efficiency, compared with VMware.

Gartner Recognitions

Gartner®’s recent report, A Guide to Choosing a VMware Alternative in the Wake of Broadcom Acquisition, has identified Arcfra as one of the sample vendors for hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) in replacing VMware. Arcfra is also recognized as one of eight worldwide representative vendors of full-stack HCI software in Gartner® 2025 Market Guide for Full-Stack Hyperconverged Infrastructure Software.

Use Cases

Ideal for organizations looking for a straightforward, integrated HCI solution to replace their on-premises VMware infrastructure, emphasizing simplicity, cost efficiency, and a unified management experience. It caters to both traditional virtualized applications and modern containerized workloads.

Proxmox Virtual Environment (VE)

Focus

Proxmox VE is a complete, open-source server virtualization platform that provides users with the tools to manage virtual machines and containers on a single host. It uniquely integrates two primary technologies: Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) for full virtualization and Linux Containers (LXC) for lightweight containerization.

Key Features

• Open Source: Proxmox VE is an open-source platform with no licensing costs for the core software.
• KVM for virtualization and LXC for containerization: Proxmox VE uniquely integrates both KVM for full virtualization and LXC for lightweight containerization, offering flexibility for different workload requirements.
• Flexible Storage Options: Proxmox VE fully integrates Ceph, an open-source distributed object store and file system. It also supports network shared storage and local storage devices.
• Integrated Management Interface: Proxmox VE features a comprehensive web-based management interface that allows users to control all aspects of their virtual data center from any modern web browser.
• Clustering and High Availability: Proxmox VE offers robust clustering capabilities, allowing users to group multiple Proxmox VE nodes together to create a highly available virtual server environment.
• Integrated Backup: Proxmox VE incorporates tight integration with Proxmox Backup Server, a dedicated open-source solution for backing up and restoring virtual machines and containers.

Gartner Recognition

Gartner®’s recent report, A Guide to Choosing a VMware Alternative in the Wake of Broadcom Acquisition, has identified Proxmox VE as one of the sample vendors for Hypervisor in replacing VMware.

Use Cases

Proxmox VE emerges as a cost-effective and flexible open-source server virtualization platform. It uniquely integrates full KVM virtualization and lightweight LXC containers, making it ideal for SMBs, homelabs, and open-source advocates looking to consolidate diverse workloads, build highly available environments, and establish development and testing infrastructures — all managed through an intuitive web interface with no licensing costs.

Comparison