Best Citrix XenServer Alternatives in 2026
Updated
20 platforms from virtual machine software ranked against Citrix XenServer on the same published basis.
- 1Citrix XenServer vs Proxmox VE
- 2Citrix XenServer vs QEMU
- 3Citrix XenServer vs VMware Workstation Pro
- 4Citrix XenServer vs KVM
- 5Citrix XenServer vs Oracle VirtualBox
- 6Citrix XenServer vs Xen Project Hypervisor
- 7Citrix XenServer vs Multipass
- 8Citrix XenServer vs virt-manager
- 9Citrix XenServer vs Parallels Desktop
- 11Citrix XenServer vs GNOME Boxes
- 12Citrix XenServer vs oVirt
- 13Citrix XenServer vs UTM
- 14Citrix XenServer vs OpenNebula
- 15Citrix XenServer vs XenServer
- 16Citrix XenServer vs Scale Computing Platform
- 17Citrix XenServer vs Citrix Secure Private Access
- 18Citrix XenServer vs Proxmox Backup Server
- 19Citrix XenServer vs IBM z/VM
- 20Citrix XenServer vs Cloud Hypervisor
- 21Citrix XenServer vs IBM PowerVM
Citrix XenServer alternatives compared
| # | Platform | Score | Free plan | From | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Proxmox VE | 9.0 | Free plan | €10/mo | Android, API, Linux, self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| 2 | QEMU | 8.3 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 3 | VMware Workstation Pro | 8.2 | Free plan | Free | Linux, self-hosted, Windows |
| 4 | KVM | 8.1 | Free plan | Free | Linux, self-hosted |
| 5 | Oracle VirtualBox | 8.0 | No | — | Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows |
| 6 | Xen Project Hypervisor | 7.8 | Free plan | Free | Linux, self-hosted |
| 7 | Multipass | 7.7 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 8 | virt-manager | 7.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, self-hosted |
| 9 | Parallels Desktop | 7.4 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 11 | GNOME Boxes | 7.2 | Free plan | Free | Linux |
| 12 | oVirt | 7.1 | Free plan | Free | API, Linux, self-hosted, Web |
| 13 | UTM | 7.0 | Free plan | Free | iOS, Mac |
| 14 | OpenNebula | 6.8 | No | — | API, Linux, self-hosted, Web |
| 15 | XenServer | 6.7 | No | — | Windows, Linux |
| 16 | Scale Computing Platform | 6.5 | No | — | Web |
| 17 | Citrix Secure Private Access | 6.3 | No | — | Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| 18 | Proxmox Backup Server | 6.3 | No | €46.67/mo | Linux, Web |
| 19 | IBM z/VM | 6.1 | No | — | — |
| 20 | Cloud Hypervisor | 6.1 | No | — | Linux |
| 21 | IBM PowerVM | 6.0 | No | — | — |
Make your platform an alternative to Citrix XenServer
See the priceThe sponsored alternative slot on this page is labelled Sponsored.
Questions about Citrix XenServer alternatives
What is the best alternative to Citrix XenServer?
Proxmox VE, number 1 in virtual machine software with a score of 9.0 out of 10. The others here: QEMU, VMware Workstation Pro, KVM and 16 more.
What is the best free alternative to Citrix XenServer?
Proxmox VE is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 10 of the 20 alternatives here publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
How are these alternatives ranked?
Ranked on how quickly a newcomer can get going: documentation depth, a free tier or trial, and the platforms it runs on.