Best Hypervisor Software in 2026
Updated
In short: Proxmox VE is ranked #1 of 23 as of 4 October 2026, ahead of QEMU and UTM. The best-ranked option with a free plan is QEMU. The lowest first paid tier on this page is Proxmox VE at €10/mo.
If you’re planning to run virtual machines, start by matching guest OS support and host platforms to your setup. Compared on those foundations, the entries also cover management interfaces, VM snapshots, live migration, nested virtualization, and maximum vCPUs per VM. Proxmox VE, OpenNebula, and oVirt appear among the first entries, with Harvester and QEMU also near the top. The ranking gives you a way to weigh those capabilities alongside free-plan availability and the paid-from price. Consider which management and migration features matter for your workloads, then compare the listed platform support and VM limits to your requirements.
23 hypervisor software ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
#1 Proxmox VE Top pick · 7.4 Free plan · €10/mo
#2 QEMU Runner-up · 6.9 Free plan · Free
#3 UTM Also great · 6.9 Free plan · Free- Free plan AndroidapiLinuxself-hostedWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms€10/mofirst paid tier About Proxmox VEVisit site - Free plan LinuxmacOSWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatformsFree About QEMUVisit site - Free plan iOSmacOS
- Free plan
- Yes
- Host platforms
- macOS, iOS
- Management interface
- desktop
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatformsFree About UTMVisit site - Free plan Linuxself-hostedWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Host platforms
- Windows, Linux
- Management interface
- desktop
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Free plan apiLinuxself-hostedWeb
- Free plan
- Yes
- Host platforms
- ARM64, x86_64
- Guest OS support
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6 and SP7; SUSE Linux Micro 6.0 and 6.1; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 and 10; Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04; Windows 11; Windows Server 2025
- Management interface
- web
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Free plan Linuxself-hosted
- Free plan
- Yes
- Host platforms
- Linux
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatformsFree About KVMVisit site - Free plan apiLinuxself-hostedWeb
- Free plan
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Free plan Linuxself-hosted
- Free plan
- Yes
- Host platforms
- Linux; OpenBSD
- Management interface
- desktop
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - LinuxmacOSself-hostedWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Host platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux, Oracle Solaris
- Management interface
- desktop
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - LinuxmacOSWindows
- Free plan
- No
- Host platforms
- macOS
- Management interface
- desktop
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - apiLinuxself-hostedWeb
- Free plan
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - LinuxWeb
- Free plan
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms€46.67/mofirst paid tier About Proxmox Backup ServerVisit site - LinuxWindowsAndroid
- Host platforms
- Linux, Android, Windows
- Guest OS support
- Linux, Android
- Management interface
- cli
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - LinuxmacOSWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Host platforms
- Linux, macOS, Windows
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - WebRecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms
- Linux
- Free plan
- Yes
- Host platforms
- Linux
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Linux
- Free plan
- Yes
- Host platforms
- Linux, NetBSD, FreeBSD
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Free trial WindowsLinux
- Free plan
- No
- Guest OS support
- Windows, Linux
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Linux
- Free plan
- Yes
- Host platforms
- Linux
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Linux
- Free plan
- Yes
- Host platforms
- Linux
- Management interface
- desktop
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Linux
- Free plan
- Yes
- Host platforms
- Intel x86 bare-metal hardware
- Guest OS support
- Linux, Windows, Zephyr, VxWorks, Xenomai, Celadon, Android
- Management interface
- cli
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Linux
- Free plan
- Yes
- Host platforms
- x86_64, AArch64 with KVM
- Guest OS support
- Linux
- Management interface
- cli
- Max vCPUs per VM
- 254 vCPU
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - WindowsRecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms
Is your app on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored. They are labelled, and the editorial order and scores never change for payment.
Questions about this list
Which hypervisor software is ranked first on Everything Xiaomi?
Proxmox VE is ranked #1 of 23 with a score of 7.4. QEMU is second and UTM third.
How many of these have a free plan?
8 of the 23 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
Which is the cheapest paid option?
On this page, Proxmox VE has the lowest first paid tier we found: €10/mo.
How is this list ranked?
Ranked on what each maker publishes: documentation depth, a free tier and the platforms it runs on. Paid placements never change a rank.