For over a decade, VMware has dominated the virtualization space with its powerful feature set and robust enterprise support. But times have changed. With rising licensing costs, increasingly complex product tiers, and Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware raising uncertainty, many IT professionals are exploring alternatives that offer performance, control, and freedom — without the price tag. One name that consistently rises to the top of the list is XCP-ng.

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What is XCP-ng?

XCP-ng (Xen Cloud Platform – next generation) is a turnkey, open-source virtualization platform built on the battle-tested Xen Project hypervisor. It began as a fork of XenServer (which Citrix made closed-source), and has grown into a fully community-driven and commercially-supported project backed by Vates.

XCP-ng delivers enterprise-grade features while remaining 100% free — no feature gates, no usage-based pricing, and no artificial limitations.

Why Switch from VMware?

1. Cost-Effective

VMware licensing can quickly add up — especially with per-core pricing and VCF requirements. XCP-ng is free to use, with optional support plans from Vates if needed. There are no hidden costs for advanced features like live migration, backups, or high availability.

2. Full Feature Set

XCP-ng includes essential enterprise features out-of-the-box:

• Live migration (VM & storage)

• High availability

• Backup & replication with XO (Xen Orchestra)

• VLAN and SR-IOV support

• GPU passthrough

• Virtual disk encryption

• VHD snapshotting

3. Built-In Management: Xen Orchestra (XO)

Pair XCP-ng with Xen Orchestra, a powerful web-based management platform offering:

• Real-time VM monitoring

• Automated backups and disaster recovery

• Role-based access control

• Self-service portals

• Orchestration and scheduling

XO has both a free, open-source edition and a commercial edition with extra features and support.

4. Transparency and Control

With XCP-ng, you’re not locked into opaque upgrade paths or cloud-first vendor strategies. You can run your hypervisor on-prem, in the cloud, or at the edge — with full control over when and how updates are applied.

5. Strong Community and Support

XCP-ng has a vibrant community of users, developers, and contributors. Whether you’re troubleshooting, requesting features, or looking for implementation tips, there’s a strong knowledge base and official support if needed.

Real-World Use Cases

Organizations across industries have successfully adopted XCP-ng:

• MSPs deploying hundreds of VMs with centralized management

• Schools and universities running labs and infrastructure on tight budgets

• SMBs and enterprises looking to reduce their VMware dependency

• Homelabbers and power users who want enterprise virtualization at no cost

Migration Made Easy

Moving from VMware to XCP-ng is more straightforward than you might expect:

• Import existing VMs via OVF/OVA or V2V tools

• Use Xen Orchestra’s migration scripts for mass transitions

• Leverage storage repositories (NFS, iSCSI, LVM, ZFS) supported natively

Vates also provides tools and support services to help with more complex migrations.

Final Thoughts

If you’re reevaluating your virtualization stack in light of rising VMware costs or future uncertainties, XCP-ng deserves a serious look. With its strong community, powerful feature set, and freedom from restrictive licensing, it’s more than just an alternative — it’s a viable, mature, and strategic solution for modern infrastructure.

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Ready to Make the Switch?

Explore XCP-ng at https://xcp-ng.org
Manage your VMs easily with Xen Orchestra at https://xen-orchestra.com