Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!
Add tool
KVM vs libvirt: What are the differences?
Developers describe KVM as "Kernel-based Virtual Machine is a full virtualization solution for Linux". KVM (for Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is a full virtualization solution for Linux on x86 hardware containing virtualization extensions (Intel VT or AMD-V). On the other hand, libvirt is detailed as "An open-source virtualization API". It is an open-source API, daemon and management tool for managing platform virtualization. It can be used to manage KVM, Xen, VMware ESXi, QEMU and other virtualization technologies.
KVM belongs to "Virtualization Platform" category of the tech stack, while libvirt can be primarily classified under "Virtual Machine Management".
Get Advice from developers at your company using StackShare Enterprise. Sign up for StackShare Enterprise.
Learn MorePros of KVM
Pros of libvirt
Pros of KVM
- No license issues4
- Very fast2
- Flexible network options2
Pros of libvirt
- Low overhead2
- Free2
- Built into most Linux distros2
- Fast2
- Native KVM and QEMU2
- Native hypervisor2
- Can fully manage via CLI or VirtManager2
- VirtIO direct hardware access2
- VirtIO direct hardware support1
Sign up to add or upvote prosMake informed product decisions
What companies use KVM?
What companies use libvirt?
What companies use KVM?
What companies use libvirt?
See which teams inside your own company are using KVM or libvirt.
Sign up for StackShare EnterpriseLearn MoreSign up to get full access to all the companiesMake informed product decisions
What tools integrate with KVM?
What tools integrate with libvirt?
What tools integrate with KVM?
Sign up to get full access to all the tool integrationsMake informed product decisions
What are some alternatives to KVM and libvirt?
VirtualBox
VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 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.
Qemu
When used as a machine emulator, it can run OSes and programs made for one machine (e.g. an ARM board) on a different machine (e.g. your own PC). By using dynamic translation, it achieves very good performance.
When used as a virtualizer, it achieves near native performance by executing the guest code directly on the host CPU. it supports virtualization when executing under the Xen hypervisor or using the KVM kernel module in Linux. When using KVM, it can virtualize x86, server and embedded PowerPC, 64-bit POWER, S390, 32-bit and 64-bit ARM, and MIPS guests.
OpenVZ
Virtuozzo leverages OpenVZ as its core of a virtualization solution offered by Virtuozzo company. Virtuozzo is optimized for hosters and offers hypervisor (VMs in addition to containers), distributed cloud storage, dedicated support, management tools, and easy installation.
Xen
It is a hypervisor using a microkernel design, providing services that allow multiple computer operating systems to execute on the same computer hardware concurrently. It was developed by the Linux Foundation and is supported by Intel.
Docker
The Docker Platform is the industry-leading container platform for continuous, high-velocity innovation, enabling organizations to seamlessly build and share any application — from legacy to what comes next — and securely run them anywhere