VirtualBox vs. VMware vs. Parallels

Feature	VirtualBox	Parallels Workstation / Desktop	VMware Fusion / Workstation / vSphere
Supported host operating systems	Windows XP, 2003, Vista, 2008 Server, Windows 7, 2012 Server, Windows 8, Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris 10U5+, OpenSolaris, FreeBSD	Windows XP, Vista, 7, Linux, OS X	Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, 7, 8, Linux (32bit and 64bit), Mac OS X
Supported guest operating systems	DOS, Windows 3.1, 95, 98, NT, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2003/2008/2012, Linux, OpenBSD, FreeBSD, OS/2, Solaris, OpenSolaris, others	DOS, Windows 3.1, 95, 98, NT, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, Linux, OS/2	DOS, Windows 3.1, 95, 98, NT, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris
64bit host OS support	yes	yes	yes
64bit guest OS support	yes	yes	yes
Intel VT-x support (CPU virtualization extensions)	yes	yes	yes
AMD-V support (CPU virtualization extensions)	yes	yes	yes
Virtual network cards	up to 36	up to 5	up to 4
Virtual Disk Controller	IDE or SATA (up to 32 disks in a guest) or SCSI	IDE (up to 4)	IDE or SCSI
USB support	yes	yes	yes
iSCSI support (VMs can directly access storage servers over iSCSI)	yes	no	no
Serial ports	up to 4	up to 4	yes
Parallel ports	up to 2	up to 3	yes
CD/DVD writing	yes	no	no
3D acceleration	yes (OpenGL 1.5)	no	limited
Support of VMware images	yes	no	n/a
Headless operation	yes	no	yes
Remote VM access	Integrated RDP server	no	limited
Remote USB support	Yes, arbitrary devices	no	no
Seamless Windows	yes	yes	yes
Shared Folders	yes	yes	yes
Guest power status reporting	yes	no	yes
API	Full API, 100% scriptable	no	yes
Open source	yes (dual licensed, some enterprise features are closed source)	no	no
Customizations	yes, upon request	no	no
License costs	Free	Workstation for Windows/Linux - $49.99, Desktop for Mac OS X - $79.99	Workstation for Windows/Linux around $199, Fusion for Mac - $79.99, vSphere starting at $900

(last updated 2012-11-30)