Proxmox is hailed by many as the king of virtualization platforms, though there are just as many operating systems you can use to power your home labs. There’s XCP-ng, which is great for tinkerers who prefer the Xen hypervisor over KVM. For a more production-oriented environment, you’ve got Harvester, though you’ll need a beefy server for the OS.

Then there’s Hyper-V, Microsoft’s Type-1 hypervisor, which is built around the Windows ecosystem instead of Linux. With Proxmox and Hyper-V bringing unique perks to the table, we’ve pitted the two platforms against each other to help you decide which one’s better for your experimentation workstation.

Minimum requirements

Winner: Proxmox

Bulky server racks may be ideal for self-hosting and distro-hopping workloads, but you can just as easily build a home lab by combining old hardware, mini-PCs, or cheap SBCs with Proxmox. The official website lists an x64 CPU that supports virtualization alongside 1GB RAM as the bare minimum specs for a test server, with 2GB being the recommended memory. Heck, the Proxmox community has even ported it over to RISC-V and ARM systems, including the Raspberry Pi SBCs.

Hyper-V, on the other hand, has comparatively high minimum requirements. Technically, you can install Hyper-V on Windows 11 Home, but Microsoft recommends using the Enterprise or Pro version of the OS. Unfortunately, Hyper-V has a higher memory requirement, as you’ll need at least 4GB of RAM to configure the hypervisor on your server.

UI and ease of installation

Winner: Hyper-V (or rather, the non-standalone version of the hypervisor)

While we’re on the subject, Hyper-V has a simple installation process, mostly because you can get it up and running on top of Windows 11. Assuming you’ve already enabled virtualization in your PC’s BIOS, Windows 11 Enterprise and Pro users can simply turn on the Hyper-V packages inside the Windows Features tab of the Control Panel. For folks on Windows 11 Home, you’ll have to create and execute a batch script and modify a couple of settings to enable Hyper-V. In addition to its Windows roots, Hyper-V also has an extremely simple UI, making it better for complete beginners in the home lab space.

Meanwhile, you’ll typically want to install Proxmox directly on the hardware. It’s not a big deal if you’re accustomed to distro-hopping, but the bare-metal nature of Proxmox can add some extra complexity for beginners. Alternatively, you can deploy the platform on top of Debian, but it’s not the recommended method. Not to mention, you’ll need some technical know-how to work with terminal commands. As for the UI, I’d consider Proxmox one of the easier virtualization platforms, though Hyper-V still takes the cake when it comes to easing newcomers into the home server ecosystem.

Pricing

Winner: Proxmox, and it’s not even close

With the electricity bills and prices of computing hardware going through the roof, home servers can be an expensive hobby. Thankfully, you don’t have to spend a single penny on Proxmox to make use of its extensive virtualization toolkit. Although the platform has paid subscription tiers, you’re only missing out on the enterprise repository and support from the Proxmox team with the free version. The rest of the features, including LXC containers, ZFS pools, and Ceph storage, are available on all editions of Proxmox.

As is the case with most Microsoft products, the situation on the Hyper-V side is rather convoluted. You can technically use Hyper-V for free on Windows 11 or as a standalone server. Unfortunately, you’ll only be able to access the Hyper-V Server 2019 edition, as Microsoft locks the newer releases behind a $1000+ license.

Container support

Winner: Draw for the most part

Virtual machines may have their perks, but containers are better when you want minimal performance overhead and efficient resource utilization in your self-hosting projects. Besides natively supporting LXC containers, Proxmox offers plenty of templates to choose from, ranging from Linux containers to Gitea, Zoneminder, Ansible, and other self-hosted services.

Interestingly, Hyper-V supports Windows containers, though you’ll need to set up Docker Desktop on your Windows 11 machine to access them.

Performance and customizability

Winner: Proxmox

Since Proxmox uses the KVM hypervisor, you can expect top-tier performance for your virtualization tasks. It’s also built on Debian, which has minimal overhead on your virtual guests' performance. Although using ZFS pools can result in higher RAM consumption, Proxmox is a lot more efficient in terms of resource utilization. Thanks to a host of scripts and terminal commands designed by the community, Proxmox is more customizable than its rival.

If you’re running a Windows 11-based Hyper-V setup, you’ll have to contend with the extra resource drain from all the junk Microsoft piles on top of its flagship OS. Meanwhile, a standalone Hyper-V setup can offer better performance, though KVM remains the faster hypervisor.

ZFS support and USB passthrough

Winner: Proxmox

Compared to Hyper-V, Proxmox offers a couple of extra facilities that make it more appealing for seasoned project-building maestros. For instance, Proxmox is compatible with ZFS pools. If you haven’t heard of it, the ZFS file system combines self-healing features with snapshots and RAID support – all while providing solid transfer speeds. As such, you can add some redundancy to your Proxmox boot drive, thereby safeguarding your home lab against data loss caused by failed disks.

Proxmox also supports USB passthrough, and unlike Hyper-V, you can grant any USB-paired I/O devices to your virtual guests without any issues whatsoever.

Support for Windows 11 VMs

Winner: Hyper-V

Technically, you could use either platform for your home lab workloads. But leaving the performance aside for a minute, Hyper-V is more convenient for tinkerers who want to experiment with Windows 11 virtual machines. If you attempt to create a Windows 11 VM on Proxmox, you’ll have to tweak the BIOS settings and use the Windows VirtIO drivers to set up the OS on a virtual drive.

Meanwhile, setting up a Windows 11 VM on Hyper-V is pretty straightforward, and the only extra step is enabling the Secure Boot and TPM options within the VM settings.

Proxmox vs. Hyper-V: So, what’s the verdict?

Proxmox remains the undisputed king of virtualization platforms

As much as I’ve started working with Hyper-V over the last couple of months, I have to hand over the crown to Proxmox. Not only does PVE perform better, but it offers more features than Hyper-V. Plus, it doesn’t lock the newer releases behind a paywall and is backed by a thriving community of tinkerers and home lab veterans.

Of course, Hyper-V is just as viable for a home lab and is arguably better than Proxmox if all your workloads are centered around Windows virtual machines. Plus, running Hyper-V on top of a Windows 11 system can help you dip your toes into the virtualization ecosystem using a familiar interface.