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Bigstack Review

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Should I use Bigstack?

Open-source VMware alternative (CubeCOS) — hyperconverged private cloud from Taipei - bigstack.co

· 1 month ago

Buy only if you run your own virtualization estate and want an open-source VMware exit; Bigstack sells CubeCOS appliances with quote-based licensing and partner support. Skip it if you need published pricing, plug-and-play simplicity, or guaranteed Western support coverage.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~15 public sources. Software-specific evidence is mostly vendor-published plus one AMD case study; no independent user reviews found. Search results were polluted by unrelated namesakes (Yakima BigStack kayak rack, poker slang, Big Stack Burger).

Ratings

  • Value for moneyNo pricing figures published
  • Ease of useNo independent usability evidence found
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo user support reviews found
  • Security posture

Pricing

Cube licensing

Not published — contact sales

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Mid-size IT teams escaping VMware license costs
  • Edge and remote-office infrastructure
  • Healthcare VDI workloads
  • Open-source-first infra teams

Not for

  • Solo devs or small teams wanting one-click cloud VMs
  • Anyone without in-house Linux/KVM admins
  • Buyers demanding transparent, published pricing
  • Teams needing US/EU-guaranteed support SLAs

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

Pricing is quote-only; budget stays uncertain until you engage sales

medium

Open-source core versus commercial licensing split — confirm exactly what you're paying for

medium

APAC-centric partner channel; local support quality depends on your distributor

low

Component CVEs appear; you must track their advisory feed

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Open-source codebase with active GitHub org and API repos
  • Explicitly positioned as an open-source VMware alternative
  • Public security response center with published CVE advisories
  • University case study: NYCU runs IC design labs on it
  • Healthcare VDI deployment offered via partners

Cons

  • No public pricing; quote-based licensing only
  • Small Taipei vendor versus VMware and Nutanix incumbents
  • Support in many regions routed through distributors like ICT Distribution

Sources & method

- 13 sources - Maintains a Trust Center and security response program; advisories published for component-level CVEs, including an httpd access-control bypass (Sep 2025).

official x5security x3news x5
  • CVE-2025-23048 — httpd access control bypass, Advisory published on Bigstack's security response page, Sep 30, 2025.
  • CVE-2026-43284, Bigstack security advisory dated Jun 11, 2026; affected component not stated in available snippet.
  • CVE-2026-3195 — qemu-kvm virtio-snd heap buffer overflow, Tracked in third-party vulnerability intelligence; relevant to KVM-based virtualization stacks.

Key stats

  • Feature depth: 3/5

    Rating

  • Not disclosed

    Starting price

  • 13

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money. No pricing figures published
  • Ease of use. No independent usability evidence found
  • Feature depth: 3/5. HCI, VDI, API, dashboard claimed; depth unverified
  • Support quality. No user support reviews found
  • Security posture: 4/5. Public trust center, CVE advisories, GitHub security policy
  • Taipei, Taiwan HQ Per partner case profile
  • CubeCOS 2.4 Flagship product Open-source VMware alternative
  • Yes Open source bigstack-oss GitHub org, active repos
  • None Public pricing Quote-based licensing page only

Pricing

Cube licensing

Not disclosed

  • Licensing options for Cube solutions
  • Compare-and-choose page, no figures

Security

Maintains a Trust Center and security response program; advisories published for component-level CVEs, including an httpd access-control bypass (Sep 2025).

  • CVE-2025-23048 — httpd access control bypassAdvisory published on Bigstack's security response page, Sep 30, 2025.⁷
  • CVE-2026-43284Bigstack security advisory dated Jun 11, 2026; affected component not stated in available snippet.⁸
  • CVE-2026-3195 — qemu-kvm virtio-snd heap buffer overflowTracked in third-party vulnerability intelligence; relevant to KVM-based virtualization stacks.

What users say

No independent user reviews of CubeCOS surfaced; search results were polluted by unrelated namesakes like Yakima's BigStack kayak rack and poker slang.

Alternatives

Compare Bigstack with each alternative.

  • Proxmox VE

    Guess: free open-source virtualization, the simplest VMware exit

  • VMware vSphere

    The incumbent it replaces; benchmark price and maturity against it

  • Nutanix

    Guess: polished commercial HCI at a much higher price point

Companies that use it

  • NYCU (National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University)⁹
Full analysis

Based on ~15 public sources. Software-specific evidence is mostly vendor-published plus one AMD case study; no independent user reviews found. Search results were polluted by unrelated namesakes (Yakima BigStack kayak rack, poker slang, Big Stack Burger).

Open-source VMware alternative (CubeCOS) from Taipei. Fits skilled infra teams; skip if you want plug-and-play.

Methodology

Based on ~15 public sources. Software-specific evidence is mostly vendor-published plus one AMD case study; no independent user reviews found. Search results were polluted by unrelated namesakes (Yakima BigStack kayak rack, poker slang, Big Stack Burger).

Read how a report is made.

Sources

  1. CubeCOS: Open Source VMware Alternativebigstack.co
    official
  2. CubeCOS Feature | Productsbigstack.co
    official
  3. Pricing and Licensing Options for Cube Solutionsbigstack.co
    official
  4. CubeCOS 2.4 Release Notedocs.bigstack.co
    official
  5. bigstack-oss GitHub orggithub.com
    official
  6. Bigstack Security Advisoriesbigstack.co
    security
  7. CVE-2025-23048 advisorybigstack.co
    security
  8. CVE-2026-43284 advisorybigstack.co
    security
  9. NYCU modernizes IC design education with AMD EPYC (case study)amd.com
    news
  10. Bigstack Cube VDI for healthcare (ICT Distribution)ictdistribution.net
    news
  11. Bigstack Branding — HubSpot/SEO case profile (founded in Taipei)hububble.co
    news
  12. Trilio and Bigstack partnership press releasetrilio.io
    news
  13. Bigstack Company Profile (PitchBook)pitchbook.com
    news

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