If you ask 2 people which virtualisation option is better, you’ll get at least 3 opinions. I’ve been using VirtualBox for the last few years, and I’m pretty happy with it, but I’m toying with the idea of moving to TrueNAS Scale.
Backup/restore works well to move machines, and the “Home Assistant Google Drive Backup” addon makes it even easier because you don’t need to worry about moving the backup from one machine to another.
Like Michael said the backup restore is a great option. Be patient tho and you might have to reboot a few time to get everything working.
For the VM i would say avoid HyperV like the plaque if you want to pass through.
Learned this the hard way ESXi does a great job but keep in mind that it will come at a cpu % cost if you dont passthrough the entire controller vs 1 usb device.
I definitely don’t agree on the HyperV, very stable, but it sucks with USB; it just doesn’t support it. And that is basically the reason I had to look for another solution after i switched to a Conbee-II usb controller (ran HyperV for almost 2 years)
Also tried VirtualBox, very good with autostart/usb but very unstable, couldn’t get it to run then a few hours max.
I now run VMWare, a bit of a hassle with setting up autostart and mounting USB, but rock solid.