We performed a comparison between Microsoft Remote Desktop Services and VMware Horizon based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Both solutions are easy to deploy and have good features. However, users of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services are happier with the price and more satisfied with the technical support.
"Since the tool has a graphical user interface, it's easier for us to access the server."
"I like that it works. In most cases, it's predictable. You know what you get."
"The solution now includes a multi-screen feature which is great."
"The product saves time."
"Installing Microsoft Desktop Services is straightforward."
"The initial setup is not that difficult. I have gone through the RDS initialization steps, which only seem easy."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is the ability to remote into a system that is not on-premises."
"It's pretty stable."
"The most important feature of this solution is the connectivity with every device, such as iPad, iPhone, and other terminals. The security of the solution is very good."
"From my standpoint, the desktop is the most valuable feature."
"The benefits of this solution are that it is modern and it works perfectly well with the rest of the VMware environments we have. Having this vertical integration is what matters to us as an organization and this solution excels in this area. You deploy it and it works without much hassle."
"We use VMware Horizon to provide remote access for remote users."
"We use VMware Horizon to digitalize environments."
"The solution has enabled us to offer a secure desktop experience to our remote users. This ensures that our personally identifiable information and HIPAA data remain protected, eliminating the risk of being copied to a local, potentially mobile, device. Everything is contained within a centralized structure."
"The ease of deployment is one of the most valuable features. If I want to install something, I can have a test phase to see what sort of impact it will have and whether it will affect production. So I can install it on my lab, make sure it is okay, and if it is, I can deploy it directly to the users or to the staff."
"Horizon 7 is scalable - we can add more machines or servers easily."
"I want to connect easily from an external network even when I'm not in my enterprise or company. It should be easy to connect or integrate Microsoft Teams, for example, with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services needs to improve its security."
"There could be some improvement in the integration of the solution."
"The reliability of the solution could improve."
"The product is not very scalable."
"We are searching for a product with better remote access and remote sessions."
"The solution should have better security."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services could improve by having a better application for managing multiple sessions. There used to be one but they stopped supporting it."
"The most important feature that is missing is the ability to do some remote support on the client itself. For example, if somebody has a Horizon client installed on his machine, there should be a way to support his local machine as well. That's because most of the problems can't be solved very often due to the computer or the setup that someone is using on his personal machine. Because a Horizon client is already installed on the machine to access the environment, it would be nice if the client itself possessed some sort of remote control tool in it so that if needed, we could support both the virtual setup and the actual setup of the machine. It pretty much does everything well. It is mostly the support aspect that can be improved. You have perfect control over your in-house environment. You have a solution that can pretty much be used anywhere, but you have no control over the machine that's being used to access your environment. Definitely, that's where most of the features are lacking. There should be an option for remote control and maybe some options for conformity."
"VMware Horizon could be improved with more integration. It is also very costly for Enterprise Plus, which is a drawback. The renewal costs for the license are very, very high."
"I would like to see simple load-balancing for smaller environments that lack large solutions like F5, or NSX; it should be redundant or unavailable but in a simple way. Perhaps limited to only two components; if more are required, a paid load balancing solution can be used. Load balancing for simple environments, or simple redundancy, is sorely lacking."
"The solution has a lot of issues and bugs."
"The product integration on local client machines running Linux needs improvement."
"It would be beneficial if VMware invested in developing a robust reporting engine, providing insights into user activities, locations, and more."
"There is room for improvement in the pricing model."
"There is room for improvement in the integration with other parts of the suite. For example, you currently need separate windows to manage app volumes and the dynamic environment manager (DEM)."
More Microsoft Remote Desktop Services Pricing and Cost Advice →
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is ranked 1st in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) with 76 reviews while VMware Horizon is ranked 3rd in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) with 34 reviews. Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is rated 8.0, while VMware Horizon is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services writes "Easy to set up and reliable, but needs an additional control panel". On the other hand, the top reviewer of VMware Horizon writes "Compelling solution for virtual desktop infrastructure with advanced technology, straightforward licensing, easy setup, and seamless integration". Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is most compared with TeamViewer, Citrix Workspace, VMware Workstation, Parallels Access and Apache Guacamole, whereas VMware Horizon is most compared with VMware Workspace ONE, VMware Horizon View, VMware Player, VMware Horizon Cloud and VMware Workstation. See our Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs. VMware Horizon report.
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We monitor all Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.