We performed a comparison between Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops vs VMware Horizon View based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Based on the parameters we compared, Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops seems to be the more favorable solution. It is easier to deploy than VMware Horizon View, and users are happier with the technical support.
"Citrix Virtual Apps is the most valuable feature. Many customers use this feature to publish only applications, and not the full desktop. They can publish the internal resource or allow the end-user to reach a site or an application without having the full desktop. That's why they love this feature. It helps them save on resources."
"Instead of pointing to any single feature, I would say the most valuable aspect of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is the overall product itself. Virtualized apps and desktops, in theory and in practice, are very helpful to users."
"The installation and maintenance are good."
"Security is a shining point of the Citrix Workspace. Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is a very robust solution when security is a concern. Furthermore, the content collaboration data-hosting that Citrix integrates with Virtual Apps and Desktops is among the best there is."
"For our company's customers, I feel that the product is stable."
"XenDesktop has helped our users to work remotely with a better user experience."
"In terms of scalability, Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops have a lot of technologies baked in there that allow an organization to scale up or down, as required. Further, leveraging Azure for scalability has added value to our organization. For example, pre-COVID-19, we had very few resources in Azure. We had some Virtual Desktops and no application servers. When COVID-19 came along, we knew people were going to be home. We knew that we had to ramp up very quickly. We fully leveraged MCS to be able to scale. Being able to take a single image and build 400,000 Virtual Desktops, all within minutes, was second to none in terms of any other technology out there that we could have used. The scalability to be able to do that in Azure, where we really don't have to worry about storage and compute power because Microsoft does that for us, was fantastic. It was almost like giving our environments steroids. It has been amazing in terms of that scalability. Now, as people start coming back to the office, we can just as quickly scale down so the compute and resource costs in Azure aren't so great anymore."
"It has very good performance in delivering 3D applications over WAN."
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"I like that it updates quickly and allows users to have virtual desktops."
"It has improved our business because now we can run applications and it's easier for our students to do their exams."
"Instant Clone instantly creates another VM with a Delta disk, which is just the VMware backend. This helps with scalability and management."
"I appreciate how simple and straightforward the operation of VMware Horizon View is."
"Ability to log in from anywhere and from a variety of devices."
"The solution simplifies our work."
"VMware Horizon View is an easy-to-use solution."
"The initial setup is very simple."
"We encounter compatibility issues related to hardware, scanners, and other devices."
"Direct connection of USB devices on the terminals to be used by streamed applications is very important for printing and the usage of token authentication, but the current version does not support this one hundred percent."
"Pricing can be lower and roaming profiles need to be fixed to work consistently."
"I have to re-enter my user password when I am not using the tool for some time around ten minutes. I want to also improve the need to download other Citrix apps."
"The support offered by Citrix's partner needs to improve. The partner support platform should aim to provide more technical information to users."
"Scalability depends on the server and the number of users in the organization."
"Citrix's functionality depends on you having access to Microsoft Azure. Microsoft offers a broad range of features and solutions. Overall, it may make sense for some users to move all their services to Microsoft services."
"The product advances really fast. For some customers, we need better backwards compatibility."
More Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) Cons →
"The solution isn't quite mature yet. It needs more time to mature and to get more market recognition."
"The initial setup was not difficult but there is room for improvement."
"We would like to see better performance with the product."
"The integration could be improved."
"There is room for improvement in security features."
"The product's initial setup process could be easier."
"Horizon View could be more stable."
"User profiles are something that needs to be improved."
More Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) Pricing and Cost Advice →
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) is ranked 5th in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) with 90 reviews while VMware Horizon View is ranked 4th in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) with 67 reviews. Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) is rated 8.4, while VMware Horizon View is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) writes "Flexible Deployment, reliable performance, and fast transmission speeds". On the other hand, the top reviewer of VMware Horizon View writes "User-friendly, reasonably priced, and simple to install". Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) is most compared with Citrix Workspace, Amazon Appstream, Amazon WorkSpaces, Microsoft Remote Desktop Services and Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS), whereas VMware Horizon View is most compared with VMware Horizon, Citrix Workspace, Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, VMware Workstation and VMware Fusion. See our Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs. VMware Horizon View report.
See our list of best Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) vendors.
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.
I think VMware Horizon View is a very solid product.
I think it is the most mature product on the whole spectrum. All virtual desktop environments require tuning for performance. Depending on the size of the company you don't need 1/10 of the bells & whistles that the vendors include. For example, I have a small environment - 70 employees. I don't use instant clones, personas, their analysis tools, ... Not only are they expensive (the tools) they overly complicate a complicated process. KISS.
I have honed down the environment to what is just needed. Most of the industry will tell you otherwise. And I do all this as a one-man IT department.