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Amazon WorkSpaces vs Azure Virtual Desktop comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon WorkSpaces
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
Desktop as a Service (DaaS) (2nd)
Azure Virtual Desktop
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Amazon WorkSpaces is 2.1%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Azure Virtual Desktop is 10.8%, up from 2.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Azure Virtual Desktop10.8%
Amazon WorkSpaces2.1%
Other87.1%
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

Sachin Narvekar - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Lead, AWS at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Migration to cloud for secure and shared workspaces enhances productivity
There could be an end-to-end tool similar to AWS Transform that helps from assessment to migration. A single orchestrator tool could assist with discovery, implementation, and image building for Amazon WorkSpaces. O365 and other Microsoft products can become problematic at times, and there are some network health-related issues that appear occasionally regarding functionality inside Amazon WorkSpaces.
RC
Senior Advisor at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Enhanced collaboration and security with seamless remote access has transformed work efficiency
We can integrate anything with Azure Virtual Desktop from an application perspective. The App-V has evolved into MSIX. To deliver an application to Azure Virtual Desktop, MSIX can be used by expanding it as a virtual hard disk and attaching it to the virtual machine. When this is done, users who need the application will have immediate access through Active Directory group assignment. One challenge with Virtual Desktop infrastructure is application delivery. From an infrastructure perspective, it's beneficial as we can have a fallback point - if one machine is down, we can have a disaster recovery site for redirection. The delivery of applications is a tedious process. Microsoft is working on building new products for efficient application installation. This feature might be included in upcoming releases. Currently, it's burdensome for IT administrators to create applications compatible with Virtual Desktop infrastructure, unlike traditional machines where direct installation is possible.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"We can work remotely using the solution."
"Amazon WorkSpaces offers several best features including ease of access, security, scalability, anywhere access, and device flexibility."
"The best feature is that it operates very quickly. It depends on the regional location. If we choose a nearby location, nearby servers, it will be best for users to use."
"The most valuable features are easy provisioning, an active directory, and mobile access."
"Amazon WorkSpaces is very fast."
"They maintain it and manage it very well."
"The tool has low latency and multimedia support. For instance, running Zoom calls on Amazon WorkSpaces seamlessly supports local microphones, speakers, and web cameras. This feature is transparent for applications, allowing me to use the Zoom application without requiring exceptional support for remote web cameras or microphones. Amazon WorkSpaces provides this functionality at the operating system level, enabling effortless video conferencing. To my knowledge, Microsoft Remote Desktop does not offer the same support."
"The experience is seamless and there is no delay. The performance is very good. Initial startup times is a little bit of wait time, but it is bearable."
"I've always found Azure Virtual Desktop to work for me without issues."
"The integration of Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams within Azure Virtual Desktop helps customers enhance collaboration because it works seamlessly."
"The auto-scaling option allows provisioning additional virtual desktops based on user demand, making it scalable and flexible."
"This integration enhances productivity 100%, as it makes it much easier for us to give access to external third parties to work with us for collaboration."
"Azure pricing is quite cheap due to licensing benefits with Microsoft."
"Azure Virtual Desktop enables anyone connecting to Microsoft to use MFA (multi-factor authentication), totally secured to connect and has end-to-end encryption through tunnel encryption."
"Absolutely, this solution is probably the leader in its field."
"The ability to spin up virtual machines quickly and speedily in Azure has been really valuable."
 

Cons

"There is always scope of improvement in the stability."
"Configuration was a bit complicated at first but manageable."
"Amazon WorkSpaces needs to improve on releasing the most number of patches immediately as quickly as possible. And they need to enable more USB options to connect a mobile phone to that particular workspace."
"An area that could be improved is it could work better on VPN."
"The speed and performance are not always the greatest. It can be improved."
"The solution lacks a shadow mode option, and it needs to have it."
"I would say that it is a little complex to configure."
"Amazon WorkSpaces needs to improve its pricing."
"Azure could improve its uptime and the scaling aspect, as it lacks intelligent scaling."
"The costs are a bit difficult to predict upfront. When I am trying to sell it to a customer as a consultant, it is hard to give them a fixed price."
"I would like to see built-in proxy and internet filtering."
"The delivery of applications is a tedious process."
"There are challenges when upgrading the OS from Windows 10 to Windows 11, such as facing a black screen during testing. It is essential for Microsoft to ensure better testing and smoother transitions when decommissioning previous versions."
"I see areas for improvement in Azure Virtual Desktop, specifically regarding cost, as it is a little bit expensive."
"Access from Entra ID should be implemented to provide only tenant access to users connecting to the Azure Virtual Desktop environment, eliminating the need for on-premises requirements."
"Access from Entra ID should be implemented to provide only tenant access to users connecting to the Azure Virtual Desktop environment, eliminating the need for on-premises requirements."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Price-wise Amazon Workspaces is cheaper than most services available."
"I think that the price can be lower. We have cases where the customer needs to have lower costs. So since we don't have options, like, shadow mode, they need to decrease pricing or have other models for reduced pricing."
"It is very expensive."
"The pricing is based on consumption. You pay for each process based on the transactions you make."
"They have hourly and monthly pricing, and because our use case is, more of a sporadic use, so I go for hourly pricing. Again, the details of the pricing is handled by the procurement. From an end user perspective, pay as you use hourly is suitable"
"The bundle works out to be approximately $20.00 per month."
"The solution is not very cheap and it is not too pricey."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is low and ten is a high price, I rate the pricing a two."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Performing Arts
18%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Computer Software Company
26%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise6
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon WorkSpaces?
For Amazon WorkSpaces pricing, I think it is affordable; it is a final decision made through the management part. I am not satisfied with the billing part because sometimes it bills for huge usage ...
What needs improvement with Amazon WorkSpaces?
Desired improvements for Amazon WorkSpaces include faster and more flexible image updates, incremental image updates, patch-only updates, and a much faster push of software configuration changes to...
What is your primary use case for Amazon WorkSpaces?
Amazon WorkSpaces is used to provide a consistent environment for remote workers for testing purposes. Software testing is typically run on those desktops.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Virtual Desktop?
The usual amount customers pay for this tool varies. I have seen large deployments catering to 500 or 700 users. Enterprises do use it, and they pay quite a bit for this.
What needs improvement with Azure Virtual Desktop?
I see areas for improvement in Azure Virtual Desktop, specifically regarding cost, as it is a little bit expensive. However, when you account for replacing dedicated hardware and the maintenance it...
What is your primary use case for Azure Virtual Desktop?
We use RDP with Azure and have some virtual desktops. A major use case for Azure Virtual Desktop is that we give access to external consultants so they can access our information and interact with ...
 

Also Known As

WorkSpaces
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

GrubHub, Endemol Shine Nederland, CMC Property Services
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon WorkSpaces vs. Azure Virtual Desktop and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.