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Cisco VXI vs Horizon 8 vs Microsoft Remote Desktop Services 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:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Cisco VXI is 0.8%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Horizon 8 is 6.6%, down from 8.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is 5.9%, down from 7.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Horizon 86.6%
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services5.9%
Cisco VXI0.8%
Other86.7%
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

Sina Ghozati - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Solution Specialist at Arrow Electronics
Straightforward implementation, scalable, but performance could improve
When using Cisco VXI in virtual environments there tends to be a lot of bugs with files you have to deploy across the virtual environment. You configure for hours, and then there is a bug that stops you, and you notice that you wasted hours. There's always room for improvement with these virtual environments because you're not dealing with the actual equipment, you're dealing with a virtual version of it that you have to install in a virtual environment. The performance of Cisco VXI could improve. It requires a lot of hardware and even if you install it on a server it is heavy on resources.
MB
Owner at CoBSS
Experience with remote access facilitates seamless user management, though improvements in integration and analytics are desired
From the analytical aspects, we used Horizon 8 Advanced Analytics and most companies switched to another product to gain insights because the insight is not as helpful as other products that are built for it. What was missing in Horizon 8 to make it a better tool was in analytics, specifically getting the right information and the drill-down process to find out where the problem is. If a user has an issue, it is crucial to determine what the issue is that the user is having and since when they have the issue. For example, if a user reports back that they had an issue yesterday evening, getting that information and ensuring that you have it was hard to find, especially to pinpoint if the issue lies with the network or the Horizon 8 platform. We utilized the multi-factor authentication, conditional access in Horizon 8, but we are not satisfied with that. It lacks some integration options that make it easy to run with Microsoft Entra, for example, and authenticate using your regular authenticator besides just getting a pop-up that says, 'I'm the one that's trying to log on.' Nowadays, there are many more complex authentication methods, but even a basic confirmation with a number to verify that you are the person connecting is not supported. I would like to see improvements in Horizon 8, specifically integration with NVIDIA for graphical performance upgrades because it creates many issues such as crashing and black screen systems, causing users to lose access to their current desktop and work. This is a real issue at the moment for many customers worldwide.
reviewer2795433 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Ops Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Secure remote access has protected sensitive country data and supports strict compliance needs
I understand from the IT team managing Microsoft Remote Desktop Services that it is complex to set up the multiple roles, certificates, and networks required. Networking is quite complicated. Even though on the data center side it is quite simple, maintaining the farm of other connections that connect to that server is the complex piece. I understand there are more modern systems replicating what this solution does, which are easier to use, such as Azure Virtual Desktop within Microsoft Azure Cloud or Amazon WorkSpaces, which I have used before. Rather than having to manage all the complex networking, you could abstract it away a little further in the cloud for easier use. I also understand that this tool is in an end-of-life state now, with Microsoft actively pushing people towards Azure Virtual Desktop or Windows 365. I do not believe further features will be rolled out due to its end-of-life state, making it a legacy solution now.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The initial setup of Cisco VXI is straightforward."
"The solution has been doing a good job for us."
"The app virtualizing is a great feature."
"With Horizon, the difference is more on the simplicity of the user experience and the speed and delivery of the application."
"The most valuable features of VMware Horizon in our education organization are its Graphics Virtualization Unit (GVU) integration."
"VMware's technical support is good."
"We are happy with the interface, configurations, pricing and support."
"The solution's most valuable aspect is the VDI - the remote virtual desktop interface."
"VMware Horizon View is easy to configure and deploy."
"With virtual environments, we are highly scalable; before, when we had a physical environment adding a server was a whole process, now we have a base VM and we just add it, provisioning servers is nothing and now it takes two to three hours instead of two to three weeks."
"It's built into the operating system and has a command line interface capability to insert credentials, IDs, a password, et cetera."
"The most valuable features are the desktop session and desktop virtualization."
"The most valuable feature is ease of use."
"The most valuable features are it is fast and cost-effective."
"The solution is really fast."
"The main benefit, is that it's easy for us to get the same desktop and do things in the same way regardless of our location."
"Using Microsoft Remote Desktop Services has helped my team save time and improve productivity because we had Microsoft servers that were impossible to connect from our MacBook Pro laptops, and once we started using RDP, we could connect and move forward to deliver the project."
"The solution performs well and is easy to use."
 

Cons

"When using Cisco VXI in virtual environments there tends to be a lot of bugs with files you have to deploy across the virtual environment."
"When using Cisco VXI in virtual environments there tends to be a lot of bugs with files you have to deploy across the virtual environment. You configure for hours, and then there is a bug that stops you, and you notice that you wasted hours."
"The initial startup costs for this solution are relatively high."
"The installation is complex and could be easier. The full installation with testing took a couple of weeks to complete."
"Sometimes, the protocol itself gets a bit laggy. If you have less than optimal switching and routing, it can get kind of laggy."
"The setup of VMware Horizon 7 is easy. However, we have a lot of experience with VMware Horizon 7."
"The support team needs improvement as cases are sometimes solved very slowly."
"Horizon View could be more stable."
"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 ready-to-deploy templates should be available. Because they are not included, a lot of configuration is required."
"Remote Desktop Services doesn't scale well."
"It could be more user-friendly."
"For Microsoft, maybe bandwidth optimization is one of the areas that need improvement."
"We'd like them to continue to improve on security."
"The product is not very scalable."
"In the next release, I would like to see better performance over slower networks, and integration with Linux, but this is something that we're going to get out of Microsoft in terms of a unified solution."
"Sometimes difficult to set up without the requirement for login credentials each time."
"The only issue I experienced was with the initialization of the session, which affected the stability of the solution."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an expensive solution when there are bugs. I'm always ready to give money for a complete solution where there are no bugs in it, but you will never find it."
"VMware Horizon can be considered to be slightly expensive"
"Customers pay a licensing fee."
"I don't know about the price. I know there are different tiers with the license, but I'm not sure exactly what it costs anymore."
"The license for this product is paid on a monthly basis."
"Its cost is fair. You can go for a free trial, but for initializing a project, you need to purchase a license. There are different types of licenses."
"Horizon 7 is cheaper than some competitors, like Citrix, because it includes solutions for the server side, the VDI side, and the hypervisor side."
"This solution is expensive. A lot of companies in Mexico find that the price is too high."
"I rate the product's pricing a seven out of ten. Pricing can be an obstacle for smaller businesses. Pricing is fixed, and there are no additional costs."
"The price of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is reasonable."
"I rate the price of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services a three out of five."
"It's not an expensive product."
"The price of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is reasonable. The solution can come for free for some clients with certain agreements."
"The tool must be cheaper."
"I think that Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is expensive compared to Login solution."
"Although not an expensive product, pricing is always something that can be improved."
"The pricing is moderate."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business61
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise44
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business41
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise34
 

Questions from the Community

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How does VMware Workspace One compare with VMware Horizon 7?
VMware Workspace One has a powerful set of helpful features. The solution offers very good documentation, the initial...
What do you like most about VMware Horizon 7?
VMware offers a friendly environment, and it's easy to provide the user with the package. It is a bundled solution th...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Horizon 7?
We paid a lot of money for software that is not really fully operational out of the box. We had to have patches from ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
I was not involved in the pricing and licensing perspective, so I cannot speak too much on that. However, I know that...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
I understand from the IT team managing Microsoft Remote Desktop Services that it is complex to set up the multiple ro...
 

Also Known As

VXI
VMware Horizon, VMware Horizon View, Mware Dynamic Environment Manager
Remote Desktop Services
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Advanced Medical Transport, Artoni Transporti, Calligaris, CIPCO, Citrix, Comcast, Desktone, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), LightEdge, Management Science Associates, Molina Healthcare, North West Redwater, Outscale
LCMC Health
Bank Alfalah Ltd.
Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix, Broadcom, Omnissa and others in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). Updated: March 2026.
885,444 professionals have used our research since 2012.