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Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs Horizon Cloud Service 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 September 2025, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) is 13.0%, up from 10.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Horizon Cloud Service is 2.0%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is 6.2%, down from 10.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)13.0%
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services6.2%
Horizon Cloud Service2.0%
Other78.8%
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

Grant Waddell - PeerSpot reviewer
User-friendly and easily accessible, but cost could be made cheaper
We use Citrix Workspace on Citrix Cloud. We have all of our servers on the AWS public cloud. There are a number of tools that we can implement that would save us costs. However, we've stuck to Citrix for convenience. If the prices keep increasing, we will have to consider other solutions. Users need to understand the tool's limitations correctly and what they require from a usability perspective. They should also understand the configuration of security policies. In some cases, people are unable to download or upload files onto their PCs, which is necessary for them to do their work. Users should understand the limitations of the product or the configuration options. Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
SivaKuppala - PeerSpot reviewer
Centralized management enhances multi-cloud flexibility with cost efficiency improvements
The cost of Horizon Cloud Service is high, however, it could be optimized. The licensing model is complex, particularly for hybrid deployments, and simplifying it could help. Improvements in application performance, especially for resource-heavy applications like intensive 3D workloads, are needed. More built-in automation for routine tasks like patching and upgrading could reduce administrative effort.
Terje Romen - PeerSpot reviewer
Accessing the same desktop experience from anywhere but user template creation needs improvement
Mostly we are quite happy with it. However, some of us want a more powerful desktop. When not present, we use a remote tool called Splashtop, which is a good solution for some users. We have about ten licenses for those who need a powerful workstation at the office. We have not used many different tools. We are never in contact with Microsoft. These are quite basic configurations, to be honest. It's not complicated. AI is coming to or is already in some applications we are using. Not system-wise, however, it might be good. I'd rate the solution seven out of ten. It's quite good, yet certainly not perfect.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I use Citrix DaaS to connect to devices."
"It is a lightweight application that incorporates multi-factor authentication."
"Citrix has had the top remote display for the last 20 years, and there is a huge technological gap between Citrix and its competitors."
"Citrix is one of the companies that is delivering virtual apps and desktops in a big way. They are mature enough to understand the level of stability required and deliver it."
"It is stable, easy to scale, and provides secure remote access."
"The basic virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) feature is most valuable. We were lucky to have it in place when the pandemic hit. It is used very heavily now."
"Citrix Workspace's standout feature is its flexibility."
"Stable product with straightforward setup."
"The tool remains pretty stable."
"The product’s on-premise version has the ability to create an image of any updates or changes in the system."
"I honestly liked the application itself because it was just like using a desktop. You could copy and paste, inside and outside, and you could use multiple monitors. You could access it anytime, anywhere, no matter whether you were in the office or out of the office. I could leave the office, go somewhere, go back in, and everything would be there. I could just leave it up and running. I absolutely love this feature in VMware Horizon Cloud."
"Horizon Cloud Service provides deployment flexibility across multiple clouds with a scalable architecture that easily scales virtual desktops and applications up or down based on demand."
"VMware Horizon Cloud is easy to use and the full development cloud is very good. The main features of VMware are included. It's a cloud-based virtual desktop infrastructure software that allows you to permit the virtual desktops and applications to any device from the single unified management control. These are managed from the dedicated remote session desktop."
"The product allows a VPN connection, adding extra value to its features."
"The most valuable feature of VMware Horizon Cloud is all of its capabilities together."
"The main benefit of Horizon Cloud Service is that it is cloud-based, allowing our organization to leverage the service without having to manage all infrastructure directly."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is stable and reliable."
"The most valuable feature is performance."
"The solution works well as a remote desktop."
"The product saves time."
"I find the ease of use of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services most valuable, as it allows me to have remote access and connect securely."
"The performance meets our requirements and the stability is good."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is that it scales well."
"Installing Microsoft Desktop Services is straightforward."
 

Cons

"There is room for slight improvement in performance optimization and interface refinement."
"The dashboard should be more user-friendly as the tabs are not organized clearly."
"Where improvement could be driven is in terms of clarity as to the functionality of some of the solutions. If you go back to the older Citrix Xen products that we had, we understood those really well. As we've come into the new workstation premium suite, there is a lot of additional functionality that we perhaps have not yet fully exploited. It is not because we can't, but simply because we don't yet understand the depth of functionality that's offered."
"The price is currently high, and having tiered pricing would benefit companies."
"Their customer support can be improved a lot as it lacks a lot of knowledgeable help."
"This solution is resource-intensive, it takes a lot of Bandwidth and a lot of the resources of the server."
"Pricing and technical support need improvement."
"For us, pricing is the most important feature to improve."
"The product has a lot of bugs."
"The licensing model needs to be adjusted, as a cloud license is currently required even for on-premises devices."
"In the design phase, sometimes the tools for designing Horizon solutions have issues when they're calculating the number of nodes and platforms needed to support the VDI systems."
"The cost of Horizon Cloud Service is high, however, it could be optimized. The licensing model is complex, particularly for hybrid deployments, and simplifying it could help."
"There should be more emphasis on the Workspace One access part of the solution. This is essentially identity management provided with Horizon. There needs to be some kind of integration because you are able to have all of these desktops on any device, but you have to have this other component to make it easier from a single sign-on perspective. That's why there should be an emphasis on Workspace One access. It actually comes free with the product, but people don't really know how powerful it can be."
"Logging into VMware Horizon Cloud could be made easier. Additionally, the VMs could be better in their performance."
"The licensing model is complex, particularly for hybrid deployments, and simplifying it could help."
"The application remoting features have some room for improvement."
"The training profiles could be better."
"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."
"I rate Microsoft's customer service support a two out of ten. In general, Microsoft has poor support."
"Remote Desktop Services doesn't scale well."
"The solution is unsuitable for direct external internet connections. You must set up a VPN and password handling to use it."
"We'd like, in the future, if it would work with Linux or Unix-based operating systems or even Mac."
"The pricing could be better."
"We had some instability during the implementation process. This has since been resolved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is a bit costly, but enterprise class features come with a cost."
"The solution is affordable."
"The tool is expensive."
"I don't quite remember the specifics of what we had. I believe we had a 25-user license, and I don't recall it being overly expensive."
"My company opts for the yearly subscription model to pay towards the licensing costs attached to the solution."
"The cost of the Citrix software reflects what I would expect a product of that nature, in that market, to be. Understanding the licensing is quite a bit more complicated, because one of the things about Citrix is that you can buy licensing at different levels... Yet I still like the idea because it means that if all you need is a basic load balancing solution, then you don't need to buy an advanced or premium license."
"A perpetual enterprise license costs approximately $300 USD."
"Citrix is expensive."
"There is a license required for the use of this solution and there are different tier levels available."
"For what you get, it is very compelling. You've got to look at the total cost of ownership of this type of piece of software in terms of being able to utilize it as a cloud service. I don't have to run everything on-premises. When you look at the total cost of just being able to use it and then being able to point it to any public or private cloud, it is very compelling. You have one less thing to manage."
"VMware Horizon Cloud is a low-cost solution. The model that they have is consumption-based. However, some features are expensive."
"I rate VMware Horizon Cloud pricing a ten out of ten."
"Initially, the product is cheap, but it starts to get expensive when users try to scale out."
"It is too expensive as compared to other solutions because of which we don't use it that much. We tend to go more for Hyper-V or Azure just because VMware licensing is quite up there. We sway people away from VMware Horizon Cloud. We have some clients who already have it. They stay on it for a little while, and then most of them end up moving off when we provide them a better solution that isn't as license heavy cost-wise."
"VMware Horizon Cloud is an expensive solution. This solution is approximately 30 percent more than Microsoft Azure Cloud. There can be extra costs."
"The solution is expensive. My company pays toward the monthly licensing costs of the solution...The additional cost, apart from the solution's licensing cost, is related to the technical support a user wants."
"The cost of the solution is low."
"I think that Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is expensive compared to Login solution."
"We do not have to pay for the product."
"It's not an expensive product."
"The solution is expensive. Since things are made to be a bit easier in the solution, the solution's cost is a bit on the higher side."
"The pricing could always be improved."
"The solution has a perpetual license and it is purchased upfront."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Media Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business43
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise68
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business39
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise30
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?
My focus has primarily been on publishing virtual applications.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?
I rate the product’s pricing a seven out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.
What needs improvement with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?
I have found that Citrix DaaS is still a complex product, especially on the desktop side, which affects scalability. ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Horizon Cloud?
The cost is considered normal, not remarkable but not outrageous. In terms of expense, compared to other virtualizati...
What needs improvement with VMware Horizon Cloud?
The licensing model needs to be adjusted, as a cloud license is currently required even for on-premises devices. Hori...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
In limited use cases, Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is free as it is defaulted by any Microsoft license. The paid...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
The only problem I see is that when I am connected, there is a certain lag because of the network.
 

Also Known As

XenDesktop, XenApp (Citrix Virtual Apps), Citrix Workspace
VMware Horizon Cloud, VMware Horizon DaaS
Remote Desktop Services
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Exelon, Aeronamic, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Alameda County Medical Center, Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Aloysius Stichting, Amarchand Mangaldas, AmBev, Amnet Technology Solutions, Arval
Marriott, Sprint
Bank Alfalah Ltd.
Find out what your peers are saying about VMware, Citrix, Omnissa and others in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). Updated: August 2025.
866,561 professionals have used our research since 2012.