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Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs VMware Fusion Pro 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 August 2025, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) is 12.8%, up from 11.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is 6.3%, down from 11.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Fusion Pro is 20.4%, up from 17.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
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.
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.
Bruce Lundberg - PeerSpot reviewer
Create custom virtual environments quickly with minor macOS integration issues
The primary advantage of VMware Fusion Pro is its simplicity in creating custom virtual machines. It allows quick construction and provides connectivity to full VMware server systems, enabling remote management. It facilitates downloading images from main VMware servers for local testing. The ability to construct a virtual environment on my laptop meets my needs, even ones I wasn't aware of.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"My focus has primarily been on publishing virtual applications."
"For the most part, overall stability is what you would expect."
"ICA/HDX optimization policies."
"The most valuable feature is connectivity. The remote connection is the reason we are using this solution."
"The tech support is fast, knowledgeable, and customer-friendly."
"Citrix Workspace can present desktop applications with ease, in an efficient and secure manner. The performance is good, it is a great piece of software."
"The ROI for us has been that when we had Hurricane Harvey last year, Xendesktop came in very handy for us. Even though people had electricity in Texas, many networks were down. Our offices could still get into our network and do work that was needed. It is an excellent virtual office that works anywhere, anytime and anyplace. It is worth our investment."
"You can connect to any printer, and from anywhere you can print documents using a compressed channel. It is easy and the bandwidth is very low."
"In terms of the valuable features, I like the profile, the new version is really good."
"I give the stability a nine out of ten."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is scalable."
"The solution works well as a remote desktop."
"Microsoft is very reasonable in its approach to cost."
"Things can be made easier if someone is not with us or at a long distance since we can connect easily with those people. So, it's easy for us to use such features."
"The solution is stable."
"I find the ease of use of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services most valuable, as it allows me to have remote access and connect securely."
"VMware Fusion Pro offers simplicity of use and stability."
"VMware Fusion Pro offers simplicity of use and stability."
"The most important feature of VMware Fusion is that it helps me rapidly launch a new OS."
"The most value that it provides is that it is versatile."
"The primary advantage of VMware Fusion Pro is its simplicity in creating custom virtual machines."
"For me, VMware Fusion Pro has been invaluable, allowing me to meet all my needs with a single system."
"The product is easy to use and has a simple user interface."
"The whole point of it is to run Windows VMs on a Mac. This is the most valuable feature. There is snapshotting, but we don't really use that. The Pro version allows me to actually attach to the Windows ESXi infrastructure at the backend, and I'm able to create a session that I can attach to the VMware hooks at the backend, so one is running a VM, and the whole operating system is running on the actual Mac. The other one is literally a frontend to the VMs that are running in the infrastructure at the backend. These are the two main features I use."
 

Cons

"I would like to see simplification in the management of the on-prem infrastructure component of Citrix DaaS, particularly in the studio tool used to manage the DaaS infrastructure."
"It is slow. When everybody is logged in, it does have a tendency to slow down. You can tell the connectivity slows down a little bit, but it's still a good product."
"The solution's technical support is not so good."
"The speed and connectivity of Citrix DaaS could be improved."
"Performance could be better if there was a low latency improvement."
"Dependency on server virtualization after v7.x is an issue which I encountered in small environments."
"It is not easy to set up."
"The dashboard should be more user-friendly as the tabs are not organized clearly."
"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."
"We would like configuration to be automatic and the price to be close to zero, however, that's not realistic."
"In the past, my company had faced some issues related to the stability of the product. The product's stability can be improved."
"The stability could be improved."
"There is a limitation on the number of concurrent users."
"The solution isn't as good as the Citrix option."
"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."
"The performance depends on connectivity."
"I would like to see newer and updated cloud functions."
"Fusion is not meant to be scalable. It runs on desktops and laptops, indicating limitations in scalability."
"The only issue I've experienced with VMware Fusion Pro is that it doesn't register correctly with the main macOS system, causing repeated notifications about background installations. This is a minor inconvenience."
"Additionally, enhancing the API interactions could improve the ability to manage VS and deploy various kinds of guests."
"Its installation process could be simpler."
"VMware Fusion's licensing cost needs improvement."
"The only issue I've experienced with VMware Fusion Pro is that it doesn't register correctly with the main macOS system, causing repeated notifications about background installations."
"The way they handle snapshotting can be improved. One time, I moved a machine from one to another, and I tried to pull it up on the second machine, but it didn't work. This was because I had not cleaned up the snapshot before I deleted it and moved it across. So, when I tried to pull it up, it wouldn't let me bring it up. The backups for the VMs themselves can also be improved. I pretty much have to rely on Windows backups and not something on VMware. That's where it needs improvement. I am able to upload from my Fusion into the ESXi easily. I'm able to spin something up on Fusion and push it into the big arena, but the reverse is not as easy, that is, trying to pull something down from that. I would love to have a functionality where I could pull something from the VMware infrastructure into Fusion, but I'm not sure if I can take something from ESXi and pull it into Fusion."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"A perpetual enterprise license costs approximately $300 USD."
"In the past, the prices of the product were great. With the acquisition of Citrix by your company, the prices have drastically increased. For my company, it has become a bit of a problem to sell products from Citrix."
"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."
"As for the cost, it is neither cheap nor expensive. Personally, I find it quite expensive, especially if you want to add more features. The security features we use include App Protect and Endpoint Protection."
"Based not only on the cost of Citrix, but additional costs like firewalls, IPS, and other solutions, the total cost of switching users from using normal laptops with VPNs to connection via Citrix were so huge that the CEO of our company decided to postpone the deployment process."
"We don't have a lot to compare it to, but we certainly think whatever we pay is worthwhile at this point in time. It's very reasonable."
"It is an expensive solution. I rate its pricing a nine out of ten."
"The tool is expensive."
"The solution has a pretty comparable pricing."
"The cost is fair."
"I rate the price of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services a three out of five."
"The price of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is reasonable. The solution can come for free for some clients with certain agreements."
"I would say it's expensive as there similar products available for free."
"The pricing is moderate."
"The pricing could always be improved."
"The solution has a perpetual license and it is purchased upfront."
"I rate the product's pricing a seven or eight. It is highly-priced."
"The cost varies depending on the season and whether it is scaled up or scaled down, but I would guess that it's approximately $1,000 per month."
"Starting with version 12, it is now free on a Mac for personal use. Fusion Pro has a cost."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
14%
University
10%
Educational Organization
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 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.
What do you like most about VMware Fusion?
The product is easy to use and has a simple user interface.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Fusion?
The pricing of VMware Fusion Pro is reasonable. The licensing covers all minor version updates, while major updates r...
What needs improvement with VMware Fusion?
The only issue I've experienced with VMware Fusion Pro is that it doesn't register correctly with the main macOS syst...
 

Also Known As

XenDesktop, XenApp (Citrix Virtual Apps), Citrix Workspace
Remote Desktop Services
No data available
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
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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
Bank Alfalah Ltd.
NetApp
Find out what your peers are saying about VMware, Citrix, Omnissa and others in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). Updated: August 2025.
865,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.