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Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs Parallels Desktop vs VMware Workstation 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 July 2025, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) is 12.1%, up from 11.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Parallels Desktop is 13.4%, up from 9.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Workstation is 15.4%, up from 15.3% 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.
Grant-Donald - PeerSpot reviewer
It integrates seamlessly with macOS, but it's not compatible with VMware
Parallels Desktop does the same thing as VMware but for Apple users Parallels Desktop integrates seamlessly with macOS. It works better than VMware on Apple operating systems.  The biggest challenge is compatibility between VMware and Parallels because the two systems are incompatible. It can be…
Shambhu Narayan  Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
An easy-to-manage solution that has really good customer support compared to other market players
VMware Workstation makes it easy to manage all the resources that we are handling. VMware Workstation has reduced our infrastructure cost. If someone wants machines, I can create them easily using the solution. VMware Workstation is easier to manage than other workstations like Oracle Workstation. VMware Workstation is an easy-to-manage solution, and its support is really good compared to other market players. Overall, I rate VMware Workstation an eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution provides everything in one integrated platform. When it comes to monitoring their solution, it is really easy. We have all the information in one place so we can have the right information at the right moment. We can be proactive when it comes to dealing with performance, maintenance, and security issues."
"Getting access to the applications for which we otherwise have to be on-site is probably the biggest advantage"
"Citrix is used by many organizations to make it possible to streamline the way different developers work together from different locations."
"It has very good performance in delivering 3D applications over WAN."
"XenDesktop has helped our users to work remotely with a better user experience."
"It is stable, easy to scale, and provides secure remote access."
"Stable product with straightforward setup."
"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."
"Parallels Desktop integrates seamlessly with macOS. It works better than VMware on Apple operating systems."
"I like how, with Parallels, you can either boot into Mac or Windows to get better control over the resources of the laptops since you're sharing the resources in dual mode."
"It will not harm any of the computer settings to run a specific program. For example, if a program needs a specific security policy, we don't have to use the shared configuration. We have an individual copy of Windows installed on the virtual machine, so anybody can access that. It helps us a lot."
"The most valuable feature of VMware Player is the ability to snapshot with or without memory."
"VMware Workstation allows you to run a virtual machine."
"VMware Player helps you to virtualize and install Ubuntu or any other operating system, even on a Windows laptop."
"We initially intended to work with Hyper-V because we are selling a virtual appliance and thought our customers would want to run that on Hyper-V."
"VMware Workstation’s most valuable feature is virtualization technology."
"The performance is good."
"The tool’s GUI is very user-friendly."
 

Cons

"I think Citrix's support is good, but sometimes it is a little slow."
"The application is now very complex. We started with Citrix on PCs. Now, to access the same application, we need to have a StoreFront Server, the Delivery Controller, and Citrix License Server. It's now very complex."
"When there are technical issues, sometimes we can't get on the cloud."
"They can simplify the process of printers. Printers were quite a difficult issue. It took us a long time to iron this issue out. We have the most simple use case where people connect from home to either a virtual machine or their physical desktop. We tried more complex solutions like Machine Creation Services, and they were more overhead than they were worth for us. I found them difficult to work with and confusing, and they were not worth the work for us."
"The user profiles could use some improvement."
"Tech support can be slow if you do not receive help from the US representatives."
"Pricing can be lower and roaming profiles need to be fixed to work consistently."
"Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops are not easy to set up. However, I have the experience and I can do it easily. It could be easier to set up."
"The biggest challenge is compatibility between VMware and Parallels because the two systems are incompatible. It can be challenging if you are switching between Windows and Mac. I recommend sticking with one product because there isn't good compatibility between the different products."
"There may have been some issues with device drivers on my Mac. Similarly, there are some issues with transferring data from Parallels to the Mac."
"The network configuration was not as easy as it could be and could take less time. We faced challenges with backup due to limitations in the free version, requiring us to switch to a paid version."
"The solution should provide a guide on its installation."
"One improvement is mouse emulation. Some people in the office want to use a five—or seven-button mouse like they're used to at home, but they can't with the workstation setup."
"The network configuration was not as easy as it could be and could take less time."
"They could bring in many different features from VMware vSphere to Workstation."
"The price of VMware Workstation is an area of concern where improvements are needed."
"The support can be improved."
"The product could provide the features available in Microsoft Hyper-V."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"The licensing, in general, is expensive. A lot of customers battle to pay the amount. It's very difficult to ensure that your solution provides the business value that the customer is after."
"The price of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is approximately $300 for the new version called Dash and the license is approximately $900 annually."
"If one is a high price and ten is a low price, I rate the tool's price a three."
"The purchase price was around $300,000 USD and then the maintenance fees were 20%. There are no other additional fees."
"I think it is a little high priced."
"We recouped 60 to 70 percent of the hardware costs."
"It's my understanding that the solution license fee for each user is around $300 US. If we buy a personal laptop for each employee every five years, then the total cost is five times $300 US, or $1,500 USD. So we could buy 100 personal laptops instead of the Citrix solution."
Information not available
"VMware Workstation has a high price than competitors in the market."
"It is an expensive solution."
"VMware is expensive. Licensing can be tricky. For example, I recently had a client running VMware vSphere Essentials and wanted to migrate to a more scalable solution. However, they had no choice but to purchase a completely new license and deploy a completely new instance of VMware."
"Licensing fees are paid on an annual basis."
"You need to pay for a license, but I don't think it costs that much. I think it's a one-time payment."
"The solution is moderately priced. I rate the pricing a six out of ten."
"The price of the solution per workstation is approximately 200 Francs annually. We pay a total of 800 francs. Everything is included in the price such as the support."
"The tool is not the cheapest."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
13%
University
9%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

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 do you like most about Parallels Desktop?
I like how, with Parallels, you can either boot into Mac or Windows to get better control over the resources of the l...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Parallels Desktop?
If you want the standard version, it is more expensive but more advanced. You get what you pay for. These products co...
What needs improvement with Parallels Desktop?
There may have been some issues with device drivers on my Mac. Similarly, there are some issues with transferring dat...
Which VMware solution would you go with - Workstation or vSphere?
VM Workstation’s setup is so easy, you can use it almost instantly, it works well with Windows and Linux. We like VM ...
What do you like most about VMware Workstation?
The product is stable, very easy to deploy, easy to use, easy to configure, and easy to set up.
What needs improvement with VMware Workstation?
The product's integration capabilities are an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required.
 

Also Known As

XenDesktop, XenApp (Citrix Virtual Apps), Citrix Workspace
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Interactive Demo

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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
Lytro, University of Washington, Slalom, Veeva Systems, Oklahoma Christian University
Akademiska Hus
Find out what your peers are saying about VMware, Citrix, Omnissa and others in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). Updated: June 2025.
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