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Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs VNC Connect comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 7, 2024

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

Microsoft Intune
Sponsored
Ranking in Remote Access
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
321
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (2nd), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citri...
Ranking in Remote Access
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
128
Ranking in other categories
Application Virtualization (1st), Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (1st), Desktop as a Service (DaaS) (1st)
VNC Connect
Ranking in Remote Access
19th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Remote Access category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 8.9%, down from 9.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) is 4.5%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VNC Connect is 2.9%, down from 3.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Remote Access Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Intune8.9%
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)4.5%
VNC Connect2.9%
Other83.7%
Remote Access
 

Featured Reviews

AkashKamble - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr MacOS specialist engineer at Cyber24
Enables management of multiple operating systems with a single license
The best feature is that it's a Microsoft product, so if anything goes wrong, we get quick support for anything required. Remote system functionality allows us to sit anywhere and take control of any device via remote management. We can enhance security for clients' laptops with built-in Microsoft Defender, which is available with the Microsoft Intune license. We use it for reporting purposes through endpoint analytics. When pushing scripting, there are two types available: remediation script and reservation script. Through endpoint analytics, you can push defender policies to clients. It helps with reporting, inventory updates, and monitoring tenant status health.
SN
Technical Lead on Virtual Desktop at Orange
Has delivered consistent desktop experiences across remote locations and has supported multimedia workloads efficiently
I have utilized the HDX protocol for compression and audio-video capabilities. When users need to conduct meetings with customers or colleagues, they can use Teams solutions and open a bridge where video and audio are encapsulated within the ICA protocol, which is protected by SSL and certificates for security. This provides secure communication at good quality through the HDX protocol. HDX protocol has improved application performance as it is specifically designed for multimedia applications. If processing audio or video files, such as in telecom where discussions are recorded and then prepared as video or audio, this does not consume excessive bandwidth during the operation compared to a normal remote desktop connection provided by Microsoft. Everything is compressed and provides sufficient bandwidth for multiple people to perform similar tasks without interruption or session disconnection. All multimedia-related activities, such as playing content on YouTube, deliver a better experience with this protocol overall. I use multi-factor authentication for opening sessions to the data center where users access their machines or software. Multi-factor authentication has helped secure applications because users typically have two-way authentication software on their phones. They use a password first and then authenticate themselves through their mobile application to grant access to resources. This approach is effective because if a hacker attacks a user, they need more than just the password and username. They must also possess the device that provides authentication. The device typically has facial recognition, a password, and provides better security overall.
Jose Miguel Moya - PeerSpot reviewer
SACTA Architect at MRInformatica
Easy to deploy, but scalability needs improvement
There are no specific challenges I faced while using the product. I haven't used the solution to support any AI-driven projects. In our company, we need to have remote access to our labs because if not, people have to move to the laboratory, and we will spend a lot of time working. I don't know the features of VNC Connect that improved our company's support capabilities. I rate the tool a six 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

"It's easy to manage."
"The best feature of Microsoft Intune is that it managed the endpoints."
"I like that it's very good and very simple. I found that we just needed to have a proper subscription for an Intune tenant, and from the subscription, if we have the right role assigned, like the global admin role or the owner role, we can use Microsoft cloud resources. With the help of that, we can do many things like setting up Microsoft Intune in the cloud to create our virtual machines. All these can be done, and the steps are very simple. I really liked it. I like features like Windows Auto-Enrollment. I like it very much because whenever you supply it to the end-user, it will be ready to use immediately. The end-user only needs to provide the user credentials, and then they are good to go. I also really like Cloud PC, which was recently launched on Azure."
"The biggest asset is the range of device management options available with Intune, whether it is a Windows device, a Linux device, a Mac device, or mobile devices."
"While I don't think you can ever have full visibility and control, Intune certainly allows us to see the applications being used and tells us if things like Windows patches aren't applied to machines. It does a good job. That visibility makes life a little easier."
"The most valuable feature is Intune's ability to push out updates for the security and antivirus. I also like Intune's copilot and the ability to automate processes. For example, if you have 5,000 employees who are issued new PCs and you need to set them up with everything they need."
"Windows Autopatch is the most valuable because it removes the burden of patch management."
"One of the most valuable aspects of Microsoft Intune is its seamless integration with Azure Active Directory, offering capabilities akin to Group Policy Objects."
"The product is simple to set up, and its deep integration with Microsoft is also a valuable feature."
"It has improved delivering applications to remote locations with its lower bandwidth utilization."
"It has the best remote working features."
"The most valuable feature is the watermark because most of the time our employees connect from a remote location. In case they photograph the DDA or some data, the watermark will show which user did so and from which IP they connected. That makes it more secure."
"Citrix Workspace's standout feature is its flexibility."
"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."
"XenApp is a fast, secure and reliable solution for remote connections that is completely different than and superior to older Windows solutions."
"Getting access to the applications for which we otherwise have to be on-site is probably the biggest advantage"
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its ease of use."
"The product’s ease of use and security are valuable."
"The most valuable features are that it is consistently low profile and consistently works without hiccups or headaches."
 

Cons

"We do not utilize Microsoft customer service and technical support since it is generally a waste of time."
"It would be helpful if there was proactive remediation."
"Once it's configured it is unobtrusive, but it does take some hands-on to configure and deploy it properly."
"I think that there is room for improvement with the reporting. If this is done, it will be a better product."
"Policy and app deployment should be faster, as it currently takes between minutes to hours to apply, with an average of one hour."
"There can be more logs. I do not have any other requirements."
"Automatic updating is pretty rough. It doesn't give me as much control as I had in the past."
"We are facing issues with Apple products. With macOS and iOS, there are some difficulties with the updates because we cannot get full control of Apple products. In the case of Windows, it is fine, but in the case of Apple, we have some difficulties. We cannot control everything through Intune."
"Tech support can be slow if you do not receive help from the US representatives."
"Compared with the Outlook mobile app, the Citrix mobile app shows some lag in authentication."
"The only thing we have found to be detrimental is when we have tried to find training. I realize that we're looking at it at the worst time possible, with a pandemic going on, but it seems that most of the training offered is learn-by-yourself online."
"I've recently tried to use Citrix on Ubuntu, and I don't know if this is an Ubuntu issue or a vendor issue, but you can't use Citrix right now on Ubuntu 20.04."
"The product's technical support services need improvement."
"Direct connection of USB devices on the terminals to be used by streamed applications is very important for printing and the usage of token authentication, but the current version does not support this one hundred percent."
"It takes time to load."
"The product advances really fast. For some customers, we need better backwards compatibility."
"Improvements are required in the area of scalability since it is an aspect of the tool where there are shortcomings."
"Ease of access is a bit of a challenge."
"We occasionally have issues with the graphic software of the interface."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If you ask the accountant or the finance department, they'll tell you that it is way too expensive, but when I look at the cost and compare it with the value you actually get, it's more than fair."
"The overall pricing of Microsoft Intune is good for companies that have big IT budgets, 3,000 or more users and devices."
"Intune is available as an individual product, but it also comes with Office 365 Premium or an Enterprise license, and the price varies for each version."
"It comes as a bundle, so you do not really know what the prices are. Microsoft does not break it down to the user cost for us. It is just bundled with our E5 license."
"While I don't have access to high-level financial information, I believe we have achieved lower costs with this implementation."
"Microsoft Intune is pretty reasonable. We have difficulty with Azure, which is probably why we have not put many assets in Azure. Everything we put there is very expensive."
"Its price is fair. It's a normal price. It isn't too expensive or too cheap."
"My team members bundled it together with their Microsoft solutions, including Microsoft 365 and related products."
"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."
"The licensing is $125 USD per user."
"The price of the solution could be less expensive. There are different versions to their solution and the price keeps increasing."
"The purchase price was around $300,000 USD and then the maintenance fees were 20%. There are no other additional fees."
"It is quite expensive, but so are the competitors on the market."
"I suggest using the concurrent user licensing scheme."
"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."
"I think it is a little high priced."
"I use the tool's free version."
"The tool is not cheap."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
23%
Computer Software Company
9%
University
7%
Media Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business122
Midsize Enterprise48
Large Enterprise160
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise69
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

How does Microsoft Intune compare with VMware Workspace One?
Microsoft Intune is a great tool for managing a mobile device fleet while keeping access control. The solution makes ...
What are the pros and cons of Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune is a great configuration management tool and has a lot of good things going for it. Here are some of...
How does Google Cloud Identity compare with Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also ...
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 needs improvement with VNC Connect?
The bandwidth is slow. Improvements are required in the area of scalability since it is an aspect of the tool where t...
What is your primary use case for VNC Connect?
I use the solution to get remote access to our labs.
What advice do you have for others considering VNC Connect?
There are no specific challenges I faced while using the product. I haven't used the solution to support any AI-drive...
 

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
XenDesktop, XenApp (Citrix Virtual Apps), Citrix Workspace
No data available
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Exelon, Aeronamic, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Alameda County Medical Center, Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Aloysius Stichting, Amarchand Mangaldas, AmBev, Amnet Technology Solutions, Arval
Telesat Canada, St. Anthony's School, Pratt and Whitney, City of Sacramento
Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs. VNC Connect and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
883,089 professionals have used our research since 2012.