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Horizon 8 vs VMware Workstation comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 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

Horizon 8
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
114
Ranking in other categories
User Virtualization (1st)
VMware Workstation
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
1st
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Horizon 8 is 7.8%, down from 13.9% 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

Muhammad JunaidJawed - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps ensure data leaks do not occur from the base machine to VDI while multi-instance capabilities remain limited
I have been using Horizon for two years. It provides my DevOps team access to PAM and server through the provider The solution has helped ensure data leaks do not occur from the base machine to VDI, and it saves data through API copyright. The solution has data leak prevention features that…
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 most valuable feature of this solution is the clone variant. We have been using the linked clone for the past five years, but I am willing to support and take on the function of the instant cloud."
"The solution simplifies our work."
"Its most valuable feature is the rapid and versatile access from clients operating on various Windows, Linux, and MacOS systems."
"It stands as a robust setup with considerable capabilities."
"VMware Horizon 7 has its proprietary Elastic streaming protocol, which is very good for delivering VDI."
"The initial setup is very simple."
"I appreciate how simple and straightforward the operation of VMware Horizon View is."
"The console is straightforward and easy to understand for the end user. It can be deployed on any device, including iPads and Mac OS. Users can access their daily applications and resources provided by the VMware Horizon environment from any device."
"The most valuable feature of the VMware Workstation is the ease to create a development environment. When you have different ongoing developments, you often need to create a lot of different development environments. With this workstation solution, you can have a development environment for all the things you develop."
"VMware Workstation works correctly and has more features compared to Oracle VirtualBox."
"The most valuable feature of VMware Player is the ability to snapshot with or without memory."
"The simplicity of the deployment and the implementation, and the footprint for the hardware are some of the solution's valuable features."
"The product's initial setup phase was simple."
"The most valuable features of the VMware Workstation solutions are the ESXi and vCenter."
"VMware Workstation’s most valuable features are backup and data transfer from one server to another."
"Having ten people working off a single piece of hardware reduces costs."
 

Cons

"Using a printer with the VDI is not a straightforward process."
"The majority of things in VMware Horizon can be done only in Windows and not in Linux. There are Linux customers who would like to use VMware Horizon's features."
"VMware support is okay, but sometimes it's a little bit hit or miss trying to get somebody who knows what they're doing and talking about."
"The integration could be improved."
"It is a little bit complex. You need a little bit of experience with ESXi installation and VMware before using this solution. You cannot directly jump to this solution. It also requires training. After you get trained, you can do anything with Horizon 7. In terms of features, it has been sufficient for my needs, but it can always have more features. They can maybe merge the servers. They can give the Horizon 7 server in one package with ESXi."
"Horizon 7's performance could be improved."
"Along with the high pricing, the profile synchronization mechanism also needs improvement."
"The product's initial setup process could be easier."
"It would be great if VMware Workstation had more networking options and compatibility, that would be great. I would like to deploy virtual switches and play around with networking a bit more. Otherwise, I have to deploy ESXi Virtual Edition and emulate it, which is painful and clunky."
"I have had issues with the virtual network adapters in the past that has taken some time to troubleshoot."
"They could bring in many different features from VMware vSphere to Workstation."
"I would want to see features included that make deployment easier."
"The product’s virtual machine data backup feature needs upgrading."
"I would like to see more detailed reporting capabilities, particularly around snapshot activity. It would be helpful to have a summary of changes made prior to deploying an application, allowing us to provide comprehensive reports to our management on a regular basis."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"At present, they provide decent pricing in terms of bundled licenses."
"The pricing can be relatively competitive, but sometimes you have to go back to VMware and ask for additional discounts. You can make it competitive If you're prepared to put in the work. The list prices and standard discounts may not be competitive, but if you push hard enough, you can get the price to where you need it to be."
"VMware Horizon is expensive. It should provide a special price for more user licenses."
"We pay for the solution annually at a cost of approximately 10,000 HKD."
"The pricing is quite reasonable."
"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."
"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."
"VMware Workstation is an expensive tool. I rate the product's price a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is a high price, and ten is a low or good price."
"It has the best licensing modules."
"With all its support and ease of use, VMware Player's pricing is fair."
"It is an expensive solution."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"VMware Workstation has a high price than competitors in the market."
"The cost differs depending on the customer's requirement."
"The solution's pricing is almost the same as what Google Cloud, AWS, or Microsoft would charge you."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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 setup is easy, and the product is very stable and reliable. I think the fact th...
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 that is readily deployable. The advantage lies in its simplicity, it requires mini...
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 VMware to get it into production. Hence, we lost a lot of time implementing the ...
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 Workstation primarily to test environments to determine how well a solution will...
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

VMware Horizon, VMware Horizon View, Mware Dynamic Environment Manager
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

LCMC Health
Akademiska Hus
Find out what your peers are saying about Horizon 8 vs. VMware Workstation and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
863,901 professionals have used our research since 2012.