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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
113
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 June 2025, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Horizon 8 is 7.4%, down from 14.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Workstation is 17.2%, up from 14.8% 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

"Users can log in from anywhere and from a variety of devices."
"The product helped us deploy complex applications."
"The initial setup is very simple and straightforward."
"The solution's most valuable feature is low bandwidth consumption. It helps to improve user experience."
"I like VMware Horizon's ability and performance."
"We can stop the end user from taking data out of the desktops."
"The application delivery is it's most valuable feature."
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"The most valuable features of VMware Workstation are the speed of access and quality of upgrade. Those are the more important and pertinent aspects as far as we were concerned. Functionality and features were relevant for the customers. What a customer chose, we had to make sure that it operated."
"The most valuable features of VMware Workstation are the DirectX support, you can run Microsoft Hyper-V in virtual environments which is good for me to test different installations. Additionally, you can set up different VLANs, and overall it is a complete solution."
"I haven't faced any inconveniences working with this solution. It is very easy to use."
"The initial setup is simple and takes only five minutes to complete."
"I would rate the stability a ten out of ten."
"VMware Player helps you to virtualize and install Ubuntu or any other operating system, even on a Windows laptop."
"I have found this product excellent for test/dev environments. This is 90% of what I use this product for."
"The performance is good."
 

Cons

"Technical support is only average and can be improved."
"The solution is very expensive."
"The solution must be faster and smoother."
"I would love to see so they can actually allow the use of Linux, from a hosting environment as well as from a VDI client environment."
"The system is not designed to allow the client to log in easily."
"VMware has purchased by Dell, they started to remove a lot of their support for non-Intel hardware and that's a bit of a problem. They dropped a lot of support for hardware that people commonly use and it just so happened that this hardware is not Intel. It makes it difficult to get assistance."
"The initial startup costs for this solution are relatively high."
"There are some issues with RAM in the system."
"When you go to work on a server, it opens up the whole window, and that causes an error inside VMware Player."
"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 product's integration capabilities are an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"Lacks the ability to clone onto another system rather than starting from scratch."
"Performance could be improved, it's somewhat clunky."
"They could bring in many different features from VMware vSphere to Workstation."
"VMware Workstation uses more resources like CPU and disk space, especially the CPU, which is a shortcoming that needs improvement."
"VMware Workstation could improve the export and import of virtual machines."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For long-term use, perpetual licenses are more cost-effective, and for short-term use, subscription-based would be more cost-effective."
"The solution is expensive."
"VMware Horizon View pricing is high compared to other solutions. I rate it two out of ten. Its licensing costs are monthly."
"The license could be cheaper."
"I would rate the pricing of VMware Horizon View a five out of ten. The price is average."
"Customers pay a licensing fee."
"VMware Horizon's costs are high."
"At present, they provide decent pricing in terms of bundled licenses."
"VMware Workstation is an expensive solution in Asian countries."
"Licensing fees are paid on an annual basis."
"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."
"The cost differs depending on the customer's requirement."
"VMware Workstation's costs are lifetime."
"The product has a moderate price."
"The tool is not the cheapest."
"VMware Workstation has a high price than competitors in the market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
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: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.