Horizon Cloud Service vs Microsoft Remote Desktop Services comparison

Horizon Cloud Service vs. Microsoft Remote Desktop Services

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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 Cloud Service

Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

11th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Desktop as a Service (DaaS) (4th)

Microsoft Remote Desktop Se...

Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

5th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Remote Access (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Horizon Cloud Service is 1.3%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is 6.2%, down from 11.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Featured Reviews

SivaKuppala

Enterprise Architect at Wipro Limited

Centralized management enhances multi-cloud flexibility with cost efficiency improvements

The cost of Horizon Cloud Service is high, however, it could be optimized. The licensing model is complex, particularly for hybrid deployments, and simplifying it could help. Improvements in application performance, especially for resource-heavy applications like intensive 3D workloads, are needed. More built-in automation for routine tasks like patching and upgrading could reduce administrative effort.

Read full review

Terje Romen

CEO & Owner at Mono AS

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.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The main benefit of Horizon Cloud Service is that it is cloud-based, allowing our organization to leverage the service without having to manage all infrastructure directly."

"The most valuable feature of VMware Horizon Cloud is all of its capabilities together."

"I honestly liked the application itself because it was just like using a desktop. You could copy and paste, inside and outside, and you could use multiple monitors. You could access it anytime, anywhere, no matter whether you were in the office or out of the office. I could leave the office, go somewhere, go back in, and everything would be there. I could just leave it up and running. I absolutely love this feature in VMware Horizon Cloud."

"The tool remains pretty stable."

"Its advanced management features are the most valuable, especially power management. One of the really important things was to be able to have power management in a consumption world. This means that unlike a Microsoft environment, you could actually turn off virtual desktops or have them start up and shut down. If you're consuming resources in the public cloud, you want to be able to do that because when you're not using those, such as at the weekend, you want to be able to turn them off. So, the advanced options for managing the BDIs are very important."

"Horizon Cloud Service provides deployment flexibility across multiple clouds with a scalable architecture that easily scales virtual desktops and applications up or down based on demand."

"VMware Horizon Cloud is easy to use and the full development cloud is very good. The main features of VMware are included. It's a cloud-based virtual desktop infrastructure software that allows you to permit the virtual desktops and applications to any device from the single unified management control. These are managed from the dedicated remote session desktop."

"The product’s on-premise version has the ability to create an image of any updates or changes in the system."

More Horizon Cloud Service pros

"I like the way it can assess our system."

"Everything is really good and it works well."

"The solution works well as a remote desktop."

"Good screen draw feature and ability to use two monitors."

"I find the ease of use of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services most valuable, as it allows me to have remote access and connect securely."

"The solution is now stable."

"The solution works on Microsoft servers."

"Microsoft is very reasonable in its approach to cost."

More Microsoft Remote Desktop Services pros

Cons

"The cost of Horizon Cloud Service is high, however, it could be optimized. The licensing model is complex, particularly for hybrid deployments, and simplifying it could help."

"The licensing model is complex, particularly for hybrid deployments, and simplifying it could help."

"There should be more emphasis on the Workspace One access part of the solution. This is essentially identity management provided with Horizon. There needs to be some kind of integration because you are able to have all of these desktops on any device, but you have to have this other component to make it easier from a single sign-on perspective. That's why there should be an emphasis on Workspace One access. It actually comes free with the product, but people don't really know how powerful it can be."

"It is very expensive. Its price needs to be improved. They can do a better job with external resources such as a USB or a hard drive. When I tried to connect using these external resources, it failed a lot of times. I had to do a shared connection with a local laptop and then connect from a network standpoint, rather than through VMware Horizon point. They definitely have weaknesses with external connections. A lot of companies probably don't let people use external connections because it defeats the purpose of having a cloud solution and keeping the data in a secure area. You can copy to an external device, and you can lose the data. A lot of companies may not focus on this feature, but if you are providing it, you should make it work."

"Logging into VMware Horizon Cloud could be made easier. Additionally, the VMs could be better in their performance."

"In the design phase, sometimes the tools for designing Horizon solutions have issues when they're calculating the number of nodes and platforms needed to support the VDI systems."

"The licensing model needs to be adjusted, as a cloud license is currently required even for on-premises devices."

"The product has a lot of bugs."

More Horizon Cloud Service cons

"The initial setup of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is not the easiest. You need to have a certain understanding of how Microsoft is provisioning the solution to be able to set it up and use it."

"Remote Desktop Services doesn't scale well."

"Sometimes difficult to set up without the requirement for login credentials each time."

"The only problems that you're going to have with the remote desktop are going to be firewall ports, security, and NLA, which is a net network level access control, or TLS transfer layer security or some other SSL-type of security."

"It could be more user-friendly."

"We are searching for a product with better remote access and remote sessions."

"We've had issues with security breaches."

"There could be some improvement in the integration of the solution."

More Microsoft Remote Desktop Services cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Initially, the product is cheap, but it starts to get expensive when users try to scale out."

"VMware Horizon Cloud is an expensive solution. This solution is approximately 30 percent more than Microsoft Azure Cloud. There can be extra costs."

"There is a license required for the use of this solution and there are different tier levels available."

"For what you get, it is very compelling. You've got to look at the total cost of ownership of this type of piece of software in terms of being able to utilize it as a cloud service. I don't have to run everything on-premises. When you look at the total cost of just being able to use it and then being able to point it to any public or private cloud, it is very compelling. You have one less thing to manage."

"It is too expensive as compared to other solutions because of which we don't use it that much. We tend to go more for Hyper-V or Azure just because VMware licensing is quite up there. We sway people away from VMware Horizon Cloud. We have some clients who already have it. They stay on it for a little while, and then most of them end up moving off when we provide them a better solution that isn't as license heavy cost-wise."

"I rate VMware Horizon Cloud pricing a ten out of ten."

"VMware Horizon Cloud is a low-cost solution. The model that they have is consumption-based. However, some features are expensive."

"I would say it's expensive as there similar products available for free."

"The cost is fair."

"I rate the price of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services a three out of five."

"I think that Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is expensive compared to Login solution."

"I recall that you don't need to pay for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services because that's included in Windows."

"Its licensing is on a yearly basis. We're on the educational or academic license, and our terms are good. We're very happy with the pricing."

"Although not an expensive product, pricing is always something that can be improved."

"The pricing is moderate."

More Microsoft Remote Desktop Services pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about VMware Horizon Cloud?

The tool remains pretty stable.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Horizon Cloud?

The cost is considered normal, not remarkable but not outrageous. In terms of expense, compared to other virtualization products, I would rate it as a six.

What needs improvement with VMware Horizon Cloud?

The licensing model needs to be adjusted, as a cloud license is currently required even for on-premises devices. Horizon Cloud Service should continue improving their protocol and work with other h...

What do you like most about Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?

The tool shares computer resources perfectly.

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 version for enterprise requires RDS ( /products/amazon-rds-reviews ) CALs, or c...

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.

Horizon 8 vs Horizon Cloud Service

Comparisons

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Compared 10% of the time

Workspace ONE UEM vs Horizon Cloud Service

Compared 10% of the time

Amazon Appstream vs Horizon Cloud Service

Compared 10% of the time

VMware Workstation vs Horizon Cloud Service

Compared 7% of the time

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Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs Microsoft Remote Desktop Services

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Product Reports

Horizon Cloud Service

Download Horizon Cloud Service product report

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services

Download Microsoft Remote Desktop Services product report

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services report

Also Known As

VMware Horizon Cloud, VMware Horizon DaaS

Remote Desktop Services

Overview

The VMware Horizon Cloud Service delivers feature-rich virtual desktops and applications using a purpose-built cloud platform that is scalable across multiple deployment options, including fully managed infrastructure from VMware, public cloud infrastructure from Microsoft Azure, or on-premises hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI). The service supports a cloud-scale architecture that makes it easy to deliver virtualized Windows desktops and applications to any device, anytime. And, with a flexible subscription model and turnkey solutions, organizations can easily get up and running and scale quickly.

Omnissa

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is a highly regarded remote access tool in addition to being a top-ranked Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solution in the marketplace today.

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS) is a suite of valuable elements of the Windows operating system (OS) that serve specific desired objectives. Microsoft RDS integrates various features that allow approved users to gain access to graphical desktops and Windows applications remotely. Approved users are able to deploy applications or even a complete desktop without having to install anything on their devices. Everything remains in the cloud. This ensures that there are never any compatibility issues and keeps the organization's original network secure at all times. Administrators are also able to ensure that data cannot be stored in any unapproved location, such as the local device, unapproved drives, or any other location.

Microsoft RDS makes it easy for business organizations to access Windows Desktops and other Windows applications remotely to ensure today’s busy enterprise organizations are able to maintain the highest levels of productivity at all times. There are two basic ways organizations can effectively utilize RDS.

Microsoft Remote Desktop Component: This allows users to connect with various alternate desktops from their current device. Once the user has gained a secure connection based on the approved administrative permissions, the user can seamlessly access and interact with the remote desktop. Users have the feeling of having this new virtual desktop installed directly on their machine.

RemoteApp: Users are able to easily access cloud-based applications via their own personal desktop computers or other approved mobile devices. This application ensures overall application management is centralized and consistent throughout the entire business enterprise.

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services Benefits

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services has many benefits. Some of its most valuable benefits include:

Access Windows applications remotely from any device
Enhanced consistent application performance
Increased computing resources
Secure cloud-based data storage.
Streamlined management processes
Reduction in technical administrative resources
Reduction in hardware and device costs.
Improved employee productivity
Cost-effective
Improved Profitability
Reduce carbon footprint

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services makes it easy for busy enterprise organizations to stay productive and remain competitive in today’s aggressive marketplace. An organization's end-users can be given access to their own specific desktops from any location, anytime, using any approved device. Additionally, users can access Microsoft applications without having an effect on their device's resource capacity or performance.

Reviews from Real Users

“What I found most valuable in Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is accessibility because the solution lets you take control of your computer remotely, and that's a good feature.” Pascal B., IT consultant at Secoptrial

“The most valuable features of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services are unification, central management, and accessibility.” Jan S. Solution Architect at a tech services company

“The most valuable features are that it is fast and cost-effective. I am not aware of a replacement currently on the market.” Ramon H. Director at Empaco

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Marriott, Sprint

Bank Alfalah Ltd.

Horizon Cloud Service vs. Microsoft Remote Desktop Services