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Horizon Cloud Service vs Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops comparison

Omnissa and Red Hat are both solutions in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category. Omnissa is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.0, while Red Hat is ranked #15 with an average rating of 6.0. Omnissa holds a 1.1% mindshare in VD, compared to Red Hat’s 0.7% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of Omnissa users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 50% of Red Hat users who would recommend it.
Horizon Cloud Service
Read 11 Horizon Cloud Service reviews
  • 1,209 Views
  • 995 Comparison Views
91% willing to recommend
Red Hat Enterprise Virtuali...
Read 2 Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops reviews
  • 390 Views
  • 301 Comparison Views
50% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 2024

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops and Horizon Cloud Service are competitive products in the virtual desktop infrastructure market. Horizon Cloud Service appears to have the upper hand due to its superior features and cloud-based deployment model.

Features: Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization provides integration capabilities, open-source flexibility, and support for diverse workloads. Horizon Cloud Service distinguishes itself with advanced scalability, streamlined management, and security features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization utilizes traditional on-premise deployment, demanding dedicated resources for setup, supported by reliable customer service. Horizon Cloud Service offers cloud-based deployment, greatly simplifying the deployment process, and is supported by efficient customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization presents a cost-effective setup with lower initial costs, aiming for promising ROI through cost ownership. Horizon Cloud Service, though requiring higher initial investment, potentially delivers superior ROI due to reduced management overhead and increased operational efficiency.

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To learn more, read our detailed Horizon Cloud Service vs. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops Report (Updated: April 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Horizon Cloud Service vs. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops
April 2025
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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)
10th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Desktop as a Service (DaaS) (4th)
Red Hat Enterprise Virtuali...
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
15th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
2.4
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Horizon Cloud Service is 1.1%, down from 3.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops is 0.7%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

SivaKuppala - PeerSpot reviewer
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
RobertThompson 1 - PeerSpot reviewer
Free version available but hard to understand
Personally, I don't think it has any commendable features. The biggest thing about it is that, compared to what you can do with VMware and Horizon, it just seems like there's an awful lot of extra work involved with the Red Hat virtualization. It doesn't just work out of the box. You have to read through about six different documents, and everybody's experience is different. So it's kind of annoying. That would be the main thing. If you're not a Linux geek, it's very hard to understand. And it's probably because I came out of the Windows world. I learned this as part of my cross-training, but I just found the way that it happens with VMware and all that stuff to be easier to use.
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 most valuable feature of VMware Horizon Cloud is all of its capabilities together."
"The product’s on-premise version has the ability to create an image of any updates or changes in the system."
"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."
"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 allows a VPN connection, adding extra value to its features."
"The interface is much easier to use compared to Microsoft and other VDI vendors that are well known on the market. I like VMware so much more than the others. With Horizon Cloud, you don't need to spend a lot of money upfront to buy the infrastructure. You can use it the on the cloud, so it lowers the barriers to entry. It's easier to test it and get started. Some clients stay in the cloud, but others prefer to go on-premise. It depends on the nature of the client."
"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."
"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."
More Horizon Cloud Service pros
"The improvement to our organization is managing all our KVM-based virtual machines in a management environment."
"The most valuable features are automated deployment and transparent movement for virtual machines over all our locations."
"There's lots of good support out there in the community."
 

Cons

"Logging into VMware Horizon Cloud could be made easier. Additionally, the VMs could be better in their performance."
"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."
"It can be very expensive to scale up because each part of scaling up requires you to have new components of the infrastructure."
"The product has a lot of bugs."
"The application remoting features have some room for improvement."
"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."
"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."
More Horizon Cloud Service cons
"The best improvement for oVirt 4.2 is to enable backup features for major backup products of virtual machines."
"The biggest thing about it is that, compared to what you can do with VMware and Horizon, it just seems like there's an awful lot of extra work involved with Red Hat virtualization."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"VMware Horizon Cloud is a low-cost solution. The model that they have is consumption-based. However, some features are expensive."
"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."
"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."
"VMware Horizon Cloud is an expensive solution. This solution is approximately 30 percent more than Microsoft Azure Cloud. There can be extra costs."
"Initially, the product is cheap, but it starts to get expensive when users try to scale out."
"I rate VMware Horizon Cloud pricing a ten out of ten."
"There is a license required for the use of this solution and there are different tier levels available."
"I use the free developer stuff right now."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
9%
Healthcare Company
7%
University
20%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about VMware Horizon Cloud?
The tool remains pretty stable.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Horizon Cloud?
Horizon Cloud Service's pricing is on the higher side. The cost management aspect could improve to increase adoption. The licensing structure is also complex, particularly for hybrid deployments.
See all answers
What needs improvement with VMware Horizon Cloud?
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 applic...
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops?
I use the free developer stuff right now.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops?
Personally, I don't think it has any commendable features. The biggest thing about it is that, compared to what you can do with VMware and Horizon, it just seems like there's an awful lot of extra ...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops?
I've used it more as a user than as an administrator setting it up. Just mainly getting access to legacy systems and programming that's not Windows 11 compatible.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

Horizon 8 vs Horizon Cloud Service Logo
Horizon 8 vs Horizon Cloud Service
Compared 35% of the time
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs Horizon Cloud Service Logo
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs Horizon Cloud Service
Compared 15% of the time
Amazon Appstream vs Horizon Cloud Service Logo
Amazon Appstream vs Horizon Cloud Service
Compared 14% of the time
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs Horizon Cloud Service Logo
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs Horizon Cloud Service
Compared 13% of the time
Workspace ONE UEM vs Horizon Cloud Service Logo
Workspace ONE UEM vs Horizon Cloud Service
Compared 9% of the time
More Horizon Cloud Service Competitors
Horizon 8 vs Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops Logo
Horizon 8 vs Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops
Compared 43% of the time
Oracle VDI vs Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops Logo
Oracle VDI vs Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops
Compared 41% of the time
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops Logo
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops
Compared 16% of the time
More Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Horizon Cloud Service
April 2025
Horizon Cloud Service reportDownload Horizon Cloud Service product report
Buyer's Guide
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
April 2025
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops reportDownload Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops product report
 

Also Known As

VMware Horizon Cloud, VMware Horizon DaaS
Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops
 

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
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops complete desktop environments are hosted virtually. Users connect to these virtual desktops using either inexpensive thin clients or re-purposed PCs. No data is actually stored on the thin client - it's stored in a secure centralized location and can be accessed from anywhere. Red Hat Virtualization is an open, software-defined platform that virtualizes Linux and Microsoft Windows workloads. Built on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM), it features management tools that virtualize resources, processes, and applications providing a foundation for a cloud-native and containerized future.
Red Hat
 

Sample Customers

Marriott, Sprint
Casio, Telef‹nica, British Airways
Buyer's Guide
Horizon Cloud Service vs. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops
April 2025
Free Report: Horizon Cloud Service vs. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops
Find out what your peers are saying about Horizon Cloud Service vs. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
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