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Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs N-able Take Control 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
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
254
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (2nd), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
Microsoft Remote Desktop Se...
Ranking in Remote Access
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (5th)
N-able Take Control
Ranking in Remote Access
31st
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Remote Access category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 9.4%, down from 11.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is 10.5%, down from 14.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of N-able Take Control is 0.8%, down from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Remote Access
 

Featured Reviews

Joseph Merusi - PeerSpot reviewer
Everything has worked better since we started using it
Sometimes the syncing is inconsistent. I'm confident that the devices are checking in every eight hours, but sometimes the devices aren't picking up the settings as quickly as I would expect. Some features haven't been updated in a while, and Microsoft doesn't seem interested in developing them. Unless you talk to an engineer, you don't know whether there will be an update. There are communication issues, so you might start working with a feature without knowing if it will be deprecated six months from now. Some reporting areas still need development. For example, I noticed that the reporting for driver updates is still confusing.
Terje Romen - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Brian Hershey - PeerSpot reviewer
It covers you for HIPAA and PCI certification
Take Control is a way to remotely take over the console of a managed machine, but it also gives you other abilities. You can take over the console, access the registry, throw commands at it in the background, and manipulate the file system Take Control enables you to collaborate with end users.…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The initial setup is not overly complex or difficult."
"What I like the most about Microsoft Intune is its ability to manage mobile devices. Through integration with System Center, it can also manage desktops and laptops."
"I have seen a return on investment right from the start of the tool's usage."
"Microsoft's cloud comes with a lot of extra features that are free of charge."
"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."
"For Windows services, there are multiple options within Intune to modernize it to be more internet-facing and dynamic."
"The best part of Intune is device control. If we need to block a user from opening something in their organization's system, we can do it from Intune. If we want to restrict the movement of an organization's data to prevent users from copying the data into Outlook, WhatsApp, or their personal Gmail, we can limit that via Intune. It secures all corporate data."
"It is helpful for managing devices anytime and any place without requiring dependency on the local networks."
"It's pretty stable."
"It's almost an out of the box function once you have installed the other components."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is stable and reliable."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is that it scales well."
"It is a stable product."
"I've had good experiences with Microsoft customer support."
"It's part of the Microsoft Operating system and is free."
"The technical support is good."
"Take Control enables you to collaborate with end users. It's for supporting a workstation where you want the person on the other side to see you moving their mouse, and you can work with them."
"The most valuable part of N-able Take Control is being able to remotely access your customer's site. You are able to view their network. Once you have it set up, it's always available. N-able Take Control can be used even when other remote access controls have been made."
 

Cons

"Reporting and troubleshooting for the application deployment could be better. It's very difficult to understand."
"Once it's configured it is unobtrusive, but it does take some hands-on to configure and deploy it properly."
"In terms of the admin experience, it is straightforward, but the Windows enrollment experience could be improved. Sometimes, for enrollment, we have to reset devices and re-enroll them."
"It should be easier to define policies and comply with those policies."
"Microsoft needs to enhance device-level security, as sometimes when using Microsoft Intune, the device's operating system becomes stuck and requires a full uninstall to remove the Intune bug."
"The main disadvantage seen today is regarding Linux clients. We have a lot of development resources that have Linux on their clients, and we can't manage them on the same platform, as we do with other clients such as macOS and Windows. So, it should have support for Linux clients. It should also have better support for macOS."
"Its configuration is fairly complicated. You have to do quite a bit of discovery to be able to deploy it for a customer. You have to ask them a lot of questions. So, its initial deployment is the biggest challenge. They should make it easier to deploy with the use of Wizards or something else. During the deployment stage, there could be profiles for the customers who are particularly wanting to use certain feature sets of Intune."
"Improvements are needed in Microsoft Intune's enterprise app management, including support for more applications in app patching, boot batching, and discovery. I also hope the cost of Remote Help will decrease because it's a much-needed Intune function. Our customers need that capability, or they will buy it from a third party at a premium."
"It could be more user-friendly."
"We'd like, in the future, if it would work with Linux or Unix-based operating systems or even Mac."
"We encounter challenges with portability, especially for users of iOS devices."
"I would like to be able to leverage it on other operating systems."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services could improve by having a better application for managing multiple sessions. There used to be one but they stopped supporting it."
"I would like to see a web-based interface, instead of client installation to refresh the UI through HTML."
"There are problems with using Microsoft Teams within a virtual desktop on a mobile device."
"We face frequent disconnections."
"We've seen some latency problems in AWS environments. Aside from that, it's a pretty solid service."
"The dashboards I do not use because there are issues. The solution monitors your antivirus and other programs but it does not seem to work well."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I recently got to know that the AD P1 license is compulsory to use Intune Autopilot, which was surprising for me. Earlier, this was not the case. It is the wrong thing to do. We now need to purchase AD P1 licenses for us and for our customers. I would rate it a seven out of ten for pricing."
"We work with the subscription rather than a server license. I think it's economical this way because we don't have to have a server license for that, and I think that works in our favor."
"No one can compete with Microsoft when it comes to price, and the features it is offering."
"Intune is cost-effective as it is included in some of the Office 365 packages."
"Licensing depends on how you are providing support to your enterprise, whether it's device-based or user-based."
"Microsoft's licensing is more flexible and adaptive than its competitors."
"There is a cost benefit of using Microsoft Intune because of the packaging with other Microsoft products."
"Microsoft licenses are costly."
"The solution is expensive. My company pays toward the monthly licensing costs of the solution...The additional cost, apart from the solution's licensing cost, is related to the technical support a user wants."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is less expensive than some other solutions on the market."
"We do not have to pay for the product."
"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."
"There is a licensing cost."
"I am aware that for Azure we do have an extra license because we are leveraging on different tenants."
"The tool's pricing is high in the Slovenian market. I rate it a nine out of ten."
"The price of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is reasonable. The solution can come for free for some clients with certain agreements."
"N-able Take Control charges you a monthly fee for every customer that you have booked in, and it used to be inexpensive but it's a little bit more expensive now."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
20%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
19%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Real Estate/Law Firm
8%
University
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
I've never had an issue with it. I've always thought the pricing for RDS was reasonable.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
We would like configuration to be automatic and the price to be close to zero, however, that's not realistic. Everyon...
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Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
Remote Desktop Services
SolarWinds MSP Take Control, SolarWinds MSP Anywhere, SolarWinds Take Control
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Bank Alfalah Ltd.
Bainbridge Technology Solutions, NKIT Systems
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs. N-able Take Control and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.