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Horizon 8 vs Microsoft Remote Desktop Services comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.1
Users report positive ROI with Horizon 8 through reduced hardware needs, better efficiency, and cost savings in administration.
Sentiment score
6.5
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services allows efficient remote work with rapid deployment, offering great value despite perceived high costs.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.8
Horizon 8 support is praised for proficiency but faces concerns about delays, complexity, and off-hours accessibility.
Sentiment score
5.1
Users find Remote Desktop Services user-friendly, often minimizing support needs, with Premier support and online communities offering effective solutions.
The support team is helpful and offers assistance.
Our support from VMware expired last December.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Horizon 8 offers exceptional scalability and adaptability but requires technical expertise and may encounter budget constraints for large deployments.
Sentiment score
7.1
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services scales well for most organizations, though some experience bandwidth issues or prefer alternatives.
My impression is that most of the solutions, especially today, make sense for large corporations with 2000 seats or more.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
VMware Horizon 8 is stable with few issues, with ratings between 8-9, but requires strong infrastructure and proper configuration.
Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is praised for stability, reliability, and consistent performance, although occasional disconnections can occur.
Especially with the integration of NVIDIA, we experience multiple problems including crashing applications, crashing desktops, spontaneous logoffs, black screens, and systems that no longer respond or cannot reconnect.
 

Room For Improvement

Horizon 8 needs better pricing, integrations, documentation, Linux support, analytics, security, NVIDIA integration, and simplified deployment.
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services faces challenges with security, integration, performance, user interface, and cross-platform support, requiring updates and improvements.
I would like to see improvements in Horizon 8, specifically integration with NVIDIA for graphical performance upgrades because it creates many issues such as crashing and black screen systems, causing users to lose access to their current desktop and work.
We have limited capabilities since we are not using a multi-instance solution, just single instances.
It should be easier to create a template and duplicate users.
The only problem I see is that when I am connected, there is a certain lag because of the network.
 

Setup Cost

Horizon 8 pricing is high but may offer long-term savings and value, especially with bundled options.
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services offers seamless integration with Windows, but complex, costly licensing and support fees challenge user flexibility.
After VMware was bought by Broadcom, the pricing was ridiculous, but now that Onmises has VMware Horizon 8, the pricing is back to an acceptable level.
I rate the cost-effectiveness of GenApp of Citrix equal to our CMS; it is quite cost-effective.
These licenses are not cheap, as they add up in cost.
 

Valuable Features

Horizon 8 offers centralized management, rapid provisioning, seamless remote access, strong security, and efficient scalability for virtual desktops.
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services offers secure, scalable remote access and management with seamless Windows integration and user-friendly performance across devices.
From a security point of view, security in Horizon 8 is one of the main points in keeping the system resources from the company away from bad actors. You can keep the desktops completely isolated, and you don't need to share your file shares or database with the end-user system.
The solution has data leak prevention features that ensure data is not copied from the base machine to VDI.
The main benefits that Microsoft Remote Desktop Services provide to me include streamlining my working process, ensuring security, and offering flexibility to connect to virtual desktops and apps from multiple devices.
A valuable feature of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is its native integration with Microsoft platforms.
 

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)
Microsoft Remote Desktop Se...
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
80
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (2nd)
 

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 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

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…
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.
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860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
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 ...
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.
 

Also Known As

VMware Horizon, VMware Horizon View, Mware Dynamic Environment Manager
Remote Desktop Services
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

LCMC Health
Bank Alfalah Ltd.
Find out what your peers are saying about Horizon 8 vs. Microsoft Remote Desktop Services and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.