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Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs VNC Connect comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
378
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (1st), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
Microsoft Remote Desktop Se...
Ranking in Remote Access
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
91
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (2nd)
VNC Connect
Ranking in Remote Access
17th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Remote Access category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 5.4%, down from 10.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is 6.6%, down from 10.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VNC Connect is 3.1%, down from 3.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Remote Access Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Intune5.4%
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services6.6%
VNC Connect3.1%
Other84.9%
Remote Access
 

Featured Reviews

OluwashileAdeniyi - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Infrastructure Security Engineer at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees
Centralized endpoint security has improved and supports hybrid work and BYOD policies
Regarding what I dislike about Microsoft Intune and its downsides, I would say that more Mac controls are needed because we have limited Mac and Linux control. When comparing controls and policies between Windows, Mac, and Linux, Windows has almost everything you can think of, while Mac and Linux have limited types of control. You cannot implement certain things on Mac and Linux that you can on Windows. The limited controls are a major issue. Additionally, if Microsoft could find a way to embed servers into Microsoft Intune, that would be beneficial. Microsoft Intune is not really designed for servers or Windows servers. It is more tailored towards Windows 11 and Windows 10 operating systems. Windows servers are not fully supported. Enterprise organizations usually have both servers and endpoints, which are users' workstations. For servers, most people look for other solutions such as SCCM, which is Configuration Manager. However, SCCM is what Microsoft Intune is trying to replace. Both SCCM and Microsoft Intune belong to Microsoft. Microsoft is trying to transition organizations into Microsoft Intune, the native cloud solution. However, because this update is still in process, servers are not fully compatible with Microsoft Intune and cannot be managed by it. The current policy that has emerged from issues with clients is what they call co-management, which is relatively new, and I do not know if adoption is significant. Many legacy or older customers who have been using these products for decades still have SCCM. When it is time for them to manage their Windows devices, they use what is called cloud attach. Cloud attach is a term whereby your SCCM is connected to your Microsoft Intune. Most people do not know about it, but I have deployed it for several organizations. Cloud attach and co-management work together so that your device is in SCCM, but some policies are pushed from Microsoft Intune. It is like two different solutions working hand in hand. That is what they call co-management. Microsoft Intune does not bring all of your endpoint and security management tools into one place, which is the goal and how it should be. However, as I mentioned, servers are not included. If we talk about end users, Microsoft Intune does bring all your devices together. In a typical enterprise environment, you have end users with workstations, laptops, company-issued phones, and bring your own devices. You can create policies for all of these. However, for the backend, your servers do not have much coverage. Servers are not really covered by Microsoft Intune in that way.
reviewer2795433 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Ops Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Secure remote access has protected sensitive country data and supports strict compliance needs
I understand from the IT team managing Microsoft Remote Desktop Services that it is complex to set up the multiple roles, certificates, and networks required. Networking is quite complicated. Even though on the data center side it is quite simple, maintaining the farm of other connections that connect to that server is the complex piece. I understand there are more modern systems replicating what this solution does, which are easier to use, such as Azure Virtual Desktop within Microsoft Azure Cloud or Amazon WorkSpaces, which I have used before. Rather than having to manage all the complex networking, you could abstract it away a little further in the cloud for easier use. I also understand that this tool is in an end-of-life state now, with Microsoft actively pushing people towards Azure Virtual Desktop or Windows 365. I do not believe further features will be rolled out due to its end-of-life state, making it a legacy solution now.
Jose Miguel Moya - PeerSpot reviewer
SACTA Architect at MRInformatica
Easy to deploy, but scalability needs improvement
There are no specific challenges I faced while using the product. I haven't used the solution to support any AI-driven projects. In our company, we need to have remote access to our labs because if not, people have to move to the laboratory, and we will spend a lot of time working. I don't know the features of VNC Connect that improved our company's support capabilities. I rate the tool a six 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

"Intune is flexible. If you want to move a device that was previously on-prem, we can bring it to the cloud and apply all the policies. This is helpful for even those organizations that were on-prem and not on the cloud. They can also come and use these features, which are pretty cool and would be handy to protect the data and manage the devices as well."
"The standout features of Intune are its excellent mobile device management and highly effective application management capabilities."
"Maturity makes it a stable product."
"Intune does consolidate all endpoint and security management tools into one place, making everything easier to manage."
"I would say right now that Microsoft Intune is one of the best solutions."
"It helps implement conditional access policies to restrict mobile users from accessing potentially dangerous emails."
"The ability to (somewhat) manage full Windows 10 computers including EXE-based or MSI-based application deployments using Azure Active Directory as Identity."
"For the price, the features included with Microsoft are appealing."
"Installing Microsoft Desktop Services is straightforward."
"The most valuable feature is the remote application access."
"We have scaled the solution and find this easy to do."
"The solution works very well for us and I recommend it to others."
"It's pretty stable."
"Using Microsoft Remote Desktop Services has helped my team save time and improve productivity because we had Microsoft servers that were impossible to connect from our MacBook Pro laptops, and once we started using RDP, we could connect and move forward to deliver the project."
"The initial setup was straightforward and the deployment took only two hours."
"The performance meets our requirements and the stability is good."
"The product’s ease of use and security are valuable."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its ease of use."
"The most valuable features are that it is consistently low profile and consistently works without hiccups or headaches."
 

Cons

"I assess the stability of the product as low. I have faced downtime crashes and performance issues with Microsoft Intune."
"Microsoft Intune needs to improve the initial login process."
"Technical support is not that great."
"Manually syncing devices to enforce policies is cumbersome."
"I rate Microsoft support between six to eight. The support often involves third parties hired by Microsoft who are knowledgeable, but sometimes the help I receive is not adequate."
"There could be some kind of feature that supports a workgroup environment or a separate environment without the Entra ID."
"There could be more competent processes and improvements in the policy space."
"Intune's reporting and logging could be improved. When troubleshooting, it's difficult to collect the logs and determine what's happening. If I want to filter out the compliant devices, I can see it from the logs, but I would like the option to drill down further."
"I would like to be able to access the remote desktop using a web-based interface, rather than having to use the client."
"There have been some network issues in the solution. So, when we used to connect it, the solution suddenly got disconnected. So the network part needs to be improved."
"In the next release, I would like to see better performance over slower networks, and integration with Linux, but this is something that we're going to get out of Microsoft in terms of a unified solution."
"It would be helpful if there was a feature that notifies you when the internet is down so you're not working for nothing, it should be something that pops right up where you can see it."
"In a future release, they could improve by providing more advanced technology and better buffering for if the connection is degraded or lost."
"The administrative functionality is not enough for me."
"We find the services are not as transparent as we would like for our integration with Citrix."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services can be improved by addressing the single session limitations and also clarifying the licensing, which can be confusing."
"Ease of access is a bit of a challenge."
"Improvements are required in the area of scalability since it is an aspect of the tool where there are shortcomings."
"We occasionally have issues with the graphic software of the interface."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For Microsoft 365 E5 clients, cost is not an issue as this product is one of the benefits."
"This cost is approximately $30 USD per user per month."
"There is a license required to use this solution. However, it was part of a bundle package. Microsoft Intune is far less expensive than other solutions, such as Workspace ONE."
"The cost of the license and the features are justified for myself as a technical person."
"Microsoft offers some licensing where it's included at no extra cost when customers are already using the licenses. In such a case, it's a really good value. If you have to buy the licensing for it, it's probably on par with other solutions. It isn't substantially more or less expensive. The great thing is that it is included in some of Microsoft's licensed packages. So, some customers don't have to spend additional money for it. Typically, most providers that support Intune do charge a management fee of some sort or some fee. Certainly, we're no exception."
"In terms of the product price and licensing costs, my company finds the product to be reasonably priced."
"There are licenses required for this solution. We enable licenses on the devices we need to manage."
"The cost is handled through our Office 365 license, so I have yet to be able to compare it directly with other tools in its class."
"The solution has a pretty comparable pricing."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is less expensive than some other solutions on the market."
"The solution comes free with Microsoft Windows."
"The solution is expensive. Since things are made to be a bit easier in the solution, the solution's cost is a bit on the higher side."
"We do not have to pay for the product."
"The cost of the solution is low."
"There is a licensing cost."
"It's not an expensive product."
"The tool is not cheap."
"I use the tool's free version."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Construction Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
16%
Healthcare Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business193
Midsize Enterprise61
Large Enterprise186
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business45
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise36
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?
The experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that the pricing is based on licensing costs and the setup ...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services can be improved in several areas. Currently, it requires a license cost, it has per...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
Our main use case for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is to allow multiple users to remotely access our Windows mac...
What needs improvement with VNC Connect?
The bandwidth is slow. Improvements are required in the area of scalability since it is an aspect of the tool where t...
What is your primary use case for VNC Connect?
I use the solution to get remote access to our labs.
What advice do you have for others considering VNC Connect?
There are no specific challenges I faced while using the product. I haven't used the solution to support any AI-drive...
 

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
Remote Desktop Services
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Bank Alfalah Ltd.
Telesat Canada, St. Anthony's School, Pratt and Whitney, City of Sacramento
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs. VNC Connect and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
907,731 professionals have used our research since 2012.