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Horizon 8 vs VMware Fusion Pro comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 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

Horizon 8
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
115
Ranking in other categories
User Virtualization (1st)
VMware Fusion Pro
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Horizon 8 is 6.7%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Fusion Pro is 13.7%, down from 24.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
VMware Fusion Pro13.7%
Horizon 86.7%
Other79.6%
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

MB
Owner at CoBSS
Experience with remote access facilitates seamless user management, though improvements in integration and analytics are desired
From the analytical aspects, we used Horizon 8 Advanced Analytics and most companies switched to another product to gain insights because the insight is not as helpful as other products that are built for it. What was missing in Horizon 8 to make it a better tool was in analytics, specifically getting the right information and the drill-down process to find out where the problem is. If a user has an issue, it is crucial to determine what the issue is that the user is having and since when they have the issue. For example, if a user reports back that they had an issue yesterday evening, getting that information and ensuring that you have it was hard to find, especially to pinpoint if the issue lies with the network or the Horizon 8 platform. We utilized the multi-factor authentication, conditional access in Horizon 8, but we are not satisfied with that. It lacks some integration options that make it easy to run with Microsoft Entra, for example, and authenticate using your regular authenticator besides just getting a pop-up that says, 'I'm the one that's trying to log on.' Nowadays, there are many more complex authentication methods, but even a basic confirmation with a number to verify that you are the person connecting is not supported. 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. This is a real issue at the moment for many customers worldwide.
Bruce Lundberg - PeerSpot reviewer
Linux HPC Systems Administrator at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Create custom virtual environments quickly with minor macOS integration issues
The primary advantage of VMware Fusion Pro is its simplicity in creating custom virtual machines. It allows quick construction and provides connectivity to full VMware server systems, enabling remote management. It facilitates downloading images from main VMware servers for local testing. The ability to construct a virtual environment on my laptop meets my needs, even ones I wasn't aware of.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is very user friendly."
"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."
"The embedded features of the solution are valuable."
"VMware has a lot of experience in virtualization — they are the pioneers in virtualization."
"Great for desktop management, particularly when it comes to all the upgrades."
"The application delivery is it's most valuable feature."
"I like VMware Horizon's ability and performance."
"It has a lot of features and they are similar to what we have seen in any environment management solution."
"The most value that it provides is that it is versatile."
"The product is easy to use and has a simple user interface."
"VMware Fusion Pro offers simplicity of use and stability."
"The primary advantage of VMware Fusion Pro is its simplicity in creating custom virtual machines."
"The most important feature of VMware Fusion is that it helps me rapidly launch a new OS."
"Veeam Backup and Replication is the common product for backing up virtual machines."
"It is a highly stable solution."
"VMware Fusion Pro offers simplicity of use and stability."
 

Cons

"The remote application features have some room for improvement."
"I would like to see simple load-balancing for smaller environments that lack large solutions like F5, or NSX; it should be redundant or unavailable but in a simple way. Perhaps limited to only two components; if more are required, a paid load balancing solution can be used. Load balancing for simple environments, or simple redundancy, is sorely lacking."
"We have limited capabilities since we are not using a multi-instance solution, just single instances. The solution underutilizes its capabilities."
"Lacks sufficiently robust audio redirections."
"VMware Horizon could be improved with more integration. It is also very costly for Enterprise Plus, which is a drawback. The renewal costs for the license are very, very high."
"The storage expansion in the product is a bit difficult to manage, especially when I have to modify a storage requirement of a particular area since it comes across as a complex job."
"In the future, I would like to see better support for application virtualization."
"The vendor must move the infrastructure into the public cloud."
"VMware Fusion's licensing cost needs improvement."
"Fusion is not meant to be scalable as it runs on desktops and laptops."
"The only issue I've experienced with VMware Fusion Pro is that it doesn't register correctly with the main macOS system, causing repeated notifications about background installations. This is a minor inconvenience."
"Fusion is not meant to be scalable. It runs on desktops and laptops, indicating limitations in scalability."
"Additionally, enhancing the API interactions could improve the ability to manage VS and deploy various kinds of guests."
"I would like to see newer and updated cloud functions."
"Its installation process could be simpler."
"The way they handle snapshotting can be improved. One time, I moved a machine from one to another, and I tried to pull it up on the second machine, but it didn't work. This was because I had not cleaned up the snapshot before I deleted it and moved it across. So, when I tried to pull it up, it wouldn't let me bring it up. The backups for the VMs themselves can also be improved. I pretty much have to rely on Windows backups and not something on VMware. That's where it needs improvement. I am able to upload from my Fusion into the ESXi easily. I'm able to spin something up on Fusion and push it into the big arena, but the reverse is not as easy, that is, trying to pull something down from that. I would love to have a functionality where I could pull something from the VMware infrastructure into Fusion, but I'm not sure if I can take something from ESXi and pull it into Fusion."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For long-term use, perpetual licenses are more cost-effective, and for short-term use, subscription-based would be more cost-effective."
"I rate the product's pricing a seven out of ten. Pricing can be an obstacle for smaller businesses. Pricing is fixed, and there are no additional costs."
"The license cost has increased significantly, so we’re helping some customers with Azure VMware desktop solutions to save on licensing."
"It is an expensive product. We purchase its yearly license."
"We pay for the solution annually at a cost of approximately 10,000 HKD."
"The solution is expensive."
"The pricing is quite reasonable."
"It falls on the more expensive end in terms of cost."
"I rate the product's pricing a seven or eight. It is highly-priced."
"The cost varies depending on the season and whether it is scaled up or scaled down, but I would guess that it's approximately $1,000 per month."
"Starting with version 12, it is now free on a Mac for personal use. Fusion Pro has a cost."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
15%
Computer Software Company
13%
University
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business61
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise44
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise4
 

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 VMware Fusion?
The pricing of VMware Fusion Pro is reasonable. The licensing covers all minor version updates, while major updates require payment every three years. Buying it once can sustain you for years witho...
What needs improvement with VMware Fusion?
In future updates of VMware Fusion Pro, I think there should be another community to input features. It is an infrastructure tool that may need embedding some AI to help or catching up with the new...
What is your primary use case for VMware Fusion?
My specialty is about IBM AS/400 applications, so I got to be in contact with several packages, including LX, which is why I had this research on your website.I'm mostly interested in ERP packages;...
 

Also Known As

VMware Horizon, VMware Horizon View, Mware Dynamic Environment Manager
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

LCMC Health
NetApp
Find out what your peers are saying about Horizon 8 vs. VMware Fusion Pro and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,768 professionals have used our research since 2012.