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Horizon 8 vs VMware Workstation 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
7.1
Number of Reviews
114
Ranking in other categories
User Virtualization (1st)
VMware Workstation
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
1st
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Horizon 8 is 7.5%, down from 12.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Workstation is 14.5%, down from 15.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
VMware Workstation14.5%
Horizon 87.5%
Other78.0%
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…
Shambhu Narayan  Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
An easy-to-manage solution that has really good customer support compared to other market players
VMware Workstation makes it easy to manage all the resources that we are handling. VMware Workstation has reduced our infrastructure cost. If someone wants machines, I can create them easily using the solution. VMware Workstation is easier to manage than other workstations like Oracle Workstation. VMware Workstation is an easy-to-manage solution, and its support is really good compared to other market players. Overall, I rate VMware Workstation an eight 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

"We like that VMware is the top competitor in virtualization."
"We use VMware Horizon to provide remote access for remote users."
"The embedded features of the solution are valuable."
"The solution simplifies our work."
"We can stop the end user from taking data out of the desktops."
"It is easy to scale. I would rate the scalability a ten out of ten."
"Ability to log in from anywhere and from a variety of devices."
"It is easy to maintain."
"VMware is incredible and is designed for simple use. They help with efficiency."
"The most valuable features of VMware Workstation are the DirectX support, you can run Microsoft Hyper-V in virtual environments which is good for me to test different installations. Additionally, you can set up different VLANs, and overall it is a complete solution."
"Technical support is very good."
"It is much more mature compared to Nutanix or SimpliVity when it's cross-platform based."
"The technical support is good."
"We initially intended to work with Hyper-V because we are selling a virtual appliance and thought our customers would want to run that on Hyper-V."
"I haven't faced any inconveniences working with this solution. It is very easy to use."
"It's stable."
 

Cons

"Lacks sufficiently robust audio redirections."
"The setup of VMware Horizon 7 is easy. However, we have a lot of experience with VMware Horizon 7."
"It would be beneficial to see improvements in client-side functionalities, especially for some Linux clients."
"Technical support could be better and faster."
"In the future, I would like to see better support for application virtualization."
"In the area of automation, there are some improvements needed in the solution."
"They need to make troubleshooting, diagnostics, and error reporting a little better."
"Deployment and configuration could be simplified."
"They could add more integration between them, and compatibility with the standard virtualization format."
"It would be great if VMware Workstation had more networking options and compatibility, that would be great. I would like to deploy virtual switches and play around with networking a bit more. Otherwise, I have to deploy ESXi Virtual Edition and emulate it, which is painful and clunky."
"I need to buy a newer version of the tool to support Windows Server."
"It takes too much time to load all the plug-ins and software."
"The product's integration capabilities are an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"It would be helpful if VMware Workstation included an in-built monitoring tool for monitoring things."
"The product’s virtual machine data backup feature needs upgrading."
"Installing VMware Workstation isn't so easy. It's highly complex compared to Windows. I rate it four out of 10 for ease of installation. Setting up a remote desktop only takes a minute or so, but the Workstation itself takes some time."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"VMware Horizon's costs are high."
"I rate the solution's pricing a five out of ten."
"I rate the product cost a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is high price, and ten is low price."
"Horizon 7 is cheaper than some competitors, like Citrix, because it includes solutions for the server side, the VDI side, and the hypervisor side."
"I cannot provide a detailed comment on the pricing; however, I can say that it is quite expensive."
"The license could be cheaper."
"The price of the solution is affordable. However, there are extra fees for support."
"The pricing depends on the use cases. It depends on the company's needs and budget. For us, it was okay, not too expensive."
"It has the best licensing modules."
"With all its support and ease of use, VMware Player's pricing is fair."
"It is an expensive solution."
"VMware Workstation has a high price than competitors in the market."
"VMware Workstation's costs are lifetime."
"VMware Workstation is an expensive tool. I rate the product's price a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is a high price, and ten is a low or good price."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"Licensing costs are paid on a yearly basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business60
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise44
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business32
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise16
 

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 ...
Which VMware solution would you go with - Workstation or vSphere?
VM Workstation’s setup is so easy, you can use it almost instantly, it works well with Windows and Linux. We like VM Workstation primarily to test environments to determine how well a solution will...
What do you like most about VMware Workstation?
The product is stable, very easy to deploy, easy to use, easy to configure, and easy to set up.
What needs improvement with VMware Workstation?
The product's integration capabilities are an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required.
 

Also Known As

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

LCMC Health
Akademiska Hus
Find out what your peers are saying about Horizon 8 vs. VMware Workstation and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
867,299 professionals have used our research since 2012.