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Amazon WorkSpaces Reviews

Vendor: Amazon Web Services (AWS)
4.1 out of 5
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What is Amazon WorkSpaces?

Amazon WorkSpaces is a fully managed desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) solution provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It allows users to access a virtual desktop environment in the cloud from various devices, including laptops, tablets, and thin clients.

Get the Amazon WorkSpaces Buyer's Guide and find out what your peers are saying about Amazon WorkSpaces, VMware Workstation, Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) and more!
Amazon WorkSpaces is the #2 ranked solution in top Desktop as a Service vendors and #8 ranked solution in top Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solutions. PeerSpot users give Amazon WorkSpaces an average rating of 8.2 out of 10. Amazon WorkSpaces is most commonly compared to VMware Workstation: Amazon WorkSpaces vs VMware Workstation. Amazon WorkSpaces is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 65% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a computer software company, accounting for 17% of all views.
Buyer's Guide
Amazon WorkSpaces
March 2025
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Featured Amazon WorkSpaces reviews

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Amazon WorkSpaces mindshare

Product category:
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
As of March 2025, the mindshare of Amazon WorkSpaces in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category stands at 0.7%, down from 1.0% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

PeerAnalyst reports based on Amazon WorkSpaces reviews

TypeTitleDate
CategoryVirtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)Mar 7, 2025Download
ProductReviews, tips, and advice from real usersMar 7, 2025Download
ComparisonAmazon WorkSpaces vs VMware WorkstationMar 7, 2025Download
ComparisonAmazon WorkSpaces vs Horizon 8Mar 7, 2025Download
ComparisonAmazon WorkSpaces vs Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)Mar 7, 2025Download
Suggested products
TitleRatingMindshareRecommending
VMware Workstation4.416.9%93%55 interviewsAdd to research
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)4.28.9%92%125 interviewsAdd to research
 
 
Key learnings from peers

Valuable Features

Amazon WorkSpaces offers mobility, allowing access from any location. Security and seamless streaming provide reliable data protection. Users appreciate the flexibility and easy provisioning. Its cost-effectiveness, fast performance, and scalability enhance user experience. The ease of deployment, low latency, and multimedia support enable efficient video conferencing. Remote work is effortless through browser access. Users from different regions can deploy virtual desktops quickly. Stability, quick implementation, and Active Directory integration are also highlighted features.
  • "The initial setup is simple."
  • "The infrastructure is readily available, with minimal latency, which each user can benefit from."
  • "Performance and scalability are valuable features."

Room for Improvement

Amazon WorkSpaces requires enhancements in speed and performance, especially during video and audio conferencing. Users encounter issues installing third-party applications and configuring external software. Pricing and support services need revision, including their base plan and assistance options. Features such as concurrent usage, shadow mode, and USB connectivity are necessary. Improvements in corporate identity management, single sign-on, and user-friendly controls are desired. Stability, VPN functionality, and start times could also be optimized.
  • "The agent sometimes has connectivity issues, but otherwise, it's good."
  • "There is always scope of improvement in the stability."
  • "Configuration was a bit complicated at first but manageable."

ROI

Amazon WorkSpaces provides a significant return on investment, rated between seven and eight out of ten. Users appreciate the readily available infrastructure, allowing for quick database setups in a shared environment. The ease of launching and setting up enhances productivity and simplifies connectivity. Troubleshooting is straightforward, making it favorable compared to traditional on-premises configurations. Organizations report noticeable improvements in efficiency, valuing the platform's benefits for faster implementation of solutions.

Pricing

Amazon WorkSpaces pricing can range from $85 to $150 per month per machine, based on capacity and resources. Additional charges apply for network connectivity and storage. Licensing costs can vary depending on company turnover and Amazon relationships. Users can choose between hourly and monthly pricing. The pricing model is generally perceived as reasonable, with pay-as-you-go options available. External costs, such as support and additional services, can add to the overall expense.
  • "The pricing is based on consumption. You pay for each process based on the transactions you make."
  • "It is very expensive."
  • "The tool's pricing depends on company turnover and the organization's relationship with Amazon. I rate it a six out of ten."

Popular Use Cases

Organizations primarily use Amazon WorkSpaces as a virtual desktop for various tasks including everyday office activities, software development, and remote access to company networks. It provides a secure environment for users working from home, facilitates easy management of systems and applications, and eliminates the need for physical laptops by hosting data on the cloud. It supports applications across different OS platforms and simplifies user management.

Service and Support

Customer service and support for Amazon WorkSpaces earn high marks, often rated ten out of ten. Users mention helpful assistance from sales staff for minor issues. While most users don't experience major problems, some note that critical issue responses take 24 to 48 hours, with suggestions for faster replies. Contact typically occurs through IT teams or call centers. Some users mention necessary costs for priority support. The response time is good, although it could improve.

Deployment

Setup of Amazon WorkSpaces is generally easy and straightforward, with many finding it user-friendly. Most teams managed to complete it within a few days and rated the ease of setup highly. Some mentioned integration capabilities with other services like VPC, cloud, and S3. While most found the deployment process to be uncomplicated, a few needed additional domain configuration and testing time. Organizations usually accomplished deployment using minimal resources.

Scalability

Amazon WorkSpaces is seen as highly scalable, effectively supporting various organizations up to hundreds or thousands of users. Users have flexibility in scaling up or down and can adjust resources such as compute type and storage to manage costs. It efficiently meets the demands of entities ranging from small businesses to larger enterprises. Several users rate its scalability very positively, indicating it handles increasing user needs without issues. Scalability receives high ratings from multiple users.

Stability

Amazon WorkSpaces stability is consistently rated highly by users, often scoring nine out of ten. Users report few to no major issues, attributing minor disturbances to network latency concerns. Although some note the system locks when idle, stability effectively depends on reliable internet connectivity. While expressing overall satisfaction, they acknowledge potential improvement areas.
These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.
Download our Amazon WorkSpaces Buyer's Guide for additional reliable information.

Review data by company size

By reviewers
By visitors reading reviews

Top industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Government
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Educational Organization
4%
University
4%
Construction Company
4%
Energy/Utilities Company
4%
Insurance Company
4%
Comms Service Provider
4%
Pharma/Biotech Company
3%
Real Estate/Law Firm
3%
Hospitality Company
3%
Media Company
3%
Healthcare Company
2%
Retailer
2%
Wholesaler/Distributor
1%
Aerospace/Defense Firm
1%
Logistics Company
1%
Outsourcing Company
1%
Recreational Facilities/Services Company
1%
Transportation Company
1%
Paper And Forest Products
1%
Non Profit
1%
Performing Arts
1%
Legal Firm
1%

Compare Amazon WorkSpaces with alternative products

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Learn more about Amazon WorkSpaces

With Amazon WorkSpaces, users can have a complete desktop experience with their familiar applications and data, while the underlying infrastructure and management tasks are handled by AWS. The virtual desktops provided by Amazon WorkSpaces are persistent, meaning that user data and settings are retained even when disconnected from the virtual desktop.

Amazon WorkSpaces Features:

  • Desktop Experience: Provides a complete Windows or Linux desktop experience for users.
  • Device Flexibility: Accessible from various devices such as computers, tablets, and thin clients.
  • Managed Service: AWS manages infrastructure, updates, patches, and backups.
  • Flexible Scaling: Easily scale the number of virtual desktops based on needs.
  • Security and Compliance: Built-in security features and compliance capabilities.
  • Cost-Effective: Pay-as-you-go pricing model for optimized cost management.
  • Integration with AWS Services: Seamlessly integrates with other AWS services.
  • User Profile Management: Supports saving and applying user-specific settings.
  • Application Compatibility: Supports a wide range of applications.

Amazon WorkSpaces Benefits:

  • Flexible Accessibility: Users can access their virtual desktops from various devices, providing flexibility and mobility.
  • Simplified Management: AWS manages the underlying infrastructure, reducing the burden of desktop management for organizations.
  • Scalability: Easily scale the number of virtual desktops up or down based on business needs, accommodating workforce changes.
  • Enhanced Security: Built-in security features and compliance capabilities ensure data protection and regulatory compliance.
  • Cost Savings: Pay-as-you-go pricing eliminates upfront infrastructure costs, allowing organizations to optimize their desktop infrastructure expenses.
  • Integration with AWS Services: Seamlessly integrate with other AWS services for enhanced functionality and capabilities.
  • User-Friendly Experience: Offers a familiar desktop environment with customizable settings and application compatibility.

Reviews from Real Users

Sachin Narvekar, IT-IS LEAD at Tata Consultancy, writes that "Amazon WorkSpaces is a virtual desktop platform. So, instead of having your laptops, and desktops, you can have your data on the cloud.”, he also adds, "Security, streaming, faster performance, scalability, and the fact that it is very much cost-effective, are some of the solution's valuable features."

Ravi-Bhardwaj, Manager at Ravi RITS Enterprice, states that “The solution has improved the organization because now any user who doesn't have a corporate laptop can connect to the system, security is still high, and it uses very low bandwidth.”

Amazon WorkSpaces was previously known as WorkSpaces.

Amazon WorkSpaces customers

GrubHub, Endemol Shine Nederland, CMC Property Services

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Product Categories

Product Categories
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
Desktop as a Service (DaaS)

Popular Comparisons

Popular Comparisons
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VMware Workstation vs Amazon WorkSpaces
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Amazon WorkSpaces reviews

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Bhaskar Rao - PeerSpot user
Network manager admin at Yamaha
Verified user of Amazon WorkSpaces
Jun 7, 2024
Management console is very easy to use, readily available infrastructure and easy to scale

Pros

"The infrastructure is readily available, with minimal latency, which each user can benefit from. "

Cons

"There is always scope of improvement in the stability."

What is our primary use case?

It is easy to understand at the user interface level. The management console is very easy to use. 

As per the current condition, it is easy, but we are still new to it, so we are experiencing more and need to drill down to understand the alerts, environment, and causes.

How has it helped my organization?

So many custom policies are already built in. On-premises, we need to create each policy based on customer requirements. But here, more than 300 policies are already built in. We just need to pick and attach them to our policies. That is a benefit for us.

The infrastructure is readily available, with minimal latency, which each user can benefit from. That is a good thing.

*Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Read full review (602 words)
Saswata Mondal - PeerSpot user
Director Data Science at a media company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Verified user of Amazon WorkSpaces
Jul 13, 2023
A High Performing Amazon Workspace Solution for Seamless Workspace Management

Pros

"The experience is seamless and there is no delay. The performance is very good. Initial startup times is a little bit of wait time, but it is bearable. "

Cons

"Making it more self-service friendly would be the implement I'd be looking for. When we have to add new applications, we have to go through the IT to do that, and they need to do some configuration changes. I believe they have to reevaluate the computation and storage and the memory. So this is this is something that as an unrequired and should be changed. Also, the initial start time takes couple of minutes and it is easy for get distracted during the time. So if it can reduce the start time to a reasonable start of time to a reasonable time of five to ten seconds. That will be great. "

What is our primary use case?

There are certain applications in media industry that we use it for which are only on either Windows or Linux platform. And we use MacBook pro for our office and laptop. So for those applications, we use Workspace.

How has it helped my organization?

Some of these applications are for very specific tasks, and there is not much other options available for many different platforms. We don’t use these applications regularly and it is more like for occasional use. So the pay as you go option from Amazon Workspace is very helpful for us.

*Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
Read full review (774 words)
Buyer's Guide
Amazon WorkSpaces
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Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon WorkSpaces. Updated March 2025
841,099 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Rostyslav Khomyk - PeerSpot user
Product Owner IT Services at Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG)
Verified user of Amazon WorkSpaces
Dec 30, 2023
Has low latency and multimedia support but pricing needs to improve

Pros

"The tool has low latency and multimedia support. For instance, running Zoom calls on Amazon WorkSpaces seamlessly supports local microphones, speakers, and web cameras. This feature is transparent for applications, allowing me to use the Zoom application without requiring exceptional support for remote web cameras or microphones. Amazon WorkSpaces provides this functionality at the operating system level, enabling effortless video conferencing. To my knowledge, Microsoft Remote Desktop does not offer the same support."

Cons

"The product needs to improve its pricing. It should also improve corporate identity management and single sign-on."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution to provide people with a virtual workspace. 

What is most valuable?

The tool has low latency and multimedia support. For instance, running Zoom calls on Amazon WorkSpaces seamlessly supports local microphones, speakers, and web cameras. This feature is transparent for applications, allowing me to use the Zoom application without requiring exceptional support for remote web cameras or microphones. Amazon WorkSpaces provides this functionality at the operating system level, enabling effortless video conferencing. To my knowledge, Microsoft Remote Desktop does not offer the same support.

*Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Read full review (250 words)
Bahman Talachian - PeerSpot user
Senior System Engineer - Microsoft Azure Cloud at a retailer with 51-200 employees
Verified user of Amazon WorkSpaces
Oct 4, 2023
A speedy solution that has good connection

Pros

" It has good speed and connects well with computers."

Cons

"The initial setup was somewhat difficult."

What is our primary use case?

We just create a computer on the cloud, then create a visual desktop VDI, and set a connection, username, and password. That user connects to the VDI machine on AWS with very limited access to a static application, and then they start to work for that company. When a company terminates the agent, it can then terminate the VDR and create a new VDR for the new agent.

What is most valuable?

We can deploy it in different regions. We had a lot of agents working outside of the US. It works in China and Malaysia. We can create a VDI for a different agent on AWS and assign that to the user. It has good speed and connects well with computers.

*Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Read full review (348 words)
SN
IT-IS LEAD at Tata Consultancy
Verified user of Amazon WorkSpaces
May 22, 2023
Good security, faster performance, and a cost-effective solution

Pros

"Security, streaming, faster performance, scalability, and the fact that it is very much cost-effective, are some of the solution's valuable features. "

Cons

"I would say that it is a little complex to configure. "

What is our primary use case?

Amazon WorkSpaces is a virtual desktop platform. So, instead of having your laptops, and desktops, you can have your data on the cloud. Also, it is a scalable solution. So you need not have to install the OS and update the patches. All those will be taken care of by Amazon or whoever is the public platform holding, and we don't have to worry about such things. You can access it over the webmail, or you can access all the browsers or the web client on the laptop.

What is most valuable?

Security, streaming, faster performance, scalability, and the fact that it is very much cost-effective, are some of the solution's valuable features. Also, your data is secured, and there is a backup on Amazon WorkSpaces. So, there is no need to worry about the data since data loss won't happen because there are multiple types of backup options allowing a person to restore the data anytime.


*Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
Read full review (695 words)
Rohit Zanwar - PeerSpot user
System Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Verified user of Amazon WorkSpaces
Jun 23, 2024
Easy to use and integrate with other services

Pros

"The initial setup is simple. "

Cons

"The agent sometimes has connectivity issues, but otherwise, it's good."

What is our primary use case?

It's like another virtual machine we want to access globally.

How has it helped my organization?

It support our remote work deployment.

*Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Read full review (300 words)
Vigneshwaran P - PeerSpot user
System Administrator at Prenetics
Verified user of Amazon WorkSpaces
Nov 21, 2023
Offers scalable infrastructure, easy to manage and operates very quickly but it is dependent on the location of the server

Pros

"The best feature is that it operates very quickly. It depends on the regional location. If we choose a nearby location, nearby servers, it will be best for users to use."

Cons

"Amazon WorkSpaces needs to improve on releasing the most number of patches immediately as quickly as possible. And they need to enable more USB options to connect a mobile phone to that particular workspace. "

What is our primary use case?

It's on a remote desktop. Currently, we need to operate on physical laptops and physical desktops. For organizational purposes, everything will be on the Cloud. In that cloud environment, we will use AWS, which is a cloud environment. 

In that cloud environment, we will create one virtual machine that has the credentials for working professionals. Working users will simply need to log on to their laptops or systems. They need to connect to that particular virtual machine, the Amazon WorkSpaces virtual machine, with their own credentials. They need to do all office-related work. Everything will be inside that workspace only. Safe and secure.

What is most valuable?

The best feature is that it operates very quickly. It depends on the regional location. If we choose a nearby location, nearby servers, it will be best for users to use.

*Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Read full review (799 words)
Prasanth MG - PeerSpot user
Software Engineer at Readyly
Verified user of Amazon WorkSpaces
Jul 2, 2023
A stable solution that provides work-from-home employees with a virtual desktop environment

Pros

"Amazon WorkSpaces is very fast."

Cons

"You cannot install external applications without doing some additional configurations inside the solution as opposed to your normal desktop or laptop."

What is our primary use case?

We are a work-from-home company, permanently working from home. Sometimes our employees face issues with their laptops. So we configure Amazon WorkSpaces for them, and they download the Amazon WorkSpace client on their computer, then log in to that. The solution provides our employees with a virtual desktop environment. We use Amazon WorkSpaces as an alternative to laptops.

What is most valuable?

Amazon WorkSpaces is very fast. You get the response very fast and feel like you are working on your own computer.

*Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Read full review (400 words)