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Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs Horizon 8 comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citri...
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
6th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
93
Ranking in other categories
Application Virtualization (1st), Remote Access (5th), Desktop as a Service (DaaS) (1st)
Horizon 8
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
111
Ranking in other categories
User Virtualization (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2024, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) is 3.2%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Horizon 8 is 11.3%, down from 14.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

RV
Nov 9, 2022
Provide access from anywhere, to any device, with great security
Our primary use case of this solution is for secured access to design data The most valuable feature of the solution is that it supports team clients. That is the major advantage where a user can at one point in time work in a secure environment, where they don't have access to the internet, but…
RM
Dec 7, 2021
Simple to install, but the technical support needs improvement
We are providers and we provide solutions to our clients. We are using it for Virtual Desktop, Application Virtualization, Graphics, AutoCAD Virtualization, Graphics Virtualization, Workstation, and Graphic Power Technical support could be better and faster. We have been using VMware Horizon…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Centralization and security are the most valuable features of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops."
"The app protection feature is one of the most valuable because it provides good security, as nobody is going to be able to look into your screen while you are sharing the screen. And if someone has installed a keylogger in your system, your keystrokes will be jumbled up and they would not make any sense to the keylogger. App protection is one of the coolest security features that I have encountered on any platform."
"XenDesktop has helped our users to work remotely with a better user experience."
"It is user-friendly and easy to use."
"Relative to other solutions, Citrix has fewer conditions and fewer parameters. Citrix also provides some flexibility because it can be used on any device."
"The most valuable feature is the gateway to a remote connection, to a physical or a virtual PC. Compared to a normal VPN client and connection, the connection via Citrix is more stable and does not consume as much network bandwidth."
"The most valuable feature of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is the security and it is easy to work with."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the desktop virtualization, which allows me to connect from anywhere."
"The application delivery is it's most valuable feature."
"The solution simplifies our work."
"It is a stable solution. It is wonderful for multi-user environments, and it supports different virtual machines and operating systems. You can go for any kind of virtual machine. It has many features, especially for a call center. You don't have the issue of computers going down from time to time. You just need to copy the virtual machine to deploy it. You also don't need many people to maintain computers. With Horizon 7, you just need one or two people."
"We use VMware Horizon to digitalize environments."
"The console is straightforward and easy to understand for the end user. It can be deployed on any device, including iPads and Mac OS. Users can access their daily applications and resources provided by the VMware Horizon environment from any device."
"The ease of customizing the terminal, including the ability to add or decrease memory."
"VMware has a lot of experience in virtualization — they are the pioneers in virtualization."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the clone variant. We have been using the linked clone for the past five years, but I am willing to support and take on the function of the instant cloud."
 

Cons

"As an end-to-end solution for implementing Zero Trust principles I would rate it a six or a seven out of 10, because it doesn't cover all aspects of Zero Trust. There are quite a few aspects you need to cover."
"The video conferencing feature needs to be improved."
"We have had issues with certain aspects, which is why we are looking for alternatives. For example, the firewall solution from Citrix is a bit complicated. Integration is hard."
"Compared with the Outlook mobile app, the Citrix mobile app shows some lag in authentication."
"The initial setup has room for improvement."
"There is room for improvement on the hypervisor side, providing better integration between the hypervisor and the product line. I suspect that they haven't put the work into that because of the move to the cloud. They want everything to be cloud-hosted. But for folks like us, who will always be a hybrid model, that's of some concern."
"Where improvement could be driven is in terms of clarity as to the functionality of some of the solutions. If you go back to the older Citrix Xen products that we had, we understood those really well. As we've come into the new workstation premium suite, there is a lot of additional functionality that we perhaps have not yet fully exploited. It is not because we can't, but simply because we don't yet understand the depth of functionality that's offered."
"There is room for improvement because it has a lot of dependency on Active Directory and other things. If they could come up with something similar and native, a complete solution portfolio would help."
"The remote application features have some room for improvement."
"We should be able to use the tool on different platforms."
"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."
"Deployment and configuration could be simplified."
"There is room for improvement in security features."
"Technical support could be better and faster."
"The initial setup was complex, and you need system experience to walk through it."
"Using a printer with the VDI is not a straightforward process."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Implementing Citrix DaaS with thin clients, rather than physical laptops, has resulted in savings of 27% to 29%. Additionally, moving 1,000 users from physical laptops to thin clients and VDI solutions can save around 40,000 kilograms of carbon emissions, benefiting both the environment and the company's economy, provided thin clients are used."
"The solution is expensive and I give the cost a four out of ten."
"The price of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is approximately $300 for the new version called Dash and the license is approximately $900 annually."
"The purchase price was around $300,000 USD and then the maintenance fees were 20%. There are no other additional fees."
"It is an expensive solution. I rate its pricing a nine out of ten."
"Citrix solutions cost a lot in comparison with competitors, like Azure Virtual Desktop or VMware Horizon. Those solutions cost around 50 to 60 percent less, per month per user, than Citrix."
"We have more than a million seats under management so we get the best price."
"The Citrix license model has changed. It costs around $240 per user for a single username, but a concurrent license costs double."
"I rate the product cost a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is high price, and ten is low price."
"The pricing can be relatively competitive, but sometimes you have to go back to VMware and ask for additional discounts. You can make it competitive If you're prepared to put in the work. The list prices and standard discounts may not be competitive, but if you push hard enough, you can get the price to where you need it to be."
"VMware Horizon can be considered to be slightly expensive"
"Pricing for Horizon is relatively high, earning a rating of one out of ten."
"VMware Horizon is expensive. It should provide a special price for more user licenses."
"The pricing could be improved."
"The solution is expensive."
"VMware Horizon View's licensing cost is not expensive."
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Comparison Review

it_user8922 - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 23, 2013
Comparison of VMware View 5.2 VS Citrix XenDesktop 5.6
Recently I attended the VMware Partner Exchange 2013 and there was a session called “Technical Battleground – View VS XenDesktop”. In this post I will try and cover the differences that VMware showcased during their session and I am going to add an additional column for my comments and thoughts on…
 

Answers from the Community

DD
Oct 26, 2021
Oct 26, 2021
I think VMware Horizon View is a very solid product. I think it is the most mature product on the whole spectrum. All virtual desktop environments require tuning for performance. Depending on the size of the company you don't need 1/10 of the bells & whistles that the vendors include. For example, I have a small environment - 70 employees. I don't use instant clones, personas, their analys...
See 2 answers
EB
Jun 29, 2021
Hi @Abbasi Poonawala, @David Grudek​, @Payman Maher​, @Michal Sadlik ​, @Tonatiuh Torres Zamorano ​ , @JacquesBodenstein, and @Dan Withrow. Can you help @Dante Dano ​with your professional experience? Thank you.
DR
Oct 26, 2021
I think VMware Horizon View is a very solid product.  I think it is the most mature product on the whole spectrum. All virtual desktop environments require tuning for performance. Depending on the size of the company you don't need 1/10 of the bells & whistles that the vendors include. For example, I have a small environment - 70 employees. I don't use instant clones, personas, their analysis tools, ... Not only are they expensive (the tools) they overly complicate a complicated process. KISS.  I have honed down the environment to what is just needed. Most of the industry will tell you otherwise. And I do all this as a one-man IT department. 
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?
My focus has primarily been on publishing virtual applications.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?
I rate the product’s pricing a seven out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.
What needs improvement with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?
The Citrix DaaS application is a bit heavy when it comes to mobile access, and it should function more smoothly. For example, the Citrix mobile app takes a long time to log in and should work even ...
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 ...
 

Also Known As

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, XenDesktop, XenApp (Citrix Virtual Apps)
VMware Horizon, VMware Horizon View, Mware Dynamic Environment Manager
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Exelon, Aeronamic, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Alameda County Medical Center, Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Aloysius Stichting, Amarchand Mangaldas, AmBev, Amnet Technology Solutions, Arval
LCMC Health
Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs. Horizon 8 and other solutions. Updated: July 2024.
800,688 professionals have used our research since 2012.