Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops comparison

Citrix and Red Hat are both solutions in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category. Citrix is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.5, while Red Hat is ranked #14 with an average rating of 6.0. Citrix holds a 13.7% mindshare in VD, compared to Red Hat’s 0.8% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Citrix users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 50% of Red Hat users who would recommend it.

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citri...

Read 127 Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) reviews

8,259 Views
6,359 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Red Hat Enterprise Virtuali...

Read 2 Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops reviews

462 Views
462 Comparison Views

50% willing to recommend

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citri...

Red Hat Enterprise Virtuali...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 2024

Citrix DaaS and Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops are competitors in the desktop virtualization market. Citrix DaaS appears to have an edge with its advanced feature set and ease of deployment.

Features: Citrix DaaS provides comprehensive scalability, seamless cloud integration, and extensive security options. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops offers open-source flexibility, robust virtualization capabilities, and competitive pricing. Each platform provides unique benefits, but Citrix's enriched feature set is particularly attractive for large enterprises seeking advanced functionalities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Citrix DaaS is known for a streamlined deployment process and strong support network, which simplifies setup. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops typically requires intricate configurations and mostly relies on community-driven support, which can be less accessible.

Pricing and ROI: Citrix DaaS involves a larger initial investment but tends to deliver long-term value with its robust features and stability. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops offers a lower upfront pricing model that appeals to organizations aiming to reduce initial costs while still achieving satisfactory returns over time.

To learn more, read our detailed Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops

September 2025

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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

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citri...

Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

3rd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

127

Ranking in other categories

Application Virtualization (1st), Remote Access (4th), Desktop as a Service (DaaS) (1st)

Red Hat Enterprise Virtuali...

Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

14th

Average Rating

7.0

Reviews Sentiment

2.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) is 13.7%, up from 10.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops is 0.8%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)	13.7%
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops	0.8%
Other	85.5%

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Featured Reviews

Mohd Abdul Aziz Shah Sulaiman

Endpoint & Digital Workplace Management at Telekom Malaysia

High security has ensured safe access that's very lightweight

The security layer is very high because I cannot copy-paste outside of the VDI. Screenshots are not possible, as everything will appear black. Within the VDI, users are focused on their specific tasks. It is a lightweight application that incorporates multi-factor authentication. It allows contact centers to work from home, using the VDI for application access while ensuring the person accessing the machine is the one doing the work. The security layer is robust, preventing copy-pasting outside the VDI or screenshotting.

Read full review

RobertThompson 1

Information Security Manager at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees

Free version available but hard to understand

Personally, I don't think it has any commendable features. The biggest thing about it is that, compared to what you can do with VMware and Horizon, it just seems like there's an awful lot of extra work involved with the Red Hat virtualization. It doesn't just work out of the box. You have to read through about six different documents, and everybody's experience is different. So it's kind of annoying. That would be the main thing. If you're not a Linux geek, it's very hard to understand. And it's probably because I came out of the Windows world. I learned this as part of my cross-training, but I just found the way that it happens with VMware and all that stuff to be easier to use.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product is stable."

"The ROI for us has been that when we had Hurricane Harvey last year, Xendesktop came in very handy for us. Even though people had electricity in Texas, many networks were down. Our offices could still get into our network and do work that was needed. It is an excellent virtual office that works anywhere, anytime and anyplace. It is worth our investment."

"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."

"The architecture I built had a robust failover mechanism for the endpoints, and the interface was user-friendly."

"From my perspective, the most valuable feature is the manageability."

"The service dash and Workspace Environment Manager service are good features."

"The tech support is fast, knowledgeable, and customer-friendly."

"It allows us to mute users who adhere to a policy of not allowing direct VPN access for security reasons. It is easy to use."

More Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) pros

"The improvement to our organization is managing all our KVM-based virtual machines in a management environment."

"There's lots of good support out there in the community."

"The most valuable features are automated deployment and transparent movement for virtual machines over all our locations."

Cons

"Citrix has undergone significant changes, primarily due to its acquisition. This acquisition impacted Citrix's value because of increased licensing costs under the new model. As a result, many customers are now considering alternatives to Citrix."

"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."

"There are a lot of shortfalls with supporting printing over XenApp."

"The initial setup is very complex."

"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."

"The application is now very complex. We started with Citrix on PCs. Now, to access the same application, we need to have a StoreFront Server, the Delivery Controller, and Citrix License Server. It's now very complex."

"I think Citrix's support is good, but sometimes it is a little slow."

"Their customer support can be improved a lot as it lacks a lot of knowledgeable help."

More Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) cons

"The best improvement for oVirt 4.2 is to enable backup features for major backup products of virtual machines."

"The biggest thing about it is that, compared to what you can do with VMware and Horizon, it just seems like there's an awful lot of extra work involved with Red Hat virtualization."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are just now approaching the end of our initial purchase, which was an excellent price for us as an academic institution. We got a very good deal to get us on board. That license is up for renewal in about a year, and we are nervously waiting to see what the pricing will be."

"We recouped 60 to 70 percent of the hardware costs."

"It is an expensive solution. I rate its pricing a nine out of ten."

"The tool is expensive."

"In the past, the prices of the product were great. With the acquisition of Citrix by your company, the prices have drastically increased. For my company, it has become a bit of a problem to sell products from Citrix."

"The pricing is a little bit high, but it's good value for the product's stability and efficiency."

"The licensing is $125 USD per user."

"I suggest using the concurrent user licensing scheme."

More Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) pricing and cost advice

"I use the free developer stuff right now."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

21%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Government

University

22%

Manufacturing Company

19%

Government

11%

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	43
Midsize Enterprise	21
Large Enterprise	68

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?

My focus has primarily been on publishing virtual applications.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?

I have found that Citrix DaaS is still a complex product, especially on the desktop side, which affects scalability. Although it works well on the apps side, the desktop aspect still has room for i...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops?

I use the free developer stuff right now.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops?

I've used it more as a user than as an administrator setting it up. Just mainly getting access to legacy systems and programming that's not Windows 11 compatible.

See all answers

Comparisons

Azure Virtual Desktop vs Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)

Compared 52% of the time

Amazon Appstream vs Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)

Compared 4% of the time

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

Compared 3% of the time

Rocket Exceed TurboX vs Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)

Compared 3% of the time

More Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) Competitors

Horizon 8 vs Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops

Compared 53% of the time

Oracle VDI vs Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops

Compared 31% of the time

More Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)

October 2025

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) report

Download Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) product report

Buyer's Guide

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

October 2025

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops report

Download Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops product report

Also Known As

XenDesktop, XenApp (Citrix Virtual Apps), Citrix Workspace

Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops

Interactive Demo

Citrix

Demo not available

Red Hat

Overview

Enable secure, flexible work with the leader in virtual apps and desktops

Deliver desktop as a service (DaaS) from any cloud or datacenter

Get started with Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) in minutes to provide a familiar, high-performance digital workspace experience to your users. We’ll manage the infrastructure and security. You focus on your business.

Citrix

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops complete desktop environments are hosted virtually. Users connect to these virtual desktops using either inexpensive thin clients or re-purposed PCs. No data is actually stored on the thin client - it's stored in a secure centralized location and can be accessed from anywhere. Red Hat Virtualization is an open, software-defined platform that virtualizes Linux and Microsoft Windows workloads. Built on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM), it features management tools that virtualize resources, processes, and applications providing a foundation for a cloud-native and containerized future.

Red Hat

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

Casio, Telef‹nica, British Airways

Buyer's Guide

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops

September 2025

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