No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge (CSE) comparison

Sponsored
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Microsoft Intune
Sponsored
Ranking in Remote Access
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
377
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (1st), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citri...
Ranking in Remote Access
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
128
Ranking in other categories
Application Virtualization (1st), Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (1st), Desktop as a Service (DaaS) (1st)
SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge...
Ranking in Remote Access
25th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
ZTNA (16th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Remote Access category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 5.4%, down from 10.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) is 5.4%, up from 4.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge (CSE) is 1.1%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Remote Access Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Intune5.4%
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)5.4%
SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge (CSE)1.1%
Other88.1%
Remote Access
 

Featured Reviews

HA
Senior Business Development Executive at Digitaltrack
Centralized device management has automated onboarding and improves remote security compliance
One thing I feel Microsoft Intune could improve is troubleshooting visibility. In many cases, when a policy or application deployment fails, the error messages are a bit generic. So, admins still spend time checking logs manually or testing on devices one by one. Compared to the simplicity of deployment, troubleshooting sometimes feels less mature. I also think reporting and real-time monitoring could be stronger. The dashboard gives useful information, but in large environments, many teams still depend on additional tools or scripts for deeper reporting and analytics. If I had to focus on one area first, I would probably choose troubleshooting and reporting. Deployment through Microsoft Intune is generally straightforward, but when something fails, identifying the exact root cause can still take more time than expected. Error messages are sometimes too generic, and admins often have to dig through logs, sync status, or multiple portals to understand what actually happened. I think user experience and policy management could also improve further. Microsoft Intune has become much better over the years, but sometimes the admin portal still feels fragmented because certain configurations open in different sections or redirect to older interfaces. For new admins, especially, it can take time to understand where everything is located. Another thing is policy conflict handling. In larger organizations, multiple device policies, compliance rules, and configuration profiles can overlap. When conflicts happen, the visibility is not always very clear, so admins spend time figuring out which policy actually won or caused the issue.
SN
Technical Lead on Virtual Desktop at Orange
Has delivered consistent desktop experiences across remote locations and has supported multimedia workloads efficiently
I have utilized the HDX protocol for compression and audio-video capabilities. When users need to conduct meetings with customers or colleagues, they can use Teams solutions and open a bridge where video and audio are encapsulated within the ICA protocol, which is protected by SSL and certificates for security. This provides secure communication at good quality through the HDX protocol. HDX protocol has improved application performance as it is specifically designed for multimedia applications. If processing audio or video files, such as in telecom where discussions are recorded and then prepared as video or audio, this does not consume excessive bandwidth during the operation compared to a normal remote desktop connection provided by Microsoft. Everything is compressed and provides sufficient bandwidth for multiple people to perform similar tasks without interruption or session disconnection. All multimedia-related activities, such as playing content on YouTube, deliver a better experience with this protocol overall. I use multi-factor authentication for opening sessions to the data center where users access their machines or software. Multi-factor authentication has helped secure applications because users typically have two-way authentication software on their phones. They use a password first and then authenticate themselves through their mobile application to grant access to resources. This approach is effective because if a hacker attacks a user, they need more than just the password and username. They must also possess the device that provides authentication. The device typically has facial recognition, a password, and provides better security overall.
Kallamuddin Ansari - PeerSpot reviewer
Cyber Security Consultant at HR Software Solution
Remote access has become more secure and flexible but reporting still needs deeper analytics
SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge (CSE) offers excellent features including Zero Trust Network Access, VPN as a service, and Cloud Access Security Brokers. One of the standout features is Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) for Software as a Service, providing visibility and control over cloud applications employees use, not only regarding whether they can use them but also regarding the actions they perform within those applications. This is especially useful in organizations utilizing many SaaS tools such as Office 365, Salesforce, and cloud storage, where consistent security policy enforcement is required, even from personal devices or remote locations. The secure web gateway feature is critical for modern-day internet security. SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge (CSE) provides secure web gateway features for users accessing the internet, including URL filtering, domain filtering, blocking malicious websites, preventing phishing or ransomware threats, and enforcing acceptable use policies. SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge (CSE) has had a very positive impact on our organization as our workforce becomes more distributed, with noticeable improvements including easier and more secure remote access. Previously, managing VPN clients and hardware gateways was difficult for new or non-technical users, but with SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge (CSE), users simply authenticate and get secure access to only the applications they need. There are numerous improvements I notice, such as improved BYOD security, reduced risk of lateral movements, simplified management, lower hardware dependency, and better visibility and compliance reporting. After moving to SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge (CSE), we saw a 38% reduction in VPN-related tickets. Users are no longer facing client errors, tunnel failures, and certificate issues, which saves nearly 25 hours per month on troubleshooting remote access problems. Onboarding remote users has become 60% faster, now taking only 10 to 15 minutes instead of 30 to 40 minutes. Additionally, there has been a 52% reduction in risky connection attempts primarily from devices with outdated operating systems or disabled antivirus, with zero lateral movement and a 30% drop in failed login anomalies.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Based on my experience, I find Intune very flexible for managing Windows devices. We can use scripting, and we can make use of the self-service portal or the company portal to publish some of the applications for Windows."
"It is easy to use and easy to roll out with low impact on users; it is stable and scalable as well, and the central administration con dashboard is very easy to use and provides very good oversight on all that needs to be monitored."
"Conditional access helps me control uncontrolled access."
"Microsoft Intune is a cost-saving solution, reducing IT department workload and allowing for faster device provisioning compared to traditional methods."
"We can implement a MAM policy in this Intune and protect the device through mobile application development without touching it. The interface is easy to use and understand."
"It's cloud-based with no need for on-premise infrastructure, you can access it anywhere and start working on it, and you will have the record of data in your hand anytime if you need it quickly."
"What I value most about Microsoft Intune is that it is a cloud-native tool and is embedded into Premium at a reasonable cost."
"Overall, the user experience of Microsoft Intune is excellent, the software is installed in the background and the user will not feel any disruption, and it is a comprehensive solution because it is integrated with Microsoft's other products."
"In this day and age, to have that security of knowing that your data is protected is worth its weight in gold."
"And our overall IT costs (hardware, software, utilities, etc.) dropped 44 percent over what we were spending in 2008 and certainly over our trajectory."
"Since COVID, we are able to work, as half the state is functioning right now through remoting in through Citrix Workspace."
"Remote work has been enhanced"
"It makes it easy for us to give storage, memory, RAM, or processor resources without anything affecting their day-to-day activity."
"Citrix Workspace and Virtual Desktops offer various features, including persistent and non-persistent environments, allowing different user personas to access their work environment efficiently."
"The user experience when using the solution's technology remotely is definitely superior to our VPN and/or Windows Remote Desktop. It's a much better user experience for those folks."
"It is an excellent virtual office that works anywhere, anytime, and anyplace, and it is worth our investment."
"After moving to SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge (CSE), we saw a 38% reduction in VPN-related tickets, saving nearly 25 hours per month on troubleshooting remote access problems, onboarding remote users has become 60% faster, and there has been a 52% reduction in risky connection attempts with zero lateral movement and a 30% drop in failed login anomalies."
 

Cons

"Regarding what I dislike about Microsoft Intune and its downsides, I would say that more Mac controls are needed because we have limited Mac and Linux control."
"For an existing customer who has an SCCM, it would need to be upgraded to an MECM first before I can introduce Microsoft Intune."
"It would be better if I could integrate it with my core group policy. I would like to have a group policy in my current environment, which has strict control, but those things are still missing. Although it has maximum compliance and security, it's not available on-premise."
"I'd like to see an ability to deploy more ways of management, managing devices and processing the policies."
"It would be beneficial to have a more straightforward understanding of Intune's capabilities, presented in a simplified manner."
"Intune should improve its software inventory to provide better metering of which software is used throughout the company. This is especially needed for reporting third-party software solutions."
"Intune has all the features enabled for Windows devices but needs to be improved on iOS and Apple devices."
"We are not satisfied with technical support. Some improvements might be required."
"Their customer support can be improved a lot as it lacks a lot of knowledgeable help."
"If there is an interruption, it might not actually be available to the user, which could cause issues."
"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."
"Pricing can be lower and roaming profiles need to be fixed to work consistently."
"I had a stability issue with Citrix XenServer. If you experience a problem with XenServer, you must know Linux commands, unlike with VMWare ESX."
"Templating the deployment process could use improvement. When you start, there are a large number of details that are quite client-specific, although they do share common themes. To get somebody up and running in a day is very difficult to do. They should streamline by use case."
"The product advances really fast. For some customers, we need better backwards compatibility."
"Citrix duplicates multiple processes."
"SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge (CSE) has some areas for improvement, particularly in reporting and dashboards."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Microsoft Intune is moderately priced. There is a monthly license required to use the solution and it is approximately eight dollars per month."
"There is a license needed for this solution and it is either included in one of the enterprise license agreements. Microsoft licensing is a mathematical institute, it could be quite complex. We tend to ask specialized organizations to research what the most profitable way it would be for us to use licenses in the organizations."
"It comes as a bundle, so you do not really know what the prices are. Microsoft does not break it down to the user cost for us. It is just bundled with our E5 license."
"Microsoft Intune has been incorporated into our Microsoft E5 licenses."
"It is average. Some of the costs are quite high depending on what the customer currently uses, but overall, it is not bad. I would not say that I would not recommend Intune based on the cost. I definitely would, but they can definitely improve on the cost. So overall, its cost is not bad."
"Microsoft Intune is a cost effective choice. It is less expensive than other products on the market."
"The price of Intune is included with the license for Office 365, so we don't have to pay anything extra for it."
"Our Office 365 Business Premium license, including Office 365 and Intune Management, offers excellent value."
"We're paying for a standard license and, in my view, the price is too high. I would be satisfied with it if it were reduced by about 20-30%. Right now, I would rate the pricing a five out of ten."
"As for the cost, it is neither cheap nor expensive. Personally, I find it quite expensive, especially if you want to add more features. The security features we use include App Protect and Endpoint Protection."
"My company opts for the yearly subscription model to pay towards the licensing costs attached to the solution."
"I think it is a little high priced."
"Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is an expensive solution."
"In terms of pricing with the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, I think it has gotten better over the years. Citrix has found more dynamic ways to be able to revive licensing models that fit many different scenarios that organizations have. We have been able to evolve our own licensing over the years to accommodate our situations between concurrent versus user device licenses. Now, when we move into the Citrix Workspace realm, we definitely have some awesome options there."
"Their licensing model used to be on a per-year basis, where you would negotiate the cost per user for a year. For instance, if you had 25,000 users, you could negotiate the cost accordingly. However, they are transitioning to a subscription-based model where the cost is incurred monthly."
"I suggest using the concurrent user licensing scheme."
Information not available
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Remote Access solutions are best for your needs.
910,350 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Insurance Company
13%
Government
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Security Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business192
Midsize Enterprise62
Large Enterprise186
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business45
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise69
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

How does Microsoft Intune compare with VMware Workspace One?
Microsoft Intune is a great tool for managing a mobile device fleet while keeping access control. The solution makes ...
What are the pros and cons of Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune is a great configuration management tool and has a lot of good things going for it. Here are some of...
How does Google Cloud Identity compare with Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also ...
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. ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Workspace?
Citrix DaaS is considered expensive, especially for companies that do not require multi-cloud. Tiered pricing based o...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge (CSE)?
The setup cost for SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge (CSE) was minimal as most of the investment was in time spent configur...
What needs improvement with SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge (CSE)?
SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge (CSE) has some areas for improvement, particularly in reporting and dashboards. While it ...
What is your primary use case for SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge (CSE)?
My main use case for SonicWall Cloud Secure Edge (CSE) is for remote and hybrid work access, specifically for Zero Tr...
 

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
XenDesktop, XenApp (Citrix Virtual Apps), Citrix Workspace
Banyan Security
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Exelon, Aeronamic, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Alameda County Medical Center, Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Aloysius Stichting, Amarchand Mangaldas, AmBev, Amnet Technology Solutions, Arval
Redox, Byton, Veeva, BlueVoyant
Find out what your peers are saying about TeamViewer, Microsoft, Apache and others in Remote Access. Updated: August 2026.
910,350 professionals have used our research since 2012.