Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs VMware Fusion Pro comparison

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs. VMware Fusion Pro

Download the complete report

Helped 867,497 peers since 2012

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)

VMware Fusion Pro

Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

2nd

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

5.8

Number of Reviews

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 Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) is 13.0%, up from 10.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Fusion Pro is 18.6%, down from 19.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
VMware Fusion Pro	18.6%
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)	13.0%
Other	68.4%

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Featured Reviews

Grant Waddell

Head of IT Architecture & Operations Support at Lyntia

User-friendly and easily accessible, but cost could be made cheaper

We use Citrix Workspace on Citrix Cloud. We have all of our servers on the AWS public cloud. There are a number of tools that we can implement that would save us costs. However, we've stuck to Citrix for convenience. If the prices keep increasing, we will have to consider other solutions. Users need to understand the tool's limitations correctly and what they require from a usability perspective. They should also understand the configuration of security policies. In some cases, people are unable to download or upload files onto their PCs, which is necessary for them to do their work. Users should understand the limitations of the product or the configuration options. Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

Read full review

Bruce Lundberg

Linux HPC Systems Administrator at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Create custom virtual environments quickly with minor macOS integration issues

The primary advantage of VMware Fusion Pro is its simplicity in creating custom virtual machines. It allows quick construction and provides connectivity to full VMware server systems, enabling remote management. It facilitates downloading images from main VMware servers for local testing. The ability to construct a virtual environment on my laptop meets my needs, even ones I wasn't aware of.

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

"I found the ease of deployment, scalability, and security to be to our benefit when supplying virtual applications to our clients."

"My focus has primarily been on publishing virtual applications."

"Because of the solution's ubiquity, it is easier to find answers to problems than with competitive products."

"Citrix Virtual Apps is the most valuable feature. Many customers use this feature to publish only applications, and not the full desktop. They can publish the internal resource or allow the end-user to reach a site or an application without having the full desktop. That's why they love this feature. It helps them save on resources."

"The most valuable feature is connectivity. The remote connection is the reason we are using this solution."

"XenApp is a fast, secure and reliable solution for remote connections that is completely different than and superior to older Windows solutions."

"In terms of scalability, Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops have a lot of technologies baked in there that allow an organization to scale up or down, as required. Further, leveraging Azure for scalability has added value to our organization. For example, pre-COVID-19, we had very few resources in Azure. We had some Virtual Desktops and no application servers. When COVID-19 came along, we knew people were going to be home. We knew that we had to ramp up very quickly. We fully leveraged MCS to be able to scale. Being able to take a single image and build 400,000 Virtual Desktops, all within minutes, was second to none in terms of any other technology out there that we could have used. The scalability to be able to do that in Azure, where we really don't have to worry about storage and compute power because Microsoft does that for us, was fantastic. It was almost like giving our environments steroids. It has been amazing in terms of that scalability. Now, as people start coming back to the office, we can just as quickly scale down so the compute and resource costs in Azure aren't so great anymore."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it supports team clients."

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

"The primary advantage of VMware Fusion Pro is its simplicity in creating custom virtual machines."

"It is a highly stable solution."

"The whole point of it is to run Windows VMs on a Mac. This is the most valuable feature. There is snapshotting, but we don't really use that. The Pro version allows me to actually attach to the Windows ESXi infrastructure at the backend, and I'm able to create a session that I can attach to the VMware hooks at the backend, so one is running a VM, and the whole operating system is running on the actual Mac. The other one is literally a frontend to the VMs that are running in the infrastructure at the backend. These are the two main features I use."

"The product is easy to use and has a simple user interface."

"The most value that it provides is that it is versatile."

"The most important feature of VMware Fusion is that it helps me rapidly launch a new OS."

"VMware Fusion Pro offers simplicity of use and stability."

"For me, VMware Fusion Pro has been invaluable, allowing me to meet all my needs with a single system."

More VMware Fusion Pro pros

Cons

"The user profiles could use some improvement."

"Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops are not easy to set up. However, I have the experience and I can do it easily. It could be easier to set up."

"It takes time to load."

"The dashboard should be more user-friendly as the tabs are not organized clearly."

"Using the app layering feature can be quite difficult and cumbersome."

"I have to re-enter my user password when I am not using the tool for some time around ten minutes. I want to also improve the need to download other Citrix apps."

"The Endpoint Management solution needs improvement when it comes to mobile device management. For example, they are still not supporting Windows 10 and this feature is required by many customers."

"Pricing can be lower and roaming profiles need to be fixed to work consistently."

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

"The way they handle snapshotting can be improved. One time, I moved a machine from one to another, and I tried to pull it up on the second machine, but it didn't work. This was because I had not cleaned up the snapshot before I deleted it and moved it across. So, when I tried to pull it up, it wouldn't let me bring it up. The backups for the VMs themselves can also be improved. I pretty much have to rely on Windows backups and not something on VMware. That's where it needs improvement. I am able to upload from my Fusion into the ESXi easily. I'm able to spin something up on Fusion and push it into the big arena, but the reverse is not as easy, that is, trying to pull something down from that. I would love to have a functionality where I could pull something from the VMware infrastructure into Fusion, but I'm not sure if I can take something from ESXi and pull it into Fusion."

"VMware Fusion's licensing cost needs improvement."

"Fusion is not meant to be scalable. It runs on desktops and laptops, indicating limitations in scalability."

"Fusion is not meant to be scalable as it runs on desktops and laptops."

"Additionally, enhancing the API interactions could improve the ability to manage VS and deploy various kinds of guests."

"I would like to see newer and updated cloud functions."

"The only issue I've experienced with VMware Fusion Pro is that it doesn't register correctly with the main macOS system, causing repeated notifications about background installations. This is a minor inconvenience."

"The only issue I've experienced with VMware Fusion Pro is that it doesn't register correctly with the main macOS system, causing repeated notifications about background installations."

More VMware Fusion Pro cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"Based not only on the cost of Citrix, but additional costs like firewalls, IPS, and other solutions, the total cost of switching users from using normal laptops with VPNs to connection via Citrix were so huge that the CEO of our company decided to postpone the deployment process."

"The purchase price was around $300,000 USD and then the maintenance fees were 20%. There are no other additional fees."

"The licensing, in general, is expensive. A lot of customers battle to pay the amount. It's very difficult to ensure that your solution provides the business value that the customer is after."

"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."

"Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is an expensive solution."

"The Citrix licensing scheme is really straightforward and simple. It doesn't have hidden costs. You get what you pay for. It is easy to understand what is on the product, so it's simple to get a clear idea of how much it costs. Licensing is not an issue."

"I don't quite remember the specifics of what we had. I believe we had a 25-user license, and I don't recall it being overly expensive."

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

"Starting with version 12, it is now free on a Mac for personal use. Fusion Pro has a cost."

"I rate the product's pricing a seven or eight. It is highly-priced."

"The cost varies depending on the season and whether it is scaled up or scaled down, but I would guess that it's approximately $1,000 per month."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

867,497 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

20%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

14%

University

10%

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	4

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?

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...

What do you like most about VMware Fusion?

The product is easy to use and has a simple user interface.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Fusion?

The pricing of VMware Fusion Pro is reasonable. The licensing covers all minor version updates, while major updates require payment every three years. Buying it once can sustain you for years witho...

What needs improvement with VMware Fusion?

In future updates of VMware Fusion Pro, I think there should be another community to input features. It is an infrastructure tool that may need embedding some AI to help or catching up with the new...

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

Comparisons

Compared 51% of the time

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

Compared 7% of the time

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

Compared 5% of the time

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

Compared 3% of the time

Apache Guacamole vs Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)

Compared 2% of the time

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

VMware Workstation vs VMware Fusion Pro

Compared 53% of the time

Parallels Desktop vs VMware Fusion Pro

Compared 40% of the time

Workspace ONE UEM vs VMware Fusion Pro

Compared 2% of the time

Horizon 8 vs VMware Fusion Pro

Compared 1% of the time

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs VMware Fusion Pro

Compared 1% of the time

More VMware Fusion Pro Competitors

Product Reports

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)

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

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

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Download VMware Fusion Pro product report

Also Known As

XenDesktop, XenApp (Citrix Virtual Apps), Citrix Workspace

No data available

Interactive Demo

Citrix

Demo not available

Broadcom

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

VMware Fusion Pro enables Mac users to efficiently run Windows environments, serving tasks like network support and virtual server management, all while maintaining cross-platform flexibility and robust virtualization capabilities.

Offering a seamless virtualization experience, VMware Fusion Pro supports a wide range of computing needs on Mac systems. It efficiently manages virtual machines, integrates well with Windows ESXi infrastructure, and eases OS deployment. The platform’s functionality includes testing on Apple devices, virtualization with Cisco Modeling Labs, and conducting virtual machine maintenance. Users appreciate its ability to facilitate a flexible, reliable virtual environment with consistent updates and support.

What are the key features of VMware Fusion Pro?

Windows VM on Mac - Run Windows operating systems seamlessly on Mac devices.
ESXi Integration - Provides compatibility and integration with Windows ESXi infrastructure.
Snapshot and Cloning - Simplifies backup and recovery with snapshot and cloning options.
Efficient OS Launch - Quick and effective operating system deployment capabilities.
User-Friendly - Intuitive interface supporting diverse computing tasks.

What benefits and returns can users expect from VMware Fusion Pro?

Versatility - Ideal for leveraging cross-platform compatibility.
Practicality and Reliability - Consistent performance with stable environment management.
Flexible Testing - Simplifies testing processes on Apple laptops.
Improved Backup Processes - Enhanced efficiency in backup management.

VMware Fusion Pro finds applications in industries requiring advanced virtualization such as IT, where it aids network server support and testing environments. Educational institutions employ it for virtual labs and environments, while enterprises use it to manage various OS applications and employee computing needs.

Broadcom

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

NetApp

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs. VMware Fusion Pro