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ConnectWise ScreenConnect vs Microsoft Remote Desktop Services comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 7, 2024

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
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
247
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (2nd), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
ConnectWise ScreenConnect
Ranking in Remote Access
17th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Meetings (10th)
Microsoft Remote Desktop Se...
Ranking in Remote Access
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Remote Access category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 9.5%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ConnectWise ScreenConnect is 1.4%, down from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is 11.0%, down from 14.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Remote Access
 

Featured Reviews

Joseph Merusi - PeerSpot reviewer
Everything has worked better since we started using it
Sometimes the syncing is inconsistent. I'm confident that the devices are checking in every eight hours, but sometimes the devices aren't picking up the settings as quickly as I would expect. Some features haven't been updated in a while, and Microsoft doesn't seem interested in developing them. Unless you talk to an engineer, you don't know whether there will be an update. There are communication issues, so you might start working with a feature without knowing if it will be deprecated six months from now. Some reporting areas still need development. For example, I noticed that the reporting for driver updates is still confusing.
Todd Blake - PeerSpot reviewer
Simple to set up, reasonable pricing, and useful remote control capabilities
I'm on the latest version of the solution. I just updated it yesterday. While we have the solution on-premises at this time, we'll likely move to the cloud later this year. They have a trial version that you can try. They have a free version that you can try as well. I use it myself to support my family. I would try the free version or the trial version depending on your business. They can set you up and you can get to see all the features. I would also advocate going to the cloud version. Don't bother with the on-prem. It's just easier to jump to the cloud. I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.
Terje Romen - PeerSpot reviewer
Accessing the same desktop experience from anywhere but user template creation needs improvement
Mostly we are quite happy with it. However, some of us want a more powerful desktop. When not present, we use a remote tool called Splashtop, which is a good solution for some users. We have about ten licenses for those who need a powerful workstation at the office. We have not used many different tools. We are never in contact with Microsoft. These are quite basic configurations, to be honest. It's not complicated. AI is coming to or is already in some applications we are using. Not system-wise, however, it might be good. I'd rate the solution seven out of ten. It's quite good, yet certainly not perfect.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"EAM is a godsend."
"The stability of Microsoft Intune is ten out of ten."
"The most valuable features are the ones that make sure that the deployment is of a standard operating system and the Zero Touch deployment, which is very useful. This allows users to have an out of box experience."
"The device profiling which uses the official Outlook email enabled us to control the screenshot feature and prevent copying outside of the organization's application."
"The ability to send configurations to our systems is valuable, particularly as we don't have a regular Windows AD server. Our current environment doesn't have a Windows AD, which limits our ability to push GPOs. However, this is where the solution can step in and help us push policies."
"We have a BYOD policy, and this solution helps us manage our devices."
"It allows our clients to have the confidence to centrally manage policies for security. It helps them in securing the organization from a technology aspect."
"The Autopilot feature is fantastic. It is a Microsoft product, so it deals best with Microsoft operating systems, but it can integrate with iOS, Mac OS, Linux, and Android."
"Session groups and triggers are the most valuable features, because they make a greater degree of organization possible. Greater degree of organization is valuable to my organization, because we have many sessions to handle."
"It's very easy to use. Provides connections that are always on. It was nice to be able to see a list of end-points and see whether or not they were connected so I could troubleshoot any network issues I had."
"The ConnectWise ScreenConnect tool is very good for remote access."
"The unattended access functionality is a valuable feature, because I can go in at any time that I want, deploy fixes, or do maintenance."
"It's very low maintenance."
"Setup was very straightforward. All I had to do was write a GPO on my domain controller and it automatically installed the agent that I downloaded from the software. I literally had to do nothing."
"You can bring up a command prompt remotely and execute commands without having to disturb the user."
"The initial setup is fairly straightforward."
"The technical support is good."
"The solution works well as a remote desktop."
"The most valuable features of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services are unification, central management, and accessibility."
"It allows employees to log on to corporate resources remotely."
"The most valuable features of the solution are ease of use and the simple environment."
"Microsoft is very reasonable in its approach to cost."
"The most valuable features are availability and security."
"I give the stability a nine out of ten."
 

Cons

"It would be beneficial to have a more straightforward understanding of Intune's capabilities, presented in a simplified manner."
"Intune could add more features that are relevant to the core application control functions. For example, it would be helpful if it had more control over the on-prem environment from the cloud platform. Greater Teams availability in the Saudi market would also be helpful."
"There are items that require improvements. One is the controls from iOS."
"We are currently unable to control aspects of group policy from Teams like we can for GPO. They are still not part of Intune. Microsoft is adding this, but it's currently in preview, and few GPO features have been added to the product."
"In the next release, I would like a feature to be able to properly lock down the device. For example, if an attacker or somebody steals the phone, you can be sure that the pin cannot be broken."
"Could benefit from user having more control over devices."
"Intune's server management could be better. If it could incorporate more features from System Center into Intune's Configuration Manager, it would be beneficial."
"The Mac integration has room for improvement."
"The recent redesign has made it slower and basically worthless."
"There could be improvement to the remote command line tools."
"The solution is a little bit complicated when you want to implement it."
"I would like ConnectWise Control to be more transparent on the real costs to renew their license."
"At the moment, there's absolutely no specific feature that we actually need additionally since all the features that we need are available."
"There is one back-end issue that I am running into at some of locations where I login to provide support, and sometimes port 443 is blocked. That is what it uses to connect. So, I am having to do workarounds to get a session started."
"They could provide a toolbox for the plan I'm on."
"What we need this product to do is to be able to control Windows Updates. LogMeIn Central allowed us remote access but also allowed to push and install Windows Updates, and third-party updates... When we made the switch to ConnectWise we lost the ability to do patching. That forced us, for our larger clients, to move to WSUS. We had to set up a VM on those larger clients to push Windows Updates and patches into the network."
"The solution isn't as good as the Citrix option."
"There could be some improvement in the integration of the solution."
"Updates sometimes impact the application and we have system crashes."
"Lacks a notification feature when internet is down."
"My customers are worried that the RDP protocol can be easily compromised and would like the option to use an alternative like Blast."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services could improve by having graphical acceleration."
"It could offer better security for enterprises."
"The solution should introduce a chat feature for end users."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We work in the charity sector, so a lot of our clients get Microsoft Premium licenses or Business Premium for free. They get ten licenses free, and a lot of our clients do not have more than ten staff members. They are getting the tool for free, so its cost is not an issue."
"There is a license required to use the solution. If you're core users in Office 365, for example, you have Outlook email and E3 license, this is only email. You have to buy an EMS license to have Microsoft Intune. It is expensive."
"Microsoft Intune is a cost effective choice. It is less expensive than other products on the market."
"The product is offered as part of a Microsoft standard bundle. The pricing can be competitive to Airwatch, and Maas360."
"Licensing depends on how you are providing support to your enterprise, whether it's device-based or user-based."
"The product is relatively pricey, but considering its benefits, I'd say it's fair. The benefits outweigh the expensive licensing fees, especially for large organizations, but medium-sized and smaller businesses may be unable to afford it."
"Pricing depends on the features. Microsoft offers special packages if there are more than 10,000 users, and you may be able to get a reduced rate."
"It's monthly for us, but it's built into the license cost that we pay our IT each month. It's maybe 129 Kroner per head, which translates to £10. There are some additional costs. Our IT had to set up and configure their own server, so there is an extra cost for that, but I'm not sure what that costs."
"For the price we pay, we definitely feel it's worth it, but there are some contenders in the market that are coming out now, whose products are as good; they are offering more features and the price is actually less than ConnectWise. All things considered, the biggest thing is the lack of patching in ConnectWise. If they could integrate that into the product, that would be a game changer, if offered at the same price point."
"Their licensing model is good, their pricing model is good, their service is good; bandwidth is excellent. They're consistent."
"I download the product for free with ConnectWise RMM's license."
"Good price and works well."
"We pay $85 per month for each user for a ConnectWise package with multiple solutions."
"We pay $3,000 USD for the service, yearly upfront."
"ConnectWise Control is not an overly expensive tool. Its pricing is reasonable."
"It is priced fairly."
"The solution is overly expensive."
"There is a licensing cost."
"I rate the price of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services a three out of five."
"The pricing is moderate."
"The tool must be cheaper."
"The solution has a pretty comparable pricing."
"I am aware that for Azure we do have an extra license because we are leveraging on different tenants."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is less expensive than some other solutions on the market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
24%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Healthcare Company
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ConnectWise Control?
I download the product for free with ConnectWise RMM's license.
What needs improvement with ConnectWise Control?
All the features provided by the product in terms of screen connectors have been good. There can be some complexities...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
I've never had an issue with it. I've always thought the pricing for RDS was reasonable.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
We would like configuration to be automatic and the price to be close to zero, however, that's not realistic. Everyon...
 

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
ConnectWise Control, ScreenConnect
Remote Desktop Services
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Jon Rosen Systems
Bank Alfalah Ltd.
Find out what your peers are saying about ConnectWise ScreenConnect vs. Microsoft Remote Desktop Services and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.