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Horizon Cloud Service vs Nutanix Frame comparison

 

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

Horizon Cloud Service
Ranking in Desktop as a Service (DaaS)
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (10th)
Nutanix Frame
Ranking in Desktop as a Service (DaaS)
5th
Average Rating
8.8
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Desktop as a Service (DaaS) category, the mindshare of Horizon Cloud Service is 9.2%, down from 15.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Nutanix Frame is 5.2%, up from 4.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Desktop as a Service (DaaS)
 

Featured Reviews

Siva Kuppala - PeerSpot reviewer
Centralized management enhances multi-cloud flexibility with cost efficiency improvements
The cost of Horizon Cloud Service is high, however, it could be optimized. The licensing model is complex, particularly for hybrid deployments, and simplifying it could help. Improvements in application performance, especially for resource-heavy applications like intensive 3D workloads, are needed. More built-in automation for routine tasks like patching and upgrading could reduce administrative effort.
Hamada Farag - PeerSpot reviewer
A cost-effective and streamlined virtual desktop infrastructure solution with a user-friendly interface and simplified management
The singular management interface is crucial, particularly for the operations team as it minimizes complexity and enhances operational efficiency. The simplicity of the management tools is a key highlight, especially when compared to other solutions like Citrix, where there is often complexity due to various components such as controllers, storefronts, and different servers.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I honestly liked the application itself because it was just like using a desktop. You could copy and paste, inside and outside, and you could use multiple monitors. You could access it anytime, anywhere, no matter whether you were in the office or out of the office. I could leave the office, go somewhere, go back in, and everything would be there. I could just leave it up and running. I absolutely love this feature in VMware Horizon Cloud."
"Its advanced management features are the most valuable, especially power management. One of the really important things was to be able to have power management in a consumption world. This means that unlike a Microsoft environment, you could actually turn off virtual desktops or have them start up and shut down. If you're consuming resources in the public cloud, you want to be able to do that because when you're not using those, such as at the weekend, you want to be able to turn them off. So, the advanced options for managing the BDIs are very important."
"The product allows a VPN connection, adding extra value to its features."
"Horizon Cloud Service provides deployment flexibility across multiple clouds with a scalable architecture that easily scales virtual desktops and applications up or down based on demand."
"The most valuable feature of VMware Horizon Cloud is all of its capabilities together."
"The product’s on-premise version has the ability to create an image of any updates or changes in the system."
"The tool remains pretty stable."
"VMware Horizon Cloud is easy to use and the full development cloud is very good. The main features of VMware are included. It's a cloud-based virtual desktop infrastructure software that allows you to permit the virtual desktops and applications to any device from the single unified management control. These are managed from the dedicated remote session desktop."
"The scalability of the solution is quite good."
"The pricing of the solution and management are good features."
"The singular management interface is crucial, particularly for the operations team as it minimizes complexity and enhances operational efficiency."
"Nutanix Frame is easy to install, manage, and upgrade."
 

Cons

"The product has a lot of bugs."
"It is very expensive. Its price needs to be improved. They can do a better job with external resources such as a USB or a hard drive. When I tried to connect using these external resources, it failed a lot of times. I had to do a shared connection with a local laptop and then connect from a network standpoint, rather than through VMware Horizon point. They definitely have weaknesses with external connections. A lot of companies probably don't let people use external connections because it defeats the purpose of having a cloud solution and keeping the data in a secure area. You can copy to an external device, and you can lose the data. A lot of companies may not focus on this feature, but if you are providing it, you should make it work."
"In the design phase, sometimes the tools for designing Horizon solutions have issues when they're calculating the number of nodes and platforms needed to support the VDI systems."
"The application remoting features have some room for improvement."
"The cost of Horizon Cloud Service is high, however, it could be optimized. The licensing model is complex, particularly for hybrid deployments, and simplifying it could help."
"There should be more emphasis on the Workspace One access part of the solution. This is essentially identity management provided with Horizon. There needs to be some kind of integration because you are able to have all of these desktops on any device, but you have to have this other component to make it easier from a single sign-on perspective. That's why there should be an emphasis on Workspace One access. It actually comes free with the product, but people don't really know how powerful it can be."
"The licensing model is complex, particularly for hybrid deployments, and simplifying it could help."
"Logging into VMware Horizon Cloud could be made easier. Additionally, the VMs could be better in their performance."
"As the solution is not completely straightforward, you do need some experience to configure and implement it."
"The solution’s pricing could be improved."
"The solution can be made faster and it should improve performance wise."
"It would be highly beneficial if they could offer a version that is entirely on-premises, eliminating the need for cloud connection except for data access."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is too expensive as compared to other solutions because of which we don't use it that much. We tend to go more for Hyper-V or Azure just because VMware licensing is quite up there. We sway people away from VMware Horizon Cloud. We have some clients who already have it. They stay on it for a little while, and then most of them end up moving off when we provide them a better solution that isn't as license heavy cost-wise."
"For what you get, it is very compelling. You've got to look at the total cost of ownership of this type of piece of software in terms of being able to utilize it as a cloud service. I don't have to run everything on-premises. When you look at the total cost of just being able to use it and then being able to point it to any public or private cloud, it is very compelling. You have one less thing to manage."
"I rate VMware Horizon Cloud pricing a ten out of ten."
"Initially, the product is cheap, but it starts to get expensive when users try to scale out."
"VMware Horizon Cloud is an expensive solution. This solution is approximately 30 percent more than Microsoft Azure Cloud. There can be extra costs."
"VMware Horizon Cloud is a low-cost solution. The model that they have is consumption-based. However, some features are expensive."
"There is a license required for the use of this solution and there are different tier levels available."
"The licensing is based on the number of users of the solution."
"The pricing of the solution is very good."
"Nutanix Frame is a very expensive solution."
"It is a cost-effective option with comparable functionality to competitors."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
Government
17%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Horizon Cloud?
Initially, the product is cheap, but it starts to get expensive when users try to scale out. Though I find Citrix to be an expensive product compared to VMware Horizon Cloud because of all the feat...
What needs improvement with VMware Horizon Cloud?
VMware Horizon Cloud's VDI stacks are being sold off. Considering VMware Horizon Cloud's VDI stacks complexity, even before its sell out, I feel Citrix can do a couple of pieces of infrastructure t...
What do you like most about Nutanix Frame?
Nutanix Frame is easy to install, manage, and upgrade.
What is your primary use case for Nutanix Frame?
Nutanix Frame can be used to transition hardware and replace traditional hardware architecture like physical servers, storage, and SAN switches.
 

Also Known As

VMware Horizon Cloud, VMware Horizon DaaS
Nutanix Xi Frame
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Marriott, Sprint
JetBlue, International Speedway Corporation, SAIC Volkswagen
Find out what your peers are saying about Horizon Cloud Service vs. Nutanix Frame and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
838,533 professionals have used our research since 2012.