Horizon Cloud Service vs Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) comparison

Horizon Cloud Service vs. Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

Download the complete report

Helped 814,649 peers since 2012

Categories and Ranking

Horizon Cloud Service

Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

10th

Average Rating

8.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Desktop as a Service (DaaS) (4th)

Parallels Remote Applicatio...

Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

11th

Average Rating

8.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Virtualization (4th)

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Horizon Cloud Service is 1.7%, down from 4.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) is 2.4%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Featured Reviews

Vaisakh Natesh M

Technical Lead at Senior Specialist

Nov 30, 2021

Easy to use, stable, and scalable

I'm using VMware Horizon Cloud for end-user computing solutions from the VMware Cloud and Microsoft Azure for supporting the user's level. We are publishing new images from the backend to the user support team through vSphere and this is where we are monitoring all the VDAs. Sometimes we will…

Read full review

AJ Hartenberg

Business Owner at Yada Group Services

Jun 27, 2023

Provides good scalability and a secure environment

We use the solution to access remote desktop applications. It helps us to have all our business applications in one place. We can also deploy as many desktops as required within hours. The solution has the best security features in terms of data access control. It is highly reliable. The…

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 most valuable feature of VMware Horizon Cloud is the ability to manage a great number of desktops at once and the remote access for users that are working from outside of the office or from different offices in the country."

"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."

"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."

"The tool remains pretty stable."

"The product allows a VPN connection, adding extra value to its features."

"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 interface is much easier to use compared to Microsoft and other VDI vendors that are well known on the market. I like VMware so much more than the others. With Horizon Cloud, you don't need to spend a lot of money upfront to buy the infrastructure. You can use it the on the cloud, so it lowers the barriers to entry. It's easier to test it and get started. Some clients stay in the cloud, but others prefer to go on-premise. It depends on the nature of the client."

More Horizon Cloud Service pros

"Allows us to publish applications accessible by current-generation HTML5 browser or OS-specific client (Windows, Android, iOS), and it supports popular single sign-on and multi-factor authentication protocols."

"It is robust. We have some 75 users using it and it doesn't lag. It's very speedy."

"It is a stable solution."

"Thin client management (Windows 10 client) provides an easy way to lock down client connection to the remote infrastructure. Policies are very helpful for preconfiguring client behavior. Finally, client management is easy."

"The management capability from the RAS portal provides greater control than using pure MS inbuilt into RDS capabilities."

"It has allowed us to centralize the software location so we don't have to update the software client on 70 computers."

"Its price and ease of use are the most valuable. It is simple and has good performance."

"Client compatibility with many systems makes it very versatile. The reporting that is included is awesome."

More Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) pros

Cons

"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."

"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."

"Logging into VMware Horizon Cloud could be made easier. Additionally, the VMs could be better in their performance."

"The product has a lot of bugs."

"It can be very expensive to scale up because each part of scaling up requires you to have new components of the infrastructure."

"Generally, it is a very good solution. The main thing that I would improve is their presence here in Mexico. They don't have strong local support here in Mexico. They should have a worldwide presence so that we don't have to do everything through the people in the US. The initial setup was a little bit complex because we were migrating from Citrix. For customers who are migrating from another platform like VMware or Citrix, it would be great if they can provide an automated migration solution."

"Improvement is needed in performance monitoring of the client's endpoint, and automatic re-connection of the client in the event of circuit disruptions (this works well generally but can present challenges)."

"The main issue we have with all of our users is printing. Randomly, a printer will disconnect or someone won't connect to it and I will have to reset the print service and then nobody can print. That's the big headache we've had over the course of the five years."

"We use several gateways because access to our secret zone requires two-factor user authentication. It is a lot of hassle differentiating among users with or without two-factor. Of course, we could use two farms, but that would mean more management too."

"We would like to be able to re-label the OTP (One Time Password) popup so our users can easily recognize that they are to put in their DUO code on that line. Most users see OTP and ask what that is."

"We would like the ability to provide a popup message, such as a maintenance notification. That same notification on the Parallels client would be awesome."

"A web-based management interface for administration and reporting would be nice, instead of needing to log into a remote server."

"Sometimes you need to understand how to use load balancing and the gateway in order to scale, which means the team may need some additional technical knowledge."

More Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"VMware Horizon Cloud is an expensive solution. This solution is approximately 30 percent more than Microsoft Azure Cloud. There can be extra costs."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"Initially, the product is cheap, but it starts to get expensive when users try to scale out."

"I think the new pricing is a little bit high. If the price was lower, we could use it for many more customers. If there was one improvement to be made to this product, it would be a small-business version, at a much lower price point."

"The product is not expensive. I rate its pricing a three or four out of ten."

"I don't like the subscription model because it feels like I have to pay every month. If Parallels could go back to the professional license, it would be much better."

"Comparable performance to Citrix for our use case at a significantly lower cost. Pricing is clear and there are relatively few options or other pricing considerations when compared to similar products. Just be sure not to forget the Microsoft licensing that goes along with a Parallels deployment."

"It is very affordable."

"It is inexpensive compared to one of its competitors."

"It justifies the price. In terms of licensing, initially when we got the product it was an unlimited licensing strategy. We knew would grow in the coming years. So initially, we took a plan which had no limit. After a year or so the strategy changed and we were being limited to 105 licenses, that was the minimum... If there was flexibility for increasing the number of licenses that would be great because you never know how much you are going to grow in the next year."

"Pricing is a little steep."

More Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) pricing and cost advice

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

814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Healthcare Company

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about VMware Horizon Cloud?

The tool remains pretty stable.

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 Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)?

The solution is powerful, and it has good speed and performance.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)?

The product is not expensive. I rate its pricing a three or four out of ten.

What needs improvement with Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)?

Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) is an expensive solution, and its pricing could be improved.

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs Horizon Cloud Service

Comparisons

Compared 25% of the time

Horizon 8 vs Horizon Cloud Service

Compared 24% of the time

Amazon Appstream vs Horizon Cloud Service

Compared 17% of the time

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

Compared 10% of the time

Oracle VDI vs Horizon Cloud Service

Compared 6% of the time

More Horizon Cloud Service Competitors

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

Compared 47% of the time

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

Compared 23% of the time

Parallels Desktop vs Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

Compared 8% of the time

Horizon 8 vs Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

Compared 8% of the time

NComputing vSpace vs Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

Compared 5% of the time

More Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) Competitors

Product Reports

Horizon Cloud Service

Download Horizon Cloud Service product report

Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

Download Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) product report

Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) report

Also Known As

VMware Horizon Cloud, VMware Horizon DaaS

Parallels RAS

Learn More

Omnissa

Video not available

Parallels

Overview

The VMware Horizon Cloud Service delivers feature-rich virtual desktops and applications using a purpose-built cloud platform that is scalable across multiple deployment options, including fully managed infrastructure from VMware, public cloud infrastructure from Microsoft Azure, or on-premises hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI). The service supports a cloud-scale architecture that makes it easy to deliver virtualized Windows desktops and applications to any device, anytime. And, with a flexible subscription model and turnkey solutions, organizations can easily get up and running and scale quickly.

ApplicationServer delivers applications, data and virtual desktops from a central location, providing continuous availability, resource-based load-balancing and complete network transparency.

Sample Customers

Marriott, Sprint

Arsari Group _ PT Netmarks Indonesia, Izhevsk Elektromekhanicheskiy Zavod (IEMZ) _ Kupol, Abilene Diagnostic Clinic, Fylde Borough Council, YARSTROYREZE LLC, VSK Insurance House, Melenkovsky District of Vladimirskaya Oblast, Sofrigam SA, Antenna International, KingsGate Community Church, Norwegian American Hospital, Island Hotels Group, Medway Council, Medway Council, Voices of September 11th, MacDonald Training Center, Kansas Childrenês Service League, Scope,Next Generation Clubs, WTC Communications, Opera Australia, HSE Integrated, Danier, Bridgwater College, Kern County Mental Health, Tony Tiendas, Spears Manufacturing, Managed Insurance Services Inc., Intuitive Medical Software, M.J. Soffe, Mazda Motors, Israel Military Industries (IMI), Telfair, Upic Solutions, Teleflora, Fisher & Company

Horizon Cloud Service vs. Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)