Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Horizon Cloud Service vs Workspace ONE UEM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 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

Horizon Cloud Service
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
11th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Desktop as a Service (DaaS) (4th)
Workspace ONE UEM
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (6th), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (2nd), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (11th), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Horizon Cloud Service is 2.1%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Workspace ONE UEM is 2.6%, down from 3.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Workspace ONE UEM2.6%
Horizon Cloud Service2.1%
Other95.3%
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

SivaKuppala - 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.
Vishal Bhatia - PeerSpot reviewer
Effective product tracking and monitoring enhances daily operations despite needing documentation improvement
The documentation part of Workspace ONE UEM can be confusing. The documentation is not comprehensive compared to other VMware solutions or Microsoft documentation. Most people struggle to connect the dots when looking at the documentation. Even the training material and PowerPoint slide decks that trainers use are sometimes too confusing or overwhelming, with too much content but not enough clarity. The support side has recently become weaker compared to what it used to be with VMware. This is another area that needs improvement. Since working with Workspace ONE UEM from when it was AirWatch, it has improved significantly over the last five years. However, there are still some gray areas and scope for improvement, especially in documentation and workflow between different aspects of the solution.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The main benefit of Horizon Cloud Service is that it is cloud-based, allowing our organization to leverage the service without having to manage all infrastructure directly."
"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 most valuable feature of VMware Horizon Cloud is all of its capabilities together."
"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 product allows a VPN connection, adding extra value to its features."
"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 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 product’s on-premise version has the ability to create an image of any updates or changes in the system."
"The solution has proven to be very stable."
"The feature with the highest rating for me is its employee management. I can also praise how versatile it is in terms of operating systems. It has good support for multiple operating systems and can easily manage them all. Not just that, but it can also support any kind of tool that can be run on all these operating systems."
"You can put all your applications on a mobile device, be it a phone or tablet. It is secure and easy to use. Because it is centrally managed, you don't have to do any configuration on the phone. I just got the phone and connected to the central applications. I just downloaded one thing and everything got rolled out. Email, calendar, and other things were deployed centrally. If you don't have AirWatch, you have to configure your phone manually. For example, you need to deploy and configure your email manually and then synchronize everything. It is much simpler when a mobile device is centrally managed."
"If an end-user has an issue with a device, the administration has the ability to remote access the device after approval from the end-user."
"Workspace ONE adds a lot of value compared to Microsoft because Microsoft is a late entry into the market, and they're still developing their product from an end-user perspective. Workspace ONE has a slight edge because of AirWatch. VMware has developed its product over a longer period of time, so they have better integrations as a whole solution."
"The most valuable feature is single sign-on."
"It has all of the features that we need to use and that we want to use."
"For me, the integration of AirWatch with various enterprise components is something I like. The way they are partnering with various services, like security services, or some of the big guys like Google, Android, Apple, and including Microsoft; that's really awesome. And the way they look at providing functionality to create self-service and automation, that's really usefully and beneficial. That's where I see they differentiate themselves."
 

Cons

"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."
"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."
"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 licensing model needs to be adjusted, as a cloud license is currently required even for on-premises devices."
"The product has a lot of bugs."
"The application remoting features have some room for improvement."
"It can be very expensive to scale up because each part of scaling up requires you to have new components of the infrastructure."
"it's very dependent on an active directory"
"VMware Workspace ONE sometimes has bugs that prevent it from working as intended or expected. Generally, these bugs can lead to unexpected results and hinder effectiveness."
"I would like to see more service notifications."
"The product's initial setup phase was quite complex."
"The mobile device repository is somewhat difficult to manage with a large user base."
"The documentation is not comprehensive compared to other VMware solutions or Microsoft documentation."
"Pricing is the only challenge right now. The licensing fee should be simplified a little bit. They have kept too many products as add ons. These need to be bundled with the low-cost, standard version. This will help customers in adopting this technology at a faster pace."
"I would like better integration for deploying programs with binary files."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"VMware Horizon Cloud is a low-cost solution. The model that they have is consumption-based. However, some features are expensive."
"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."
"There is a license required for the use of this solution and there are different tier levels available."
"VMware Horizon Cloud is an expensive solution. This solution is approximately 30 percent more than Microsoft Azure Cloud. There can be extra costs."
"Initially, the product is cheap, but it starts to get expensive when users try to scale out."
"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."
"Workspace ONE is on the higher end of the pricing band when compared to other players in the market."
"AirWatch would benefit from reducing the license pricing per user per month. Microsoft bundles everything, and then that bundling makes the product free for the customers."
"The cost is a little bit high."
"I rate the product price a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive."
"Our customers are concerned about the costs. The solution is higher than they want it to be."
"I think the pricing of the product needs advisement. It would be great to bundle the VM products together. I think the actual box itself should be included in the license. At present, it is not paired with the mobile device."
"The license is paid annually."
"It is quite expensive, but I think large companies have agreements with these organizations that provide remote monitoring for phones, and they get massive discounts. The public price does not reflect what they pay. You won't get the same pricing if you're buying for 10 employees versus 1,000 employees. On the public price, you get perhaps a 10% discount, but if you're buying 1,000, the discount could be really massive, especially if you signed a contract for a number of years."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solutions are best for your needs.
872,837 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Performing Arts
10%
Media Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business41
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise57
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Horizon Cloud?
The cost is considered normal, not remarkable but not outrageous. In terms of expense, compared to other virtualization products, I would rate it as a six.
What needs improvement with VMware Horizon Cloud?
The licensing model needs to be adjusted, as a cloud license is currently required even for on-premises devices. Horizon Cloud Service should continue improving their protocol and work with other h...
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 it easy to control security and manage the usage of mobile apps when you have a ...
How does VMware Workspace One compare with VMware Horizon 7?
VMware Workspace One has a powerful set of helpful features. The solution offers very good documentation, the initial setup is easy, and the product is very stable and reliable. I think the fact th...
What do you like most about VMware Workspace ONE?
The platform provides a stable environment for operations and quickly creates new environments. Additionally, it offers efficient flexibility.
 

Also Known As

VMware Horizon Cloud, VMware Horizon DaaS
VMware Workspace ONE, VMware AirWatch, Workspace ONE Assist, VMware Identity Manager, Workspace ONE Access, VMware Horizon Air
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Marriott, Sprint
Australian Sports Commission, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, Lomond School, Merck, United Bank, Medical College of Wisconsin, Latymer Upper School, 2gether NHS Foundation Trust, Dowling Aaron Inc., Trillium Lakelands District School Board, Harrogate Grammar School, Duke University Football, Delta Air Lines, Adventist Health System, Giochi Preziosi, Cramlington Learning Village, Intermountain Healthcare, Safexpress, TAG Aviation
Find out what your peers are saying about Horizon Cloud Service vs. Workspace ONE UEM and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
872,837 professionals have used our research since 2012.