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Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs VMware Fusion Pro comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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 Remote Desktop Se...
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
91
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (3rd)
VMware Fusion Pro
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
4th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is 6.8%, up from 6.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Fusion Pro is 5.6%, down from 20.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services6.8%
VMware Fusion Pro5.6%
Other87.6%
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2795433 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Ops Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Secure remote access has protected sensitive country data and supports strict compliance needs
I understand from the IT team managing Microsoft Remote Desktop Services that it is complex to set up the multiple roles, certificates, and networks required. Networking is quite complicated. Even though on the data center side it is quite simple, maintaining the farm of other connections that connect to that server is the complex piece. I understand there are more modern systems replicating what this solution does, which are easier to use, such as Azure Virtual Desktop within Microsoft Azure Cloud or Amazon WorkSpaces, which I have used before. Rather than having to manage all the complex networking, you could abstract it away a little further in the cloud for easier use. I also understand that this tool is in an end-of-life state now, with Microsoft actively pushing people towards Azure Virtual Desktop or Windows 365. I do not believe further features will be rolled out due to its end-of-life state, making it a legacy solution now.
Bruce Lundberg - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

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 is the remote application access."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services has positively impacted my organization by leading to an overall productivity increase because it has simplified what used to be a physical task of going to certain users' machines for validation, allowing for remote management from geographically distributed locations."
"The simplicity of the product has been most valuable to me."
"For personal use, it is a great app."
"The best features Microsoft Remote Desktop Services offers are the performance, which is excellent, with no lag, so I can work in my window on my laptop and it will appear as if I am working on the server, never feeling as though I am using a remote desktop."
"The solution is stable; I haven't had any issues whatsoever, there are no bugs or glitches, it doesn't crash or freeze, and it's reliable."
"The most valuable part of RDS is that it allows you to work from any location and check the server through a VPN connection."
"The solution is now stable."
"VMware Fusion Pro offers simplicity of use and stability."
"The most value that it provides is that it is versatile."
"The primary advantage of VMware Fusion Pro is its simplicity in creating custom virtual machines."
"For me, VMware Fusion Pro has been invaluable, allowing me to meet all my needs with a single system."
"My advice right now would be to download it for free and use that instead of a VirtualBox or some of the other free stuff because it is more flexible than other solutions."
"The product is easy to use and has a simple user interface."
"It is a highly stable solution."
"The most important feature of VMware Fusion is that it helps me rapidly launch a new OS."
 

Cons

"I've sometimes had trouble setting up an RDS connection if I want a specific user to be able to log in with their credentials and have the RDS element retain those settings so that the password isn't required each time."
"Scalability maybe should be improved. I know that there were better products in the market on the side of scalability."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services needs to improve its security."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services can be improved in several areas. Currently, it requires a license cost, it has performance limits on shared resources with bottlenecks, the setup is complex, and it is not ideal for graphics-heavy applications."
"Microsoft still has some really bad remote desktop appliance for Mac."
"The current process I have to go through to get a Windows 11 VM up and running is difficult. Windows 10 worked a whole lot better than Windows 11."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services could improve by having a better application for managing multiple sessions. There used to be one but they stopped supporting it."
"We would like configuration to be automatic and the price to be close to zero, however, that's not realistic."
"One of the problems with VMware Fusion Pro is limited redundancy; it is related to the infrastructure and the nature of the on-premises because on-premises you cannot have enough reliability since you have to fund all the resources on your own."
"Its installation process could be simpler."
"Fusion is not meant to be scalable. It runs on desktops and laptops, indicating limitations in scalability."
"Additionally, enhancing the API interactions could improve the ability to manage VS and deploy various kinds of guests."
"The backups for the VMs themselves can also be improved. I pretty much have to rely on Windows backups and not something on VMware."
"VMware Fusion's licensing cost needs improvement."
"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."
"I would like to see newer and updated cloud functions."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive. Since things are made to be a bit easier in the solution, the solution's cost is a bit on the higher side."
"I am aware that for Azure we do have an extra license because we are leveraging on different tenants."
"I recall that you don't need to pay for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services because that's included in Windows."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is less expensive than some other solutions on the market."
"The solution is expensive. My company pays toward the monthly licensing costs of the solution...The additional cost, apart from the solution's licensing cost, is related to the technical support a user wants."
"We do not have to pay for the product."
"There is a licensing cost."
"I rate the price of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services a three out of five."
"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."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Construction Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
18%
University
13%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business45
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise36
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
The experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that the pricing is based on licensing costs and the setup is complex.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services can be improved in several areas. Currently, it requires a license cost, it has performance limits on shared resources with bottlenecks, the setup is complex, and ...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
Our main use case for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is to allow multiple users to remotely access our Windows machine, desktop, or application over the internet and our network.
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...
What is your primary use case for VMware Fusion?
My specialty is about IBM AS/400 applications, so I got to be in contact with several packages, including LX, which is why I had this research on your website.I'm mostly interested in ERP packages;...
 

Also Known As

Remote Desktop Services
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bank Alfalah Ltd.
NetApp
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs. VMware Fusion Pro and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,948 professionals have used our research since 2012.