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Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs VMware Fusion Pro 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

Microsoft Remote Desktop Se...
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
87
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (3rd)
VMware Fusion Pro
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
3rd
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 April 2026, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is 5.7%, down from 6.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Fusion Pro is 10.1%, down from 25.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
VMware Fusion Pro10.1%
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services5.7%
Other84.2%
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

"It's largely stable."
"It has enabled our clinical staff to get real-time medicine prescribing information at the patients' bedside with a near 100% service uptime."
"The simplicity of the product has been most valuable to me."
"Using Microsoft Remote Desktop Services has helped my team save time and improve productivity because we had Microsoft servers that were impossible to connect from our MacBook Pro laptops, and once we started using RDP, we could connect and move forward to deliver the project."
"I would recommend Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, especially for general support."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services has positively impacted my organization by increasing our security, as we are able to confirm 100 percent that data which needs to stay within the country does so because it only exists on the server and never leaves it, allowing us to hit 100 percent compliance very easily without worrying if someone can accidentally send the data somewhere else."
"The most valuable feature of this solution at the moment is the HTML5 web client; you get a browser experience, not just the terminal sort of client, and the integration with Azure multi-factor application."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services has helped our organization because it provides easier access to desktops without having to be physically on-site."
"The most value that it provides is that it is versatile."
"The most important feature of VMware Fusion is that it helps me rapidly launch a new OS."
"For me, VMware Fusion Pro has been invaluable, allowing me to meet all my needs with a single system."
"VMware Fusion Pro offers simplicity of use and stability."
"Veeam Backup and Replication is the common product for backing up virtual machines."
"The primary advantage of VMware Fusion Pro is its simplicity in creating custom virtual machines."
"The whole point of it is to run Windows VMs on a Mac. This is the most valuable feature. There is snapshotting, but we don't really use that. The Pro version allows me to actually attach to the Windows ESXi infrastructure at the backend, and I'm able to create a session that I can attach to the VMware hooks at the backend, so one is running a VM, and the whole operating system is running on the actual Mac. The other one is literally a frontend to the VMs that are running in the infrastructure at the backend. These are the two main features I use."
"It is a highly stable solution."
 

Cons

"My customers are worried that the RDP protocol can be easily compromised and would like the option to use an alternative like Blast."
"We find the services are not as transparent as we would like for our integration with Citrix."
"In the next release, I would like to see better performance over slower networks, and integration with Linux, but this is something that we're going to get out of Microsoft in terms of a unified solution."
"The reliability of the solution could improve."
"I would say it's expensive as there similar products available for free."
"There are problems with using Microsoft Teams within a virtual desktop on a mobile device."
"We'd like more granular security control of the desktop services."
"Sometimes the server stops working, and we don’t know why."
"I would like to see newer and updated cloud functions."
"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."
"I would like to see newer and updated cloud functions."
"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."
"The backups for the VMs themselves can also be improved. I pretty much have to rely on Windows backups and not something on VMware."
"Additionally, enhancing the API interactions could improve the ability to manage VS and deploy various kinds of guests."
"Fusion is not meant to be scalable as it runs on desktops and laptops."
"VMware Fusion's licensing cost needs improvement."
 

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 think that Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is expensive compared to Login solution."
"The solution has a pretty comparable pricing."
"I would say it's expensive as there similar products available for free."
"I am aware that for Azure we do have an extra license because we are leveraging on different tenants."
"It will probably cost about $500 USD to get the resources set up in the cloud."
"It's not an expensive product."
"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."
"I rate the product's pricing a seven or eight. It is highly-priced."
"Starting with version 12, it is now free on a Mac for personal use. Fusion Pro has a cost."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Comms Service Provider
16%
University
12%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business42
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise34
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?
I was not involved in the pricing and licensing perspective, so I cannot speak too much on that. However, I know that two license types are needed: the Windows Server license and another client lic...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
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 ...
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: March 2026.
886,174 professionals have used our research since 2012.