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Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs VMware Workstation comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

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
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (2nd)
VMware Workstation
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
1st
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is 6.5%, down from 14.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Workstation is 17.0%, up from 13.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

Terje Romen - PeerSpot reviewer
Accessing the same desktop experience from anywhere but user template creation needs improvement
Mostly we are quite happy with it. However, some of us want a more powerful desktop. When not present, we use a remote tool called Splashtop, which is a good solution for some users. We have about ten licenses for those who need a powerful workstation at the office. We have not used many different tools. We are never in contact with Microsoft. These are quite basic configurations, to be honest. It's not complicated. AI is coming to or is already in some applications we are using. Not system-wise, however, it might be good. I'd rate the solution seven out of ten. It's quite good, yet certainly not perfect.
Shambhu Narayan  Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
An easy-to-manage solution that has really good customer support compared to other market players
VMware Workstation makes it easy to manage all the resources that we are handling. VMware Workstation has reduced our infrastructure cost. If someone wants machines, I can create them easily using the solution. VMware Workstation is easier to manage than other workstations like Oracle Workstation. VMware Workstation is an easy-to-manage solution, and its support is really good compared to other market players. Overall, I rate VMware Workstation an eight out of ten.

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 features are it is fast and cost-effective."
"Everything is really good and it works well."
"Microsoft is very reasonable in its approach to cost."
"The solution works on Microsoft servers."
"The solution offers good value for money."
"It's simple and easy to use."
"The most valuable features are the desktop session and desktop virtualization."
"It is a stable product."
"The simplicity of the deployment and the implementation, and the footprint for the hardware are some of the solution's valuable features."
"We are able to simultaneously run multiple operating systems in a single machine and have virtually no performance hit."
"The product is stable, very easy to deploy, easy to use, easy to configure, and easy to set up."
"The product is really easy to use."
"VMware Workstation has tons of third-party support, the largest partner ecosystem. VMware works with a ton of different vendors. They have plugins for almost everything. Other hypervisors lack the flexibility that VMware Workstation offers."
"VMware Workstation is easy to manage and understand."
"Because the setup is so easy, this is a solution that can be used at a moment's notice."
"The features are good."
 

Cons

"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is only available for the professional version of the Windows operating system. This restricts a lot of users. The feature should be available for all versions."
"We had some instability during the implementation process. This has since been resolved."
"It could be more user-friendly."
"The stability must be improved."
"We'd like more granular security control of the desktop services."
"The training profiles could be better."
"The user interface needs improvement."
"I would like to be able to leverage it on other operating systems."
"It would be great if VMware Workstation had more networking options and compatibility, that would be great. I would like to deploy virtual switches and play around with networking a bit more. Otherwise, I have to deploy ESXi Virtual Edition and emulate it, which is painful and clunky."
"They could bring in many different features from VMware vSphere to Workstation."
"The GUI interface could be improved."
"The tool has limited scalability."
"The network configuration was not as easy as it could be and could take less time."
"The solution should provide a guide on its installation."
"Installing VMware Workstation isn't so easy. It's highly complex compared to Windows. I rate it four out of 10 for ease of installation. Setting up a remote desktop only takes a minute or so, but the Workstation itself takes some time."
"VMware Workstation uses more resources like CPU and disk space, especially the CPU, which is a shortcoming that needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's not an expensive product."
"I rate the price of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services a three out of five."
"The solution comes free with Microsoft Windows."
"I recall that you don't need to pay for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services because that's included in Windows."
"There is a licensing cost."
"I think that Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is expensive compared to Login solution."
"We do not have to pay for the product."
"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."
"It is an expensive solution."
"The licensing costs are cheap. I pay approximately $100 per year."
"VMware Workstation's costs are lifetime."
"The solution is moderately priced. I rate the pricing a six out of ten."
"It has the best licensing modules."
"The tool is not the cheapest."
"The solution's pricing is almost the same as what Google Cloud, AWS, or Microsoft would charge you."
"The price of the solution per workstation is approximately 200 Francs annually. We pay a total of 800 francs. Everything is included in the price such as the support."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
I've never had an issue with it. I've always thought the pricing for RDS was reasonable.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
We would like configuration to be automatic and the price to be close to zero, however, that's not realistic. Everyone wants to join some kind of cloud service today. We have decided to keep our ER...
Which VMware solution would you go with - Workstation or vSphere?
VM Workstation’s setup is so easy, you can use it almost instantly, it works well with Windows and Linux. We like VM Workstation primarily to test environments to determine how well a solution will...
What do you like most about VMware Workstation?
The product is stable, very easy to deploy, easy to use, easy to configure, and easy to set up.
What needs improvement with VMware Workstation?
The product's integration capabilities are an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required.
 

Also Known As

Remote Desktop Services
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bank Alfalah Ltd.
Akademiska Hus
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs. VMware Workstation and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,190 professionals have used our research since 2012.