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Amazon WorkSpaces vs Azure Virtual Desktop comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Amazon WorkSpaces
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
11th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
Desktop as a Service (DaaS) (2nd)
Azure Virtual Desktop
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Amazon WorkSpaces is 2.8%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Azure Virtual Desktop is 6.6%, down from 8.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Azure Virtual Desktop6.6%
Amazon WorkSpaces2.8%
Other90.6%
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

JiteshRathod - PeerSpot reviewer
Expert Engineer at Apexon
Billing complexities affect financial predictability and resource optimization facilitates strategic use
Whenever there is an issue or incident that happens with the server part, I will provide support We are using Amazon WorkSpaces for some tools and testing purposes. We utilize the Workspace for running long-term scripting tasks. I have used the persistent storage feature for users in Amazon…
RC
Senior Advisor at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Enhanced collaboration and security with seamless remote access has transformed work efficiency
We can integrate anything with Azure Virtual Desktop from an application perspective. The App-V has evolved into MSIX. To deliver an application to Azure Virtual Desktop, MSIX can be used by expanding it as a virtual hard disk and attaching it to the virtual machine. When this is done, users who need the application will have immediate access through Active Directory group assignment. One challenge with Virtual Desktop infrastructure is application delivery. From an infrastructure perspective, it's beneficial as we can have a fallback point - if one machine is down, we can have a disaster recovery site for redirection. The delivery of applications is a tedious process. Microsoft is working on building new products for efficient application installation. This feature might be included in upcoming releases. Currently, it's burdensome for IT administrators to create applications compatible with Virtual Desktop infrastructure, unlike traditional machines where direct installation is possible.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The best thing about Amazon WorkSpaces is the security it provides."
"Security, streaming, faster performance, scalability, and the fact that it is very much cost-effective, are some of the solution's valuable features."
"The most valuable feature is the mobility. I can use it anywhere."
"The initial setup is simple."
"The product is easy to access. You can access the solution from anywhere at any time."
"I recommend it, definitely, as it is a very flexible solution, scalable, and easy to use, and you can use it from any device, whether you have an iPad, a laptop, a Mac, or Windows, on every platform that supports Google Chrome."
"They maintain it and manage it very well."
"We can work remotely using the solution."
"The cost-effectiveness of Azure Virtual Machines is one of the most valuable features."
"This integration enhances productivity 100%, as it makes it much easier for us to give access to external third parties to work with us for collaboration."
"Absolutely, this solution is probably the leader in its field."
"I've always found Azure Virtual Desktop to work for me without issues."
"Azure pricing is quite cheap due to licensing benefits with Microsoft."
"I rate the overall solution nine out of ten."
"The scalability is probably the most valuable feature since I can quickly add or remove machines or increase or decrease the size depending on resources to manage the cost better."
"The auto-scaling option allows provisioning additional virtual desktops based on user demand, making it scalable and flexible."
 

Cons

"The product needs to improve its pricing. It should also improve corporate identity management and single sign-on."
"I am not satisfied with the billing part because sometimes it bills for huge usage we are not aware of when we trigger every EC2 instance or every RDS instance."
"Amazon WorkSpaces can sometimes function as a black box, making it difficult to diagnose why a workspace is slow on any given day due to limited visibility into network latency from the client, real-time CPU and GPU utilization, and storage bottlenecks."
"You cannot install external applications without doing some additional configurations inside the solution as opposed to your normal desktop or laptop."
"The speed and performance are not always the greatest. It can be improved."
"There is always scope of improvement in the stability."
"Its features for the hardware version could work faster."
"If they had a cheaper option for graphics pro, I think that it would be beneficial and I would use it."
"The initial setup of Azure Virtual Desktop overall is complex. The complexities I've noticed are with application optimizations, and it can get complex by meeting customers' security requirements."
"There are challenges when upgrading the OS from Windows 10 to Windows 11, such as facing a black screen during testing. It is essential for Microsoft to ensure better testing and smoother transitions when decommissioning previous versions."
"The primary area for improvement is around the scalability of Azure, specifically on the desktop side."
"Access from Entra ID should be implemented to provide only tenant access to users connecting to the Azure Virtual Desktop environment, eliminating the need for on-premises requirements."
"Azure could improve its uptime and the scaling aspect, as it lacks intelligent scaling."
"The delivery of applications is a tedious process."
"The costs are a bit difficult to predict upfront."
"Azure is vast, and perhaps an architect-level experience could provide more insights into potential improvements."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"They have hourly and monthly pricing, and because our use case is, more of a sporadic use, so I go for hourly pricing. Again, the details of the pricing is handled by the procurement. From an end user perspective, pay as you use hourly is suitable"
"We need to spend some amount for the support. Without money, they won't respond."
"The tool's pricing depends on company turnover and the organization's relationship with Amazon. I rate it a six out of ten."
"The solution is expensive."
"It is very expensive."
"Price-wise Amazon Workspaces is cheaper than most services available."
"The bundle works out to be approximately $20.00 per month."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is low and ten is a high price, I rate the pricing a two."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Performing Arts
14%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Construction Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
21%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Media Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise6
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon WorkSpaces?
For Amazon WorkSpaces pricing, I think it is affordable; it is a final decision made through the management part. I am not satisfied with the billing part because sometimes it bills for huge usage ...
What needs improvement with Amazon WorkSpaces?
Desired improvements for Amazon WorkSpaces include faster and more flexible image updates, incremental image updates, patch-only updates, and a much faster push of software configuration changes to...
What is your primary use case for Amazon WorkSpaces?
Amazon WorkSpaces is used to provide a consistent environment for remote workers for testing purposes. Software testing is typically run on those desktops.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Virtual Desktop?
The usual amount customers pay for this tool varies. I have seen large deployments catering to 500 or 700 users. Enterprises do use it, and they pay quite a bit for this.
What needs improvement with Azure Virtual Desktop?
I see areas for improvement in Azure Virtual Desktop, specifically regarding cost, as it is a little bit expensive. However, when you account for replacing dedicated hardware and the maintenance it...
What is your primary use case for Azure Virtual Desktop?
We use RDP with Azure and have some virtual desktops. A major use case for Azure Virtual Desktop is that we give access to external consultants so they can access our information and interact with ...
 

Also Known As

WorkSpaces
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

GrubHub, Endemol Shine Nederland, CMC Property Services
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon WorkSpaces vs. Azure Virtual Desktop and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.