Amazon WorkSpaces vs Horizon Cloud Service comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Omnissa are both solutions in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.2, while Omnissa is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.0. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 0.7% mindshare in VD, compared to Omnissa’s 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 93% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Omnissa users who would recommend it.

Amazon WorkSpaces

Read 16 Amazon WorkSpaces reviews

621 Views
399 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Horizon Cloud Service

Read 10 Horizon Cloud Service reviews

1,209 Views
995 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Amazon WorkSpaces

Horizon Cloud Service

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 2024

Horizon Cloud Service and Amazon WorkSpaces compete in the desktop-as-a-service space. Amazon WorkSpaces seems to have an edge in features, but Horizon Cloud Service is potentially more appealing due to its pricing and customer support.

Features: Horizon Cloud Service offers seamless integration with various cloud environments, ensuring flexibility and adaptability. Its power management capabilities provide users with advanced control over virtual desktops. The option for multiple cloud deployments makes it suitable for diverse IT infrastructures. Amazon WorkSpaces provides robust scalability and a wide array of configuration options. It supports multimedia applications, ensuring low latency and high performance. The ability to operate quickly and securely makes it suitable for international deployments.

Room for Improvement: Horizon Cloud Service could enhance its customization options and initial deployment setup to compete better with Amazon WorkSpaces. Improving scalability features further would be beneficial. Enriching real-time support could help as well. Amazon WorkSpaces could simplify its deployment process to reduce complexity for users. Enhanced integration with non-Amazon environments could expand its reach. Offering more pricing transparency might attract a broader audience.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Horizon Cloud Service provides a straightforward deployment process supported by strong customer support, which enhances efficiency. In contrast, Amazon WorkSpaces offers excellent scalability but might require more effort during deployment due to its customization options.

Pricing and ROI: Horizon Cloud Service has a competitive pricing model that supports higher ROI with lower upfront costs. Amazon WorkSpaces, while possibly having higher initial costs, justifies investment with its comprehensive feature set, which is beneficial for demands requiring extensive scalability and configuration.

To learn more, read our detailed Amazon WorkSpaces vs. Horizon Cloud Service Report (Updated: February 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Amazon WorkSpaces vs. Horizon Cloud Service

February 2025

Download the complete report

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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)

8th

Ranking in Desktop as a Service (DaaS)

2nd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Horizon Cloud Service

Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

10th

Ranking in Desktop as a Service (DaaS)

4th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

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 Amazon WorkSpaces is 0.7%, down from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Horizon Cloud Service is 1.1%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Featured Reviews

Bhaskar Rao

Network manager admin at Yamaha

Management console is very easy to use, readily available infrastructure and easy to scale

It's very stable. There is a big difference between traditional physical servers and cloud servers. With physical servers, we need to plan for purchasing, procurement, capacity, storage, get quotations, and then procure them. That took some time. Maybe it would take more than one month or maybe two months to procure and then install. With AWS, it is readily available. Just pay and immediately create the VPC, network, and everything. It is very easy. Within two or three hours, we can implement any server or launch any application. Within five minutes, we can just spin up and publish our servers on the Internet.

Read full review

SivaKuppala

Enterprise Architect at Wipro Limited

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.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product is easy to access. You can access the solution from anywhere at any time."

"They maintain it and manage it very well."

"The most valuable features are easy provisioning, an active directory, and mobile access."

"The most valuable feature is the mobility. I can use it anywhere."

"The best feature is that it operates very quickly. It depends on the regional location. If we choose a nearby location, nearby servers, it will be best for users to use."

"Performance and scalability are valuable features."

"The best thing about Amazon WorkSpaces is the security it provides."

"It has good speed and connects well with computers."

More Amazon WorkSpaces pros

"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 most valuable feature of VMware Horizon Cloud is all of its capabilities together."

"The product allows a VPN connection, adding extra value to its features."

"I honestly liked the application itself because it was just like using a desktop. You could copy and paste, inside and outside, and you could use multiple monitors. You could access it anytime, anywhere, no matter whether you were in the office or out of the office. I could leave the office, go somewhere, go back in, and everything would be there. I could just leave it up and running. I absolutely love this feature in VMware Horizon Cloud."

"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 interface is much easier to use compared to Microsoft and other VDI vendors that are well known on the market. I like VMware so much more than the others. With Horizon Cloud, you don't need to spend a lot of money upfront to buy the infrastructure. You can use it the on the cloud, so it lowers the barriers to entry. It's easier to test it and get started. Some clients stay in the cloud, but others prefer to go on-premise. It depends on the nature of the client."

"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’s on-premise version has the ability to create an image of any updates or changes in the system."

More Horizon Cloud Service pros

Cons

"The product needs to improve its pricing. It should also improve corporate identity management and single sign-on."

"Amazon WorkSpaces needs to improve its pricing."

"The speed and performance are not always the greatest. It can be improved."

"One area that can be improved is the ability to install third-party apps."

"Making it more self-service friendly would be the implement I'd be looking for. When we have to add new applications, we have to go through the IT to do that, and they need to do some configuration changes. I believe they have to reevaluate the computation and storage and the memory. So this is this is something that as an unrequired and should be changed. Also, the initial start time takes couple of minutes and it is easy for get distracted during the time. So if it can reduce the start time to a reasonable start of time to a reasonable time of five to ten seconds. That will be great."

"I would say that it is a little complex to configure."

"There is always scope of improvement in the stability."

"An area that could be improved is it could work better on VPN."

More Amazon WorkSpaces cons

"Logging into VMware Horizon Cloud could be made easier. Additionally, the VMs could be better in their performance."

"The product has a lot of bugs."

"The application remoting features have some room for improvement."

"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."

"It can be very expensive to scale up because each part of scaling up requires you to have new components of the infrastructure."

"The licensing model is complex, particularly for hybrid deployments, and simplifying it could help."

"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."

"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."

More Horizon Cloud Service cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool's pricing depends on company turnover and the organization's relationship with Amazon. I rate it a six out of ten."

"Price-wise Amazon Workspaces is cheaper than most services available."

"There are several different options available, but it can range anywhere from $85 to $150 a month per machine."

"On a scale of one to ten, where one is low and ten is a high price, I rate the pricing a two."

"The pricing is based on consumption. You pay for each process based on the transactions you make."

"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"

"The solution is not very cheap and it is not too pricey."

"I think that the price can be lower. We have cases where the customer needs to have lower costs. So since we don't have options, like, shadow mode, they need to decrease pricing or have other models for reduced pricing."

More Amazon WorkSpaces pricing and cost advice

"I rate VMware Horizon Cloud pricing a ten out of ten."

"VMware Horizon Cloud is an expensive solution. This solution is approximately 30 percent more than Microsoft Azure Cloud. There can be extra costs."

"VMware Horizon Cloud is a low-cost solution. The model that they have is consumption-based. However, some features are expensive."

"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."

"Initially, the product is cheap, but it starts to get expensive when users try to scale out."

"There is a license required for the use of this solution and there are different tier levels available."

"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."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

19%

Government

14%

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon WorkSpaces?

Performance and scalability are valuable features.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon WorkSpaces?

The pricing is based on consumption. You pay for each process based on the transactions you make. The investment is almost the same as having your own on-premises solution, with the added costs of ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Amazon WorkSpaces?

There is always scope of improvement in the stability.

See all answers

What do you like most about VMware Horizon Cloud?

The tool remains pretty stable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Horizon Cloud?

Horizon Cloud Service's pricing is on the higher side. The cost management aspect could improve to increase adoption. The licensing structure is also complex, particularly for hybrid deployments.

See all answers

What needs improvement with VMware Horizon Cloud?

See all answers

Comparisons

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs Amazon WorkSpaces

Compared 39% of the time

Amazon Appstream vs Amazon WorkSpaces

Compared 25% of the time

VMware Workstation vs Amazon WorkSpaces

Compared 10% of the time

Teradici PCoIP Zero Clients vs Amazon WorkSpaces

Compared 10% of the time

Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) vs Amazon WorkSpaces

Compared 8% of the time

More Amazon WorkSpaces Competitors

Horizon 8 vs Horizon Cloud Service

Compared 34% of the time

Amazon Appstream vs Horizon Cloud Service

Compared 17% of the time

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs Horizon Cloud Service

Compared 15% of the time

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs Horizon Cloud Service

Compared 13% of the time

Workspace ONE UEM vs Horizon Cloud Service

Compared 8% of the time

More Horizon Cloud Service Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Amazon WorkSpaces

March 2025

Download Amazon WorkSpaces product report

Buyer's Guide

Horizon Cloud Service

March 2025

Download Horizon Cloud Service product report

Also Known As

WorkSpaces

VMware Horizon Cloud, VMware Horizon DaaS

Overview

Amazon WorkSpaces is a fully managed desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) solution provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It allows users to access a virtual desktop environment in the cloud from various devices, including laptops, tablets, and thin clients.

With Amazon WorkSpaces, users can have a complete desktop experience with their familiar applications and data, while the underlying infrastructure and management tasks are handled by AWS. The virtual desktops provided by Amazon WorkSpaces are persistent, meaning that user data and settings are retained even when disconnected from the virtual desktop.

Amazon WorkSpaces Features:

Desktop Experience: Provides a complete Windows or Linux desktop experience for users.
Device Flexibility: Accessible from various devices such as computers, tablets, and thin clients.
Managed Service: AWS manages infrastructure, updates, patches, and backups.
Flexible Scaling: Easily scale the number of virtual desktops based on needs.
Security and Compliance: Built-in security features and compliance capabilities.
Cost-Effective: Pay-as-you-go pricing model for optimized cost management.
Integration with AWS Services: Seamlessly integrates with other AWS services.
User Profile Management: Supports saving and applying user-specific settings.
Application Compatibility: Supports a wide range of applications.

Amazon WorkSpaces Benefits:

Flexible Accessibility: Users can access their virtual desktops from various devices, providing flexibility and mobility.
Simplified Management: AWS manages the underlying infrastructure, reducing the burden of desktop management for organizations.
Scalability: Easily scale the number of virtual desktops up or down based on business needs, accommodating workforce changes.
Enhanced Security: Built-in security features and compliance capabilities ensure data protection and regulatory compliance.
Cost Savings: Pay-as-you-go pricing eliminates upfront infrastructure costs, allowing organizations to optimize their desktop infrastructure expenses.
Integration with AWS Services: Seamlessly integrate with other AWS services for enhanced functionality and capabilities.
User-Friendly Experience: Offers a familiar desktop environment with customizable settings and application compatibility.

Reviews from Real Users

Sachin Narvekar, IT-IS LEAD at Tata Consultancy, writes that "Amazon WorkSpaces is a virtual desktop platform. So, instead of having your laptops, and desktops, you can have your data on the cloud.”, he also adds, "Security, streaming, faster performance, scalability, and the fact that it is very much cost-effective, are some of the solution's valuable features."

Ravi-Bhardwaj, Manager at Ravi RITS Enterprice, states that “The solution has improved the organization because now any user who doesn't have a corporate laptop can connect to the system, security is still high, and it uses very low bandwidth.”

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

The VMware Horizon Cloud Service delivers feature-rich virtual desktops and applications using a purpose-built cloud platform that is scalable across multiple deployment options, including fully managed infrastructure from VMware, public cloud infrastructure from Microsoft Azure, or on-premises hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI). The service supports a cloud-scale architecture that makes it easy to deliver virtualized Windows desktops and applications to any device, anytime. And, with a flexible subscription model and turnkey solutions, organizations can easily get up and running and scale quickly.

Omnissa

Sample Customers

GrubHub, Endemol Shine Nederland, CMC Property Services

Marriott, Sprint

Buyer's Guide

Amazon WorkSpaces vs. Horizon Cloud Service

February 2025

Free Report: Amazon WorkSpaces vs. Horizon Cloud Service

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