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Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs Microsoft App-V comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 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

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citri...
Ranking in Application Virtualization
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
126
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (4th), Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (3rd), Desktop as a Service (DaaS) (1st)
Microsoft App-V
Ranking in Application Virtualization
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Application Virtualization category, the mindshare of Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) is 27.9%, up from 24.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft App-V is 22.6%, down from 24.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Virtualization
 

Featured Reviews

Grant Waddell - PeerSpot reviewer
User-friendly and easily accessible, but cost could be made cheaper
We use Citrix Workspace on Citrix Cloud. We have all of our servers on the AWS public cloud. There are a number of tools that we can implement that would save us costs. However, we've stuck to Citrix for convenience. If the prices keep increasing, we will have to consider other solutions. Users need to understand the tool's limitations correctly and what they require from a usability perspective. They should also understand the configuration of security policies. In some cases, people are unable to download or upload files onto their PCs, which is necessary for them to do their work. Users should understand the limitations of the product or the configuration options. Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
SN
Legacy software is maintained effectively, offering cost savings and integration flexibility
I believe there is no room for improvement in Microsoft App-V since it is officially at the end of life. Microsoft does not negotiate extensions for their end-of-life solutions. It has been a great tool over the years, but the company has managed to write most applications to bring them up to date, many written from scratch or as web-based applications. It's highly likely that we will decommission the Microsoft App-V solutions next year, keeping backups for a period until the new applications stabilize. I'm confident that once they transition to newer versions, they will phase out Microsoft App-V just like they do with operating systems. When Microsoft decides to close a version, such as Windows 10-22H2 or 21-H2, it happens. Paying for extended support is costly and, in the end, not worth it. Organizations must think of alternatives, possibly leaning towards MSIX, although MSIX doesn't support very old software used on Windows XP or 2000, which raises doubts about what can truly be improved. It's clear they won't introduce anything new; they will only provide security patches as they approach the end-of-life timeline.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Citrix Workspace allows you to work in a remote environment and gives you data security."
"The only thing that is really important for me is being able to connect from wherever I am. It is important for me because sometimes I am in places where there are not enough safe conditions to be able to work safely, in terms of security and confidentiality of my data. Being able to access internal resources from a secure platform allows me to work without fearing that my data has been stolen."
"I can access it from anywhere."
"Ability to connect remotely."
"Citrix is one of the companies that is delivering virtual apps and desktops in a big way. They are mature enough to understand the level of stability required and deliver it."
"The most valuable feature is the desktop experience so that users don't see much difference between the remote desktop and the local desktop... It also provides virtualization for high-end graphics so that they can be displayed. AutoCAD can be done on Citrix. The graphics are very good."
"Stable product with straightforward setup."
"The ROI for us has been that when we had Hurricane Harvey last year, Xendesktop came in very handy for us. Even though people had electricity in Texas, many networks were down. Our offices could still get into our network and do work that was needed. It is an excellent virtual office that works anywhere, anytime and anyplace. It is worth our investment."
"It is easy to scale. You can quickly deploy additional instances. Rollbacks are easy because there is an automatic backup every hour. Deploying the application is straightforward and efficient."
"We can deploy applications incredibly fast."
"It is very easy to use from an administration point of view."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft App-V that I found is the possibility to bring old software back to life and publish it for users to do their jobs using those applications."
"The most interesting and powerful feature for us is the fact that we can upgrade any kind of app instantly."
"From my experience with Microsoft App-V, the feature I liked the most is the streaming."
"Microsoft App-V is a simple, very good working product that just works."
"I would recommend Microsoft App-V for its simplicity and efficiency."
 

Cons

"Licensing service installation and configuration was the biggest challenge for all Citrix solutions, but now they have fixed a lot of issues."
"Direct connection of USB devices on the terminals to be used by streamed applications is very important for printing and the usage of token authentication, but the current version does not support this one hundred percent."
"The only thing we have found to be detrimental is when we have tried to find training. I realize that we're looking at it at the worst time possible, with a pandemic going on, but it seems that most of the training offered is learn-by-yourself online."
"Citrix duplicates multiple processes."
"The product is currently not working well in hosting conferencing software like Zoom, Team, and Salon."
"The product's technical support services need improvement."
"Templating the deployment process could use improvement. When you start, there are a large number of details that are quite client-specific, although they do share common themes. To get somebody up and running in a day is very difficult to do. They should streamline by use case."
"Performance could be better if there was a low latency improvement."
"Microsoft App-V has been slow, and users experience delays when launching applications, which presents significant challenges."
"If it were possible to integrate App-V with a cybersecurity solution then we could implement a documentation registry, which would be useful."
"The process was streamlined but didn't make our work simple. We encountered an issue with the person responsible for designing the website."
"Regarding improvements in Microsoft App-V, I would appreciate seeing the successor, MSIX, work better, as nothing is going to be implemented anymore since it is end of life by the end of the year."
"Microsoft App-V is more suited for legacy software usage, and trying to make it work in that context usually feels tricky and unreliable."
"The reporting features could be improved."
"There is definitely room for improvement with Microsoft App-V, especially in terms of enhancing troubleshooting resources and user guidance."
"The downside is that Microsoft bought this product and they are going to discontinue it in 2026. This is worrisome for us."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Their licensing model used to be on a per-year basis, where you would negotiate the cost per user for a year. For instance, if you had 25,000 users, you could negotiate the cost accordingly. However, they are transitioning to a subscription-based model where the cost is incurred monthly."
"I don't quite remember the specifics of what we had. I believe we had a 25-user license, and I don't recall it being overly expensive."
"The price of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is approximately $300 for the new version called Dash and the license is approximately $900 annually."
"The Citrix license model has changed. It costs around $240 per user for a single username, but a concurrent license costs double."
"My company opts for the yearly subscription model to pay towards the licensing costs attached to the solution."
"We recouped 60 to 70 percent of the hardware costs."
"I think it is a little high priced."
"We have more than a million seats under management so we get the best price."
"Clients do not pay licensing fees."
"The pricing of this product is competitive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?
My focus has primarily been on publishing virtual applications.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?
I rate the product’s pricing a seven out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.
What needs improvement with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?
I have found that Citrix DaaS is still a complex product, especially on the desktop side, which affects scalability. Although it works well on the apps side, the desktop aspect still has room for i...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft App-V?
Regarding pricing, I believe flexibility would help retain customers. Costs could be more adaptable to meet varying budgets.
What needs improvement with Microsoft App-V?
There is definitely room for improvement with Microsoft App-V, especially in terms of enhancing troubleshooting resources and user guidance.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft App-V?
I have been using Microsoft App-V for quite some time, and I can describe my use cases, which include various applications that enhance productivity.
 

Also Known As

XenDesktop, XenApp (Citrix Virtual Apps), Citrix Workspace
App-V, MS App-V
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Exelon, Aeronamic, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Alameda County Medical Center, Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Aloysius Stichting, Amarchand Mangaldas, AmBev, Amnet Technology Solutions, Arval
The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), GDDKiA, P&V, Etisalat Lanka, Hellenic Petroleum
Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs. Microsoft App-V and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,168 professionals have used our research since 2012.