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Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs VNC Connect comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 7, 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 Intune
Sponsored
Ranking in Remote Access
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
294
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (2nd), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citri...
Ranking in Remote Access
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
127
Ranking in other categories
Application Virtualization (1st), Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (3rd), Desktop as a Service (DaaS) (1st)
VNC Connect
Ranking in Remote Access
14th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Remote Access category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 9.9%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) is 4.2%, down from 6.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VNC Connect is 3.3%, down from 3.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Remote Access
 

Featured Reviews

AkashKamble - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables management of multiple operating systems with a single license
The best feature is that it's a Microsoft product, so if anything goes wrong, we get quick support for anything required. Remote system functionality allows us to sit anywhere and take control of any device via remote management. We can enhance security for clients' laptops with built-in Microsoft Defender, which is available with the Microsoft Intune license. We use it for reporting purposes through endpoint analytics. When pushing scripting, there are two types available: remediation script and reservation script. Through endpoint analytics, you can push defender policies to clients. It helps with reporting, inventory updates, and monitoring tenant status health.
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.
Jose Miguel Moya - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to deploy, but scalability needs improvement
There are no specific challenges I faced while using the product. I haven't used the solution to support any AI-driven projects. In our company, we need to have remote access to our labs because if not, people have to move to the laboratory, and we will spend a lot of time working. I don't know the features of VNC Connect that improved our company's support capabilities. I rate the tool a six 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

"Intune's most valuable feature is its centralized management capability."
"I like the group policy management feature, which performs application monitoring and device enrollment."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Intune is its scalability."
"At the moment, Autopilot is the most valuable feature."
"It is user-friendly, and the performance is also good. It is a convenient product"
"Intune device restriction policies enable me to enforce limitations on the device, like blocking the mobile camera or restricting the employees from using and inserting USB devices, including thumb drives and flash drives."
"The device profiling which uses the official Outlook email enabled us to control the screenshot feature and prevent copying outside of the organization's application."
"The feature I like the most is that we can perform remote tasks. If we want to retire or wipe out personal data or corporate data from a device, we can use Microsoft Intune remotely, and with the click of a button, data is removed automatically. Nothing needs to be done from the end-user side."
"XenApp is a fast, secure and reliable solution for remote connections that is completely different than and superior to older Windows solutions."
"The most valuable feature of Citrix Workspace is the virtual desktop that we can use anywhere, at any time, and without taking our laptop."
"The shadow feature is extraordinary and helps a lot when supporting remote users."
"In terms of Citrix Workforce features, the most valuable for managing our remote workforce is security, especially AppProtect. Users cannot simply copy and paste data to their local devices. This prevents data breaches, as data can't be copied to OneDrive or Google Drive. Screenshots from local PCs are also blocked, though data can still be manually copied using a phone."
"It virtualizes the application on your desktop."
"The most valuable feature is connectivity. The remote connection is the reason we are using this solution."
"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."
"For the most part, overall stability is what you would expect."
"The product’s ease of use and security are valuable."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its ease of use."
"The most valuable features are that it is consistently low profile and consistently works without hiccups or headaches."
 

Cons

"They should improve its compatibility with other operating systems such as iOS and Linux. It supports Linux but they still need to work on the iOS part."
"We are facing issues with Apple products. With macOS and iOS, there are some difficulties with the updates because we cannot get full control of Apple products. In the case of Windows, it is fine, but in the case of Apple, we have some difficulties. We cannot control everything through Intune."
"The solution could be improved by the opportunity to connect third-party application databases, such as Chocolatey or another setup store, to Intune."
"Reporting could be improved. It needs to be more expensive and robust."
"It would be awesome if Microsoft opened their API so we could filter more properties. If we have to do anything outside of Intune that requires a third-party solution to talk back to it, we're very limited in what we can do."
"There is room for improvement in integration and security as well."
"I would like to see Intune improve its handling of hybrid domain joins. We continue to experience issues with machines losing their hybrid domain join status."
"A feature I would want to see added in Microsoft Intune is the ability to manage other non-Microsoft devices."
"Citrix should consolidate the multiple tools currently required into a single platform."
"The price is currently high, and having tiered pricing would benefit companies."
"The lag when using Skype or Screen Sharing with multiple users needs to improve, as it makes it difficult for us to continue when we have to restart the system."
"The cost of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is high and has room for improvement."
"Citrix has to support all of the hypervisors including KVM and OpenStack KVM."
"The speed and connectivity of Citrix DaaS could be improved."
"I think improvement around the Analytics piece is super important. There has been a lot of maturity over the last year in that area, though a lot more needs to be done. Also, a lot more of the value of those Analytics needs to be sold to end users. Citrix is working on a lot of things that are ahead of the curve and a lot of organizations aren't quite there yet with implementing those technologies and capabilities."
"The solution's technical support is not so good."
"Improvements are required in the area of scalability since it is an aspect of the tool where there are shortcomings."
"Ease of access is a bit of a challenge."
"We occasionally have issues with the graphic software of the interface."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a license needed for this solution and it is either included in one of the enterprise license agreements. Microsoft licensing is a mathematical institute, it could be quite complex. We tend to ask specialized organizations to research what the most profitable way it would be for us to use licenses in the organizations."
"The price is reasonable, but they should lower it a bit to make it more competitive. It's cheaper than AirWatch and other products, but I still feel like Microsoft can make a base version or with Exchange online or a la carte only Intune version which will be useful. A customer who doesn't want to go full-fledged E3 or E5 can take out or consume an Intune solution only for their purpose, and we want to target that customer."
"Microsoft Intune has a user-based subscription model. You can go for a monthly or a yearly payment."
"While I don't have access to high-level financial information, I believe we have achieved lower costs with this implementation."
"Microsoft Intune is more expensive than other solutions, but it offers a wider range of features and control."
"The product is offered as part of a Microsoft standard bundle. The pricing can be competitive to Airwatch, and Maas360."
"The Intune license model is costly."
"Microsoft Intune is moderately priced. There is a monthly license required to use the solution and it is approximately eight dollars per month."
"It is quite expensive, but so are the competitors on the market."
"It's my understanding that the solution license fee for each user is around $300 US. If we buy a personal laptop for each employee every five years, then the total cost is five times $300 US, or $1,500 USD. So we could buy 100 personal laptops instead of the Citrix solution."
"If you look at cost, then you must look at the number of users that you are covering. If you are only using it for some users, then it is very expensive. However, if you have a massive amount of users, then it begins to be interesting to use Citrix. Because once you are managing thousands of servers with one guy, your maintenance costs decrease per user."
"We are just now approaching the end of our initial purchase, which was an excellent price for us as an academic institution. We got a very good deal to get us on board. That license is up for renewal in about a year, and we are nervously waiting to see what the pricing will be."
"The solution is expensive and I give the cost a four out of ten."
"Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is an expensive solution."
"The solution is affordable."
"Implementing Citrix DaaS with thin clients, rather than physical laptops, has resulted in savings of 27% to 29%. Additionally, moving 1,000 users from physical laptops to thin clients and VDI solutions can save around 40,000 kilograms of carbon emissions, benefiting both the environment and the company's economy, provided thin clients are used."
"I use the tool's free version."
"The tool is not cheap."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
29%
Computer Software Company
12%
University
6%
Educational Organization
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

How does Microsoft Intune compare with VMware Workspace One?
Microsoft Intune is a great tool for managing a mobile device fleet while keeping access control. The solution makes ...
What are the pros and cons of Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune is a great configuration management tool and has a lot of good things going for it. Here are some of...
How does Google Cloud Identity compare with Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also ...
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. ...
What needs improvement with VNC Connect?
The bandwidth is slow. Improvements are required in the area of scalability since it is an aspect of the tool where t...
What is your primary use case for VNC Connect?
I use the solution to get remote access to our labs.
What advice do you have for others considering VNC Connect?
There are no specific challenges I faced while using the product. I haven't used the solution to support any AI-drive...
 

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
XenDesktop, XenApp (Citrix Virtual Apps), Citrix Workspace
No data available
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Exelon, Aeronamic, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Alameda County Medical Center, Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Aloysius Stichting, Amarchand Mangaldas, AmBev, Amnet Technology Solutions, Arval
Telesat Canada, St. Anthony's School, Pratt and Whitney, City of Sacramento
Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs. VNC Connect and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.