Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Horizon 8 vs Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 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

Horizon 8
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
116
Ranking in other categories
User Virtualization (1st)
Red Hat Enterprise Virtuali...
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
15th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
2.4
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Horizon 8 is 6.4%, down from 9.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops is 0.9%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Horizon 86.4%
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops0.9%
Other92.7%
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

MB
Owner at CoBSS
Experience with remote access facilitates seamless user management, though improvements in integration and analytics are desired
From the analytical aspects, we used Horizon 8 Advanced Analytics and most companies switched to another product to gain insights because the insight is not as helpful as other products that are built for it. What was missing in Horizon 8 to make it a better tool was in analytics, specifically getting the right information and the drill-down process to find out where the problem is. If a user has an issue, it is crucial to determine what the issue is that the user is having and since when they have the issue. For example, if a user reports back that they had an issue yesterday evening, getting that information and ensuring that you have it was hard to find, especially to pinpoint if the issue lies with the network or the Horizon 8 platform. We utilized the multi-factor authentication, conditional access in Horizon 8, but we are not satisfied with that. It lacks some integration options that make it easy to run with Microsoft Entra, for example, and authenticate using your regular authenticator besides just getting a pop-up that says, 'I'm the one that's trying to log on.' Nowadays, there are many more complex authentication methods, but even a basic confirmation with a number to verify that you are the person connecting is not supported. I would like to see improvements in Horizon 8, specifically integration with NVIDIA for graphical performance upgrades because it creates many issues such as crashing and black screen systems, causing users to lose access to their current desktop and work. This is a real issue at the moment for many customers worldwide.
RobertThompson 1 - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Security Manager at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Free version available but hard to understand
Personally, I don't think it has any commendable features. The biggest thing about it is that, compared to what you can do with VMware and Horizon, it just seems like there's an awful lot of extra work involved with the Red Hat virtualization. It doesn't just work out of the box. You have to read through about six different documents, and everybody's experience is different. So it's kind of annoying. That would be the main thing. If you're not a Linux geek, it's very hard to understand. And it's probably because I came out of the Windows world. I learned this as part of my cross-training, but I just found the way that it happens with VMware and all that stuff to be easier to use.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The initial setup is very simple and straightforward."
"The most valuable features are Instant Clones and AppStacks."
"The initial setup is very simple."
"The USB redirection is one of the valuable features of VMware Horizon"
"My customers most likely use Horizon 8 for remote desktop, which means making sure that people can access system resources from anywhere on a secure platform, even from a non-secure, or non-company device."
"The most valuable feature of this solution has been security."
"The console is straightforward and easy to understand for the end user. It can be deployed on any device, including iPads and Mac OS. Users can access their daily applications and resources provided by the VMware Horizon environment from any device."
"It stands as a robust setup with considerable capabilities."
"There's lots of good support out there in the community."
"The improvement to our organization is managing all our KVM-based virtual machines in a management environment."
"The most valuable features are automated deployment and transparent movement for virtual machines over all our locations."
 

Cons

"VMware support is okay, but sometimes it's a little bit hit or miss trying to get somebody who knows what they're doing and talking about."
"Sometimes, the protocol itself gets a bit laggy. If you have less than optimal switching and routing, it can get kind of laggy."
"We have limited capabilities since we are not using a multi-instance solution, just single instances. The solution underutilizes its capabilities."
"Considering the tool's weaknesses, the product probably has scope for some improvement in the context of how the applications or Linux operating systems are delivered using VMware Horizon View."
"It is a little bit complex. You need a little bit of experience with ESXi installation and VMware before using this solution. You cannot directly jump to this solution. It also requires training. After you get trained, you can do anything with Horizon 7. In terms of features, it has been sufficient for my needs, but it can always have more features. They can maybe merge the servers. They can give the Horizon 7 server in one package with ESXi."
"In the future, I would like to see better support for application virtualization."
"I see more simplification on the Instant Clone side as an area for improvement for Horizon 8. The integration with Workspace ONE to make it more simple and easy for customers to adopt is another aspect."
"VMware Horizon could be improved with more integration. It is also very costly for Enterprise Plus, which is a drawback. The renewal costs for the license are very, very high."
"The best improvement for oVirt 4.2 is to enable backup features for major backup products of virtual machines."
"The biggest thing about it is that, compared to what you can do with VMware and Horizon, it just seems like there's an awful lot of extra work involved with Red Hat virtualization."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"VMware Horizon only has one license, which is a license to run desktops."
"I would rate the pricing of VMware Horizon View a five out of ten. The price is average."
"The license cost has increased significantly, so we’re helping some customers with Azure VMware desktop solutions to save on licensing."
"At present, they provide decent pricing in terms of bundled licenses."
"The price of the solution is affordable. However, there are extra fees for support."
"Pricing for Horizon is relatively high, earning a rating of one out of ten."
"It is hard to know for sure. It is definitely in the $20,000 to $30,000 range. It is quite expensive, but you do save money on desktop power, desktop upgrades, etc. You're able to extend the useful life of your previous desktops. Previously, we used to change desktops regularly, and now we just change them when they break."
"The license for this product is paid on a monthly basis."
"I use the free developer stuff right now."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solutions are best for your needs.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
8%
University
26%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Government
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business61
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise44
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

How does VMware Workspace One compare with VMware Horizon 7?
VMware Workspace One has a powerful set of helpful features. The solution offers very good documentation, the initial setup is easy, and the product is very stable and reliable. I think the fact th...
What do you like most about VMware Horizon 7?
VMware offers a friendly environment, and it's easy to provide the user with the package. It is a bundled solution that is readily deployable. The advantage lies in its simplicity, it requires mini...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Horizon 7?
We paid a lot of money for software that is not really fully operational out of the box. We had to have patches from VMware to get it into production. Hence, we lost a lot of time implementing the ...
What needs improvement with Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops?
Personally, I don't think it has any commendable features. The biggest thing about it is that, compared to what you can do with VMware and Horizon, it just seems like there's an awful lot of extra ...
What is your primary use case for Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops?
I've used it more as a user than as an administrator setting it up. Just mainly getting access to legacy systems and programming that's not Windows 11 compatible.
 

Also Known As

VMware Horizon, VMware Horizon View, Mware Dynamic Environment Manager
Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

LCMC Health
Casio, Telef‹nica, British Airways
Find out what your peers are saying about Horizon 8 vs. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.