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

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs TeamViewer comparison

Sponsored
 

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
7.3
Number of Reviews
247
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (2nd), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
Microsoft Remote Desktop Se...
Ranking in Remote Access
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (5th)
TeamViewer
Ranking in Remote Access
3rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
87
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Meetings (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Remote Access category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 9.5%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is 11.0%, down from 14.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of TeamViewer is 12.2%, down from 13.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Remote Access
 

Featured Reviews

Joseph Merusi - PeerSpot reviewer
Everything has worked better since we started using it
Sometimes the syncing is inconsistent. I'm confident that the devices are checking in every eight hours, but sometimes the devices aren't picking up the settings as quickly as I would expect. Some features haven't been updated in a while, and Microsoft doesn't seem interested in developing them. Unless you talk to an engineer, you don't know whether there will be an update. There are communication issues, so you might start working with a feature without knowing if it will be deprecated six months from now. Some reporting areas still need development. For example, I noticed that the reporting for driver updates is still confusing.
Terje Romen - PeerSpot reviewer
Accessing the same desktop experience from anywhere but user template creation needs improvement
Mostly we are quite happy with it. However, some of us want a more powerful desktop. When not present, we use a remote tool called Splashtop, which is a good solution for some users. We have about ten licenses for those who need a powerful workstation at the office. We have not used many different tools. We are never in contact with Microsoft. These are quite basic configurations, to be honest. It's not complicated. AI is coming to or is already in some applications we are using. Not system-wise, however, it might be good. I'd rate the solution seven out of ten. It's quite good, yet certainly not perfect.
Sanjay Patankar - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to install and has lots of resources but need to improve performance
It's a remote access solution. We use it for conferences, meetings, and communication.  It works just like other communications tools. It also integrates well with Office 365 and Outlook, et cetera. The performance is good.  It's got a lot of resources for users.  The product is easy to install.…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's easy to deploy a configuration or policy to a system, especially when you don't have Azure AD. Now we are talking to all these small and medium-sized customers who don't necessarily have an on-premise Windows Active Directory. If they have invested in Office 365 Premium, this functionality becomes available to them."
"Intune is flexible. If you want to move a device that was previously on-prem, we can bring it to the cloud and apply all the policies. This is helpful for even those organizations that were on-prem and not on the cloud. They can also come and use these features, which are pretty cool and would be handy to protect the data and manage the devices as well."
"I can reach devices or computers over the internet. I don't need to worry about the network connectivity between the offices. I can manage any device. That is the most important part."
"The most valuable features are the ones that make sure that the deployment is of a standard operating system and the Zero Touch deployment, which is very useful. This allows users to have an out of box experience."
"The biggest benefits of Intune are the ability to push changes and the added security. When we moved forward with Defender, we onboarded all those machines automatically. That helps dramatically. For a while, we were left with machines that weren't protected. We could see where people had done things they shouldn't have done, and Defender saved our skins a few times. It didn't happen a lot, but it happened enough that it made us glad we made that decision."
"We have not experienced any bugs or glitches with this solution."
"If I assess Intune's user experience, I would say it is perfect and simple."
"The overall user experience is quite nice. I have no complaints from end users regarding their devices enrolled in Intune."
"The most valuable feature is the remote application access."
"You can scale the product."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is stable and reliable."
"It's simple to set up."
"The solution now includes a multi-screen feature which is great."
"It's part of the Microsoft Operating system and is free."
"Mostly we are quite happy with it."
"It's pretty stable."
"It saves trips to customer sites, which saves time. I am able to get in there remotely and fix things."
"The solution is scalable."
"The product is quite stable. The performance is good."
"The most valuable feature of TeamViewer is the ability to remote into another device."
"The most valuable feature of TeamViewer is the ability to remote control a computer system. Overall it is a complete solution."
"It is fairly feature-rich and stable."
"Ease of use was the number-one thing. It's an industry leader for ease of use, specifically on the client-side, which is the absolutely critical thing. If I want to connect to somebody, how easily can I — without seeing their computer — walk them through the steps to install it to a point where I can key in the code and help them resolve their situation?... TeamViewer is just a dead-solid, easy answer."
"From my perspective, the most important is the login."
 

Cons

"Its configuration is fairly complicated. You have to do quite a bit of discovery to be able to deploy it for a customer. You have to ask them a lot of questions. So, its initial deployment is the biggest challenge. They should make it easier to deploy with the use of Wizards or something else. During the deployment stage, there could be profiles for the customers who are particularly wanting to use certain feature sets of Intune."
"There's quite a lot of development that they can do within their Intune dashboard. I think there are too many lines hyperlinked to move you around. Others, in contrast, give you a simple dashboard and an intuitive administrative walkthrough."
"The scalability could be improved, and like most other MDM products, Intune is good but not 100% there yet."
"Lacks the ability to deploy more ways of management, managing devices and processing the policies."
"The closest Microsoft Intune can be to GPOs, the better. There needs to be more granularity on application deployments. However, they have done better recently with the application deployments."
"The reporting part needs improvement, and it would be beneficial if it could integrate with third-party tools instead of just Power BI."
"Microsoft Intune could improve in reporting data for endpoints and fleets. Enhanced capabilities to run queries and gather specific device data to identify trends or issues would be beneficial. The feature parity for MacOS and handling devices from an MDM perspective is not comprehensive. Consolidation of these functionalities within Intune would simplify processes and finances."
"An area for improvement is the absence of seamless integration, particularly with external dashboards."
"We face frequent disconnections."
"We'd like more granular security control of the desktop services."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services could improve by having a better application for managing multiple sessions. There used to be one but they stopped supporting it."
"I would like to see the hard drives work without locking up and integrate the local drives in the next release."
"The user interface needs improvement."
"Users have to re-enter their ID and password every time they log on, which is tedious and repetitive."
"It could offer better security for enterprises."
"From the perspective of an IT professional, Microsoft Remote Desktop is very easy to use. However, it could be made easier to use for the end user, especially when it comes to activating it."
"They could give more information about using certain kinds of applications for secure transactions, such as secure file transfers."
"One thing I have noticed is that TeamViewer does not work so well when the machine you are trying to connect to remotely is not running the same version as your machine."
"TeamViewer is expensive, and you get a limited number of connections for your money."
"I am not sure about all the features of TeamViewer, but if they have no voice communication or file transfer features they should add them."
"I don’t see any areas where improvement is needed."
"It's pretty limited on the options they have."
"It would be very helpful if they could provide a manual for the installation process and describe more of their features."
"The installation and the update agent could improve."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a license required to use the solution. If you're core users in Office 365, for example, you have Outlook email and E3 license, this is only email. You have to buy an EMS license to have Microsoft Intune. It is expensive."
"I rate Intune an eight out of ten for affordability. It's bundled with the 365 licensing, which is competitive overall."
"The product is offered as part of a Microsoft standard bundle. The pricing can be competitive to Airwatch, and Maas360."
"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 E5 license is expensive."
"Microsoft Intune is more expensive than other solutions, but it offers a wider range of features and control."
"The price of Intune is often included as part of a bundle with other Microsoft licenses, which makes it somewhat cheaper."
"Intune is included in the Microsoft 365 licensing package that we have."
"The cost is fair."
"The solution has a perpetual license and it is purchased upfront."
"I would say it's expensive as there similar products available for free."
"The solution is expensive. My company pays toward the monthly licensing costs of the solution...The additional cost, apart from the solution's licensing cost, is related to the technical support a user wants."
"I am aware that for Azure we do have an extra license because we are leveraging on different tenants."
"Its licensing is on a yearly basis. We're on the educational or academic license, and our terms are good. We're very happy with the pricing."
"The solution has a pretty comparable pricing."
"I rate the price of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services a three out of five."
"I used the free version of TeamViewer."
"TeamViewer's price is cheaper than some other similar solutions. We have licenses for our users."
"The price of the license could be less expensive."
"TeamViewer is very pricey. You have to sign up for a yearly subscription."
"The solution has a pilot feature that is expensive. The overall price of the solution can be cheaper."
"The cost is in the thousands of dollars per year."
"TeamViewer offers a free version to try. Download and give it a shot. See what it's like and if you like it, then buy the license for it."
"We have an annual subscription that is just under $1,900 with no additional costs. We get these promotions about upgrades and stuff like that, but we haven't had a need to add more seats. Users can also use TeamViewer for home use with a non-commercial free license."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Remote Access solutions are best for your needs.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
24%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
I've never had an issue with it. I've always thought the pricing for RDS was reasonable.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
We would like configuration to be automatic and the price to be close to zero, however, that's not realistic. Everyon...
Should I choose Teamviewer Tensor over the regular Teamviewer?
The number one advantage of TeamViewer for me is its ease of use, specifically as it relates to the client side. By f...
What do you like most about TeamViewer?
It is easy to use and has a pretty good UI.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for TeamViewer?
The tool's price is a problem because TeamViewer wants users to sign up, and I feel most of the products want their u...
 

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
Remote Desktop Services
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Bank Alfalah Ltd.
Porsche Informatik, Philips, DHL, Intel, Motorola, Microsoft, IBM, Siemens, Fujitsu, American Red Cross
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs. TeamViewer and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.