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Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs VMware Fusion Pro 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

Microsoft Remote Desktop Se...
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
83
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (3rd)
VMware Fusion Pro
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is 6.0%, down from 8.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Fusion Pro is 13.7%, down from 24.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
VMware Fusion Pro13.7%
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services6.0%
Other80.3%
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

MN
technology consultant at Bank of America
Remote access has simplified certificate checks and daily support tasks across our organization
The best features Microsoft Remote Desktop Services offers include providing me administrator access, certain inbuilt client tools, and the ability to remotely access enterprise applications, as well as helping me validate whether certificates exist or are missing, or near to expiry. The product also allows for multiple session virtualizations even if users are based in remote locations and offers support for legacy applications that need to be upgraded. Out of those features, the one I rely on the most is certificate validation and plugin installation or removal in certain IDEs which developers or coders generally use. Being able to do this remotely makes my job significantly easier than going to everyone's desk in the office.
Bruce Lundberg - PeerSpot reviewer
Linux HPC Systems Administrator at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Create custom virtual environments quickly with minor macOS integration issues
The primary advantage of VMware Fusion Pro is its simplicity in creating custom virtual machines. It allows quick construction and provides connectivity to full VMware server systems, enabling remote management. It facilitates downloading images from main VMware servers for local testing. The ability to construct a virtual environment on my laptop meets my needs, even ones I wasn't aware of.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's almost an out of the box function once you have installed the other components."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services positively impacts my organization because it makes the job and work easier for all."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is scalable."
"The product saves time."
"The most valuable features of the solution are ease of use and the simple environment."
"The most valuable part of RDS is that it allows you to work from any location and check the server through a VPN connection."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is stable and reliable."
"Since the tool has a graphical user interface, it's easier for us to access the server."
"VMware Fusion Pro offers simplicity of use and stability."
"It is a highly stable solution."
"The most important feature of VMware Fusion is that it helps me rapidly launch a new OS."
"For me, VMware Fusion Pro has been invaluable, allowing me to meet all my needs with a single system."
"The most value that it provides is that it is versatile."
"VMware Fusion Pro offers simplicity of use and stability."
"Veeam Backup and Replication is the common product for backing up virtual machines."
"The primary advantage of VMware Fusion Pro is its simplicity in creating custom virtual machines."
 

Cons

"The stability could be improved."
"For Microsoft, maybe bandwidth optimization is one of the areas that need improvement."
"I would like to see a web-based interface, instead of client installation to refresh the UI through HTML."
"Microsoft still has some really bad remote desktop appliance for Mac."
"I suggest some improvements for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, such as introducing redundant gateways or better bandwidth access to reduce the frequency of remote connection breaks, especially during larger sessions with clients where I often need three or four remote sessions."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is only available for the professional version of the Windows operating system. This restricts a lot of users. The feature should be available for all versions."
"Sometimes the server stops working, and we don’t know why. Occasionally we’ll get a message to the effect of "There is no remote license.""
"We find the services are not as transparent as we would like for our integration with Citrix."
"The way they handle snapshotting can be improved. One time, I moved a machine from one to another, and I tried to pull it up on the second machine, but it didn't work. This was because I had not cleaned up the snapshot before I deleted it and moved it across. So, when I tried to pull it up, it wouldn't let me bring it up. The backups for the VMs themselves can also be improved. I pretty much have to rely on Windows backups and not something on VMware. That's where it needs improvement. I am able to upload from my Fusion into the ESXi easily. I'm able to spin something up on Fusion and push it into the big arena, but the reverse is not as easy, that is, trying to pull something down from that. I would love to have a functionality where I could pull something from the VMware infrastructure into Fusion, but I'm not sure if I can take something from ESXi and pull it into Fusion."
"Its installation process could be simpler."
"Additionally, enhancing the API interactions could improve the ability to manage VS and deploy various kinds of guests."
"The only issue I've experienced with VMware Fusion Pro is that it doesn't register correctly with the main macOS system, causing repeated notifications about background installations."
"The only issue I've experienced with VMware Fusion Pro is that it doesn't register correctly with the main macOS system, causing repeated notifications about background installations. This is a minor inconvenience."
"I would like to see newer and updated cloud functions."
"Fusion is not meant to be scalable as it runs on desktops and laptops."
"VMware Fusion's licensing cost needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is reasonable. The solution can come for free for some clients with certain agreements."
"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 would say it's expensive as there similar products available for free."
"The cost of the solution is low."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is less expensive than some other solutions on the market."
"I rate the price of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services a three out of five."
"I recall that you don't need to pay for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services because that's included in Windows."
"The price of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is reasonable."
"I rate the product's pricing a seven or eight. It is highly-priced."
"The cost varies depending on the season and whether it is scaled up or scaled down, but I would guess that it's approximately $1,000 per month."
"Starting with version 12, it is now free on a Mac for personal use. Fusion Pro has a cost."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Comms Service Provider
15%
University
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business40
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise32
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
In limited use cases, Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is free as it is defaulted by any Microsoft license. The paid version for enterprise requires RDS ( /products/amazon-rds-reviews ) CALs, or c...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services could be improved because we have keyboard compatibility issues with some platforms; on macOS, we sometimes experience keyboard connectivity issues, and it can be ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Fusion?
The pricing of VMware Fusion Pro is reasonable. The licensing covers all minor version updates, while major updates require payment every three years. Buying it once can sustain you for years witho...
What needs improvement with VMware Fusion?
In future updates of VMware Fusion Pro, I think there should be another community to input features. It is an infrastructure tool that may need embedding some AI to help or catching up with the new...
What is your primary use case for VMware Fusion?
My specialty is about IBM AS/400 applications, so I got to be in contact with several packages, including LX, which is why I had this research on your website.I'm mostly interested in ERP packages;...
 

Also Known As

Remote Desktop Services
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bank Alfalah Ltd.
NetApp
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs. VMware Fusion Pro and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.