Amazon WorkSpaces (VDI) vs VMware Workstation Player | TrustRadius

What users are saying about

Score 7.9 out of 10

Based on 7 reviews and ratings

Score 7.7 out of 10

Based on 30 reviews and ratings

Pros

Amazon WorkSpaces provides us with total control over our employee/consultant workstations.
We can spin up new workstations in minutes.

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Verified User

Employee in Information Technology

Biotechnology Company, 51-200 employees

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VMware Player is easy to use.
VMware Player supports a wide variety operating systems.
Unity mode makes it easy for the end user to utilize needed legacy applications while maintaining their familiar Host OS desktop. It's seamless to the point where the end user doesn't know they're running applications from a VM.

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Jeremy Kendzierski

Senior Systems Administrator

MNX Global LogisticsPackage/Freight Delivery, 201-500 employees

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Cons

At the moment, I have no complaints about this service. I've used other VM software for years, and this is by far the simplest and easiest I've tried.

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Verified User

Employee in Information Technology

Biotechnology Company, 51-200 employees

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Would be nice to use more VMs at once, but this is basically trial software, so it's hard to fault them.

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IT Engineer

Fluid IT ServicesInformation Technology and Services, 11-50 employees

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Likelihood to Renew

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

VMware Workstation Player 8.0

Based on 1 answer

I give a rating of 8 because VMware Player has its use cases, for example it requires the host OS to be logged in, and the VMware Player application to be opened and the Guest VM started. Only one VM can run at a time.I'd give a 9/10 to VMware Workstation because you can run shared VMs at startup without logging in or starting the workstation application.and i'd give ESX a 10/10 because ESX is the leader in enterprise visualization.

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Jeremy Kendzierski

Senior Systems Administrator

MNX Global LogisticsPackage/Freight Delivery, 201-500 employees

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Usability

No score

No answers yet

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VMware Workstation Player 8.0

Based on 2 answers

Great product. Its user-friendly GUI and overall performance are really the biggest strength of this tool. The reason why I don't give a higher note is because of the price. Although it's decent (starting at around $200 for a license), there is a good free alternative in VirtualBox. Not everyone values friendly GUI as something worth paying for. For people that are more tech-savvy, I would recommend looking into VirtualBox as they might actually like the model better (with downloadable add-ons and packages).

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Verified User

Consultant in Information Technology

Banking Company, 10,001+ employees

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Performance

No score

No answers yet

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VMware Workstation Player 9.0

Based on 1 answer

Integration isn't really relevant here but I see this question more as an OS compatibility for the VM. They state that they support over 200 different OS versions. I honestly have never tried anything else other than Ubuntu and Windows myself but nonetheless, this is impressive. I have not hit any limitation in my use of this software in terms of limitation or conflicts with other software.

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Verified User

Consultant in Information Technology

Banking Company, 10,001+ employees

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Support Rating

Amazon WorkSpaces (VDI) 9.0

Based on 1 answer

AWS support in general is pretty good, and WorkSpaces is no exception. We haven't had too much need for support but on the occasion we have, they've been quick to respond and helpful. Our issues have been resolved rapidly.

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Verified User

Employee in Information Technology

Biotechnology Company, 51-200 employees

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VMware Workstation Player 9.0

Based on 1 answer

VMware support is very knowledgeable on their products, eveything from AirWatch to ESX clusters. VMware is easy to contact, they stay in touch and see the issue through to the end and a final resolution. They keep you up to date on your issue status and don't leave you waiting for answers.

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Jeremy Kendzierski

Senior Systems Administrator

MNX Global LogisticsPackage/Freight Delivery, 201-500 employees

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Implementation Rating

No score

No answers yet

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VMware Workstation Player 10.0

Based on 1 answer

Installing the application was easily completed on the twenty computers that needed VMware Player. Once those 20 users were configured we copied our virtual machine template to the 20 users and turned on their newly provisioned virtual machines. We then configured unity mode so the user could easily work from within the virtual machine from their host desktop.

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Jeremy Kendzierski

Senior Systems Administrator

MNX Global LogisticsPackage/Freight Delivery, 201-500 employees

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Alternatives Considered

Amazon WorkSpaces has been a simpler experience for me. I've used multiple versions of VMware (hosted and installed) and each has their positives and negatives. Amazon WorkSpaces just works. I've never had performance issues, persistence issues, or really any issues with it.

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Verified User

Employee in Information Technology

Biotechnology Company, 51-200 employees

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Both free, VMware supports USB 3.0 while VirtualBox does not. VMware supports nested hardware-assisted virtualization while VirtualBox does not.

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Fareed Abolhassani

Information Technology Manager

ritInformation Technology and Services, 51-200 employees

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Return on Investment

Managing VMs is easier than before.
AWS pricing is quite competitive.

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Verified User

Employee in Information Technology

Biotechnology Company, 51-200 employees

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For me the benefit was really high as I could use a solution that had a free educational version with VMware player. Without it, I would've needed to buy the SAS software itself which would have cost a few thousand dollars.
Although I have no details about the ROI, I know that software testing teams that use the software are saving a lot of money buy using virtual machines. It is obviously a great saving both in physical machine count but also in workstation lab sizes.

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Verified User

Consultant in Information Technology

Banking Company, 10,001+ employees

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Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

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Free/Freemium Version

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Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Amazon WorkSpaces (VDI) Editions & Modules

Edition

Starting Price	$21.00¹
Maximum Price	$140.00¹

Per Month

Additional Pricing Details

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General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

VMware Workstation Player Editions & Modules

—

Additional Pricing Details

—

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