Introduction

We’ve all heard that some products become “obsolete as soon as you drive off the lot”—but nothing encapsulates that sentiment like computer hardware, which can grow out of date faster than most other products thanks to the pace of technology and modern workplace demands.

Unfortunately for companies of all sizes, this has real implications on organizational efficiency: 

• Employees are 25 percent less productive due to slow computer hardware.
• 20 percent of most IT groups’ time is now spent maintaining outdated hardware.
• Nearly 30 percent of IT budgets go toward maintaining and securing older devices.¹ 

As organizations feel pressure to scale compute resources quickly while providing the best user experience at the lowest cost across multiple regions, the need to implement cloud desktop-as-a-service (DaaS)/virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) instead of physical desktops has become acute.

However, the DaaS/VDI business has traditionally been dominated by legacy companies such as VMware. While VMware was considered cutting edge decades ago, such legacy software comes with a host of problems including high costs, outdated technology, poor performance, frustrated users, and a significant IT burden to configure and maintain. 

This whitepaper aims to compare Softdrive’s next-generation cloud DaaS to VMware’s virtual desktop solution (now known as Omnissa Horizon) across several comparables, including performance, cost, and user experience. 

Company Backgrounds 

Softdrive

Softdrive unlocks the potential of high-performance computing for all end users, anywhere in the world, on any device. Unlike legacy virtual desktop providers, Softdrive prioritizes the end-user experience—especially among users with high-performance graphical or other end-user computing (EUC) needs who need a low latency solution able to handle complex applications and big datasets. 

Leveraging partnerships with Oracle and NVIDIA, Softdrive offers a high-performance and reliable virtual DaaS platform built on new, high-performance technology: Softvirt cloud virtualization, Softnet management plane, and Softstream remote desktop software.

Unlike companies like VMware, Softdrive leverages its own virtualization stack—Softvirt—to enable direct GPU access, easier scalability, and more efficient resource management.² 

VMware

VMware is a legacy virtualization company that has traditionally offered DaaS/VDI services. It has been acquired and re-acquired several times, from its purchase by EMC in 2004 to its acquisition by Broadcom in November 2023. 

Though it was a pioneer in on-premises desktop virtualization, the VMware experience has always left something to be desired—from complex deployments that often require significant IT burden and expensive consultants, to high prices and slow, laggy performance driven by VMware vendor lock-in and outdated legacy technology.  

After being acquired by Broadcom, VMware sold its EUC division to KKR in 2024, where the same DaaS/VDI technology traditionally deployed by VMware (Horizon) has now been rebranded as Omnissa Horizon.³

Performance Comparison

Virtual work—especially graphics-or data-heavy virtual work requiring significant computing and graphics power—needs high-speed streaming performance to keep up with the needs of modern users. That’s why Softdrive’s solution performs up to 5X faster than any other remote desktop protocol on the market.

To demonstrate, Softdrive conducted performance benchmark testing to measure the end-to-end latency of remote desktop applications provided by Softdrive and VMware. The latency test included components such as encode, decode, rendering, local/remote monitor refresh rate, and input injection (such as mouse clicks or keystrokes).

The test results confirmed what we see in the field: that VMware consistently falls short vs. Softdrive when running resource-intensive applications.

Softstream performed far better and provided the lowest stream latency overhead compared to VMware in our performance benchmarking, where Softdrive achieved latency of 15 milliseconds vs. 107 milliseconds for VMware.  

The test was performed on an MT44 Mobile Thin Client (8GB RAM, 4 Core CPU, AMD Radeon Vega 6 GPU).⁴ 

User Experience

A superior user experience isn’t just about speed: Softdrive users also enjoy a significant decrease in software crashes, particularly when using complex and data-intensive applications, compared to VMware. 

That’s alongside performance boosts such as faster graphics rendering thanks to Softdrive’s direct GPU access and direct hardware resource management. 

Softdrive’s superior user experience also provides:

• Better mobility and convenience, thanks to the ability to access Softdrive from lighter devices compared to the heavier equipment required with VMware.
• Better remote performance, even in areas with low connectivity or slower internet speeds.
• Faster data access and file transfers thanks to data that’s co-located alongside compute resources to ensure the fastest read-write times, along with use of the UDP data transfer protocol. 
  
  • Softdrive’s fast upload and download speeds can account for more than $800,000 in increased productivity for a 100-person team.

While VMware’s virtual desktop offerings can provide some level of remote access, file transfer capabilities, and mobility, where it falls flat for users (as shown in our performance testing above) is around performance—especially when running complex, resource-intensive applications.⁵

Deployment and Management

VMware is also slower than Softdrive to set up and use. Platforms such as VMware take months to pilot and deploy to production, and usually require expensive third-party consultants to facilitate a successful deployment—both of which increase costs and time to value for organizations that need to hit the ground running as fast as possible. 

• Softdrive, on the other hand, allows organizations to provision, deploy, and manage hundreds of virtual desktops for 80 percent less time overhead than VMware. 
• Softdrive is so simple to set up and use that organizations can start a pilot and be production ready in less than a week, with no expensive consultants or overly time-consuming implementations required. 
• Softdrive deployments can be provisioned in either public clouds or on-premises data centers. 

Like VMware, Softdrive can be securely deployed on practically any device—including Windows, Macs, Chromebooks, iOS, and Android. Softdrive also offers intuitive and time-saving centralized cloud desktop management across hundreds of global users, and can provide conditional access to other user types such as contractors or interns. 

Feature Set Analysis

Softdrive offers a range of virtual desktop configurations for both CPU and GPU heavy use cases, from ultra-light call center work to graphics and data-heavy 4D applications. While Softdrive and VMware DaaS/VDI offer similar capabilities and features, certain elements of Softdrive’s feature set make it stand out:

• Softdrive can support up to eight monitors, while VMware can only handle up to six (with more stringent virtual desktop configuration requirements).
• VMware uses the TCP protocol for data transfer, which sacrifices transfer speeds. 
• Softdrive easily accommodates frame rates of 60 FPS-plus; VMware frame rates are capped at 30 FPS (additional FPS rates require Windows Registry configuration).
• Softdrive supports a wider array of external devices, such as specialty microphones and webcams. 
• Softdrive supports bitrates of up to 30 Mbps; VMware’s default max bitrate is 1 Mbps.

Cost Analysis

Softdrive employs a suite of affordable, flat-rate subscriptions to deploy Windows or Linux PCs in the cloud.¹⁹ 

Meanwhile, the most recent pricing available for a subscription to utilize VMware’s Horizon DaaS/VDI platform range from:

• VMware Horizon Enterprise 3-year license with 100 named users: $29,207.99.

• A 1-year VMware license with 100 named users: $11,063.99.²⁰ 

• A 1-year subscription to Omnissa Horizon Apps: $4,989.49.²¹ 

Analyses by Softdrive show that Softdrive is 2x less expensive to set up and use than AWS or Azure virtual desktops, and in many cases costs up to 10x less than a similar VMware deployment. 

Case Study: Bowen Engineering

Bowen Engineering recently chose Softdrive over VMware because the company needed to deploy resource-intensive applications, models, and designs across several remote desktops. Bowen Engineering needed a low-latency, performant desktop solution capable of handling its intensive software requirement without having to buy expensive, high-end hardware.

• The company enjoyed a productivity gain of 3,000 minutes per employee/year thanks to 3Gbps download and upload speeds via Softdrive.
• The fully provisioned, deployed, and managed solution cost 10x less than a similar VMware deployment. 

Softdrive managed to provide the computational power required by Bowen Engineering while saving costs and improving flexibility and mobility compared to VMware. 

Conclusion

This whitepaper compared Softdrive cloud DaaS to VMware’s virtual desktop solution across several key comparables, including performance, cost and user experience. 

While both VMware and Softdrive can provide centrally managed virtual desktops, it’s clear that Softdrive is the best choice for organizations that value high performance, cost-effectiveness, operational and management efficiency, and a second-to-none user experience. 

• Softdrive’s performance and latency is superior to VMware: Softdrive achieved latency of 15 milliseconds vs. 107 milliseconds for VMware in our benchmark performance testing.  
• Softdrive’s solution performs up to 5X faster than any other remote desktop protocol on the market.
• Softdrive is much faster and more affordable to provision, setup, and use than VMware—up to 10x less expensive than VMware, with no need for third-party consultants.
• Organizations can provision, deploy, and manage Softdrive virtual desktops in 80 percent less time than VMware, with Softdrive deployments typically production-ready in less than a week with no outside consultants. 

When Softdrive’s other user and administrative benefits are taken into account, it’s clear that Softdrive is a superior option to VMware for deploying multiple remote desktops across various regions. 

Works Cited

1) Softdrive. “Softdrive + Oracle,” 2025.

2) Softdrive. “Cloud Virtualization,” 2025. https://www.softdrive.co/solutions/cloud-virtualization

3) CRN. “KKR Announces $4B Deal For VMware’s End-User Computing Business,” 2024. https://www.crn.com/news/virtualization/2024/kkr-offers-4-billion-for-vmware-euc

4) Softstream. “Softstream Comparison Benchmark,” 2025. https://www.softdrive.co/white-papers/softstream-comparison-benchmark

5) Softdrive. “Why Bowen Engineering Chose Softdrive Over VMware,” 2025. https://www.softdrive.co/case-studies/bowen-engineering-construction

6) Softdrive. “How it Works,” 2025, https://www.softdrive.co/solutions/how-it-works

7) Omnissa. “Using Single Sign On,” 2025. https://docs.omnissa.com/bundle/HorizonOverviewDeployment/page/UsingSingleSign-OnforLoggingIn.html

8) Omnissa. “Choosing a User Authentication Method,” 2025. https://docs.omnissa.com/bundle/HorizonOverviewDeployment/page/ChoosingaUserAuthenticationMethodforaHorizonEnvironment.html

9) Omnissa. “Enabling SAML 2.0 Authentication,” 2025. https://techzone.omnissa.com/resource/enabling-saml-20-authentication-horizon-unified-access-gateway-and-okta

10) Omnissa. “Supported Multiple Monitor Configurations,” 2025. https://docs.omnissa.com/bundle/HorizonClient-WindowsGuideV2303/page/SupportedMultipleMonitorConfigurations.html

11) Omnissa. “Configuring Real-Time Audio-Video,” 2025. https://docs.omnissa.com/bundle/Horizon-Remote-Desktop-FeaturesV2406/page/ConfiguringReal-TimeAudio-Video.html

12)  Softdrive. “The History of Virtual Desktop Infrastructure,” 2025. https://www.softdrive.co/blog/the-history-of-virtual-desktop-infrastructure

13) Omnissa. “Optimizing Blast Extreme,” 2025. https://techzone.omnissa.com/resource/omnissa-blast-extreme-optimization-guide#optimizing-blast-extreme

14) Omnissa. “Omnissa Horizon Blast Policy Settings,” 2025.
https://docs.omnissa.com/bundle/Horizon-Remote-Desktop-FeaturesV2406/page/BlastPolicySettings.html

15) Softdrive. “Why does my Softdrive screen seem blurry?” 2025.
https://support.softdrive.co/support/solutions/articles/154000154335-why-does-my-softdrive-screen-seem-blurry-

16) Omnissa. “Omnissa Horizon Blast Policy Settings,” 2025.
https://docs.omnissa.com/bundle/Horizon-Remote-Desktop-FeaturesV2406/page/BlastPolicySettings.html

17) Omnissa. “Horizon Blast Extreme Display Protocol,” 2025.
https://techzone.omnissa.com/resource/omnissa-horizon-blast-extreme-display-protocol

18) Omnissa. “Next-Gen Security Overview,” 2025.
https://techzone.omnissa.com/resource/horizon-cloud-service-%E2%80%93-next-gen-security-overview

19) Softdrive. “Why Bowen Engineering Chose Softdrive Over VMware,” 2025. https://www.softdrive.co/case-studies/bowen-engineering-construction

20) Insight.com. “VMware Horizon Enterprise.” https://www.insight.com/en_US/shop/product/VMW-HZET-100N-1YR/cisco%20systems/VMW-HZET-100N-1YR/VMware-Horizon-Enterprise-v-7-license-+-1-Year-Subscription-and-Support-100-named-users/

21) CDWG.com. “Omnissa Horizon Apps Universal Subscription,” 2025. https://www.cdwg.com/product/omnissa-horizon-apps-universal-subscription-core-12-month/6514295