2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ Report for Desktop as a Service

Vendor Strengths and Cautions

Inclusion & Exclusion Criteria

The inclusion criteria have changed from 2024, when vendors could qualify with 100,000 CPU-enabled virtual desktops. This number increased to 150,000 for 2025. In 2024 the inclusion criteria required 25,000 virtual machines under management, which increased to 30,000 in 2025. Gartner expects these criteria to rise in future years.

To qualify, vendors met the following criteria:

Market participation: Must sell desktop as a service aligning to the market definition.

Market traction: DaaS offering must meet the following criteria:

• Vendor has been active in the virtual desktop infrastructure, server-based computing or desktop as a service market(s) before 1 April 2025
• DaaS offering(s) assessed have been generally available on or
• before 1 April 2025
• 150,000 monthly active users of their DaaS offerings on 1 April 2025
• 30,000 virtual machines under management on 1 April 2025 The user and virtual machine volumes must relate to use by organizations; consumer use does not count for inclusion

Regions: DaaS must be available in at least two regions. The regions considered in this Magic Quadrant are:

• North America
  • For the scope of this research, we defined North America as the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
• Europe
  • For the scope of this research, we defined Europe as the sum of Western and Eastern Europe.
  • Gartner defines Western Europe as including the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.K. We define Eastern Europe as including the following countries: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Türkiye, and Ukraine.
• Asia (excluding China [Region] but including the Pacific)
  • For the scope of this research, we included Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam
• China [Region]
  • The Chinese mainland
  • Hong Kong
  • Taiwan
• Latin America
  • For the scope of this research, we included Brazil, Chile and Argentina
• Middle East and Africa

Support services must be available in each of the regions that the vendor operates within for coverage during daytime working hours (approximately 8:00am to 5:00pm) in at least one time zone per region.

Technical capabilities relevant to Gartner clients: Features assessed must be generally available on or before 1 April 2025:

Vendors offering DaaS can be in any or all the following configurations:

• Self-assembled DaaS: Self-assembled DaaS services are where the client selects a cloud-based virtualization broker and integrates this with a customer-defined infrastructure as a service.
• Vendor-assembled DaaS: Vendor-assembled services incorporate a cloud-based virtualization broker integrated with a cloud infrastructure. The vendor is responsible for orchestration of all infrastructure services upon which the virtual desktops operate.
• Vendor-managed DaaS: Vendor-managed DaaS services are where the vendor provides a virtualization platform, cloud infrastructure, and the management of virtual desktops. Note: While system integrators provide these offerings, their services are not covered here. They are covered by the outsourced managed workplace services Magic Quadrant.

Vendors must include the following services to qualify:

• Self-assembled DaaS services are where the client selects a cloud-based virtualization broker and integrates this with a customer-defined infrastructure as a service.
• Vendor-assembled services incorporate a cloud-based virtualization broker integrated with a cloud infrastructure. The vendor is responsible for orchestration of all infrastructure services upon which the virtual desktops operate.
• Vendor-managed DaaS services are where the vendor provides a virtualization platform, cloud infrastructure, and the management of virtual desktops. Note: While system integrators provide these offerings, their services are not covered here. They are covered by the outsourced managed workplace services Magic Quadrant.

Vendors must include the following services to qualify:

• Provide a managed control plane for the solution as part of the base license or usage fees.
• Any additional management software required to operate the virtual desktop environment.
• Maintenance, updates and upgrades to all cloud infrastructure and management software required to operate the DaaS platform.
• Unique intellectual property (IP) that is critical to DaaS operations and/or user experience. A vendor that solely integrates and orchestrates other vendors’ platforms or services would not qualify.
• A remote desktop protocol to provide secure access from an external user’s device to the DaaS virtual machines.

Provide a desktop experience that can include:

• A hosted Windows or Linux server operating system that allows multiple sessions per server delivering an individual desktop experience to each user
• A hosted Windows or Linux server operating system that allows a single session per server delivering a desktop experience to users
• A hosted Windows or Linux desktop client operating system that allows a single session per operating system virtual machine
• A hosted Windows or Linux desktop client operating system that allows multiple sessions per operating system virtual machine to deliver individual experiences to each user
• Persistent or nonpersistent VMs that are assigned to an individual or within a pool

Vendors will not qualify if they only provide these services, though these additional services may be provided:

• Hosted Windows or Linux application virtualization where the application remains on the DaaS infrastructure and is accessed via the remote desktop protocol
• Hosted macOS services
• Unified workspaces
• Local hypervisors
• Managed services Endpoint security and posture checking, which may optionally include workspace biometric assessments
• Additional value-added features from either their own portfolio of products or thirdparty products

Customer Interest Index: As more than 20 vendors qualified for this Magic Quadrant, Gartner’s Customer Interest Index was used to identify the top 20 vendors in terms of customer interest. Data inputs used to calculate DaaS customer interest include a balanced set of measures, such as:

• Gartner customer search, inquiry volume
• and trend data Volume of job listings specifying experience with the DaaS offering as a job requirement on job placement boards (e.g., LinkedIn, Indeed) and/or on a range of employment websites in the U.S., Europe, and the China region
• Frequency of mentions as a competitor to other DaaS vendors within reviews on the Gartner Peer Insights forum from March 2024 through April 2025
• Social media presence and engagements

Evaluation Criteria

Ability to Execute

Gartner analysts evaluate vendors on the viability of their DaaS offerings; their effectiveness in the market; and their growth, client retention and reputation.

Product: This criterion looks at the breadth and depth of the vendor’s DaaS offerings, whether its capabilities match what is required by enterprise clients, and its track record on delivering its roadmap.

Overall viability: This criterion includes an assessment of the organization’s overall financial health, as well as the financial and practical success of the business unit. It considers the likelihood of the organization to continue to offer and invest in the product, as well as the product’s position in the vendor’s current portfolio. Consideration is given to the sustainability of investment/ownership structure, profitability, leadership stability, organizational and partner scalability, and year-over-year product revenue growth.

Sales execution: This criterion looks at the vendor’s capabilities in all presales activities and the structure that supports them. This includes deal management, pricing and negotiation, presales support, and the overall effectiveness of the sales channel. Consideration is given to the clarity and competitiveness of the vendor’s packaging and pricing model, sustainability of new business growth, and ability to replace competitors.

Market responsiveness: This criterion looks at a vendor’s ability to respond, change direction, be flexible and achieve competitive success as opportunities develop, competitors act, customer needs evolve and market dynamics change. This criterion also considers tenure in the market, product vision, value proposition and quality of the vendor’s roadmap. Marketing execution: This criterion looks at the clarity, quality, creativity and efficacy of programs designed to deliver the vendor’s message in order to influence the market, promote the brand, increase awareness of products and establish a positive identity in the minds of customers. This mind share can be driven by a combination of publicity, promotional activity, thought leadership, social media, referrals and sales activities. Consideration is given to a vendor’s use of various channels and creation of thoughtleading content, as well as overall market awareness of the vendor’s DaaS offerings.

Customer experience: This criterion covers the products, services and/or programs that enable customers to achieve anticipated results with the products evaluated. Specifically, this includes quality buyer interactions, technical support and account support. This may also include ancillary tools, customer success programs, availability of user groups, service-level agreements and so on. Consideration is given to general customer feedback and related case studies.

Operations: This criterion looks at the ability of the vendor to meet goals and commitments. Factors include the quality of the organizational structure, skills, experiences, programs, systems and other vehicles that enable the organization to efficiently operate and effectively scale.

Criteria for product, overall viability, and sales execution/pricing are key drivers for a successful, high-scale product. These evaluation criteria are high to ensure we can highlight the vendors most viable to clients globally.

Market responsiveness and customer experience represent the maturing nature of the DaaS market, customer success and experience-focused functionality. Market responsiveness was rated high in 2024 and has decreased to medium in 2025 due to fewer significant shifts in market direction as the industry matures.

Marketing execution focuses on customer awareness. Many DaaS offerings with poor awareness remain viable offerings.

The Ability to Execute criteria used in this Magic Quadrant are listed in Table 1. For additional details on each criterion, see the Evaluation Criteria Definitions section.

Table 1: Ability to Execute Evaluation Criteria

Completeness of Vision

Gartner analysts evaluate vendors on their ability to understand current market opportunities and to create and articulate their vision for future market direction, innovation, customer requirements and competitive forces. Ultimately, vendors are rated on their vision for the future and on how well that maps to Gartner’s position.

Market understanding: This criterion considers a vendor’s ability to understand customer needs and translate them into products. Vendors that show a clear vision of their market listen, understand customer demands, and can shape or enhance market changes. Consideration is given to a vendor’s unique value to the market, understanding of external market forces, and alignment with customer objectives and use cases.

Marketing strategy: This criterion looks for clear, differentiated messaging consistently communicated internally and externalized through social media, advertising, customer programs and positioning statements. Consideration is given to overall ability to communicate a unique value proposition, effectively use various marketing channels and address needs of target buyer personas.

Sales strategy: This criterion considers whether the vendor has a sound strategy for selling that uses the appropriate networks, including direct and indirect sales, marketing, service, communication, and partners that extend the scope and depth of market reach, expertise, technologies and its customer base. Consideration is given to pricing and bundling, sales channels, and sales partnership strategies.

Product strategy: This criterion evaluates whether a vendor’s approach to product development and delivery emphasizes market differentiation, functionality, methodology and features that cover current and future requirements. Consideration is given to the vendor’s vision to deliver expanded capabilities and a consistent product release cadence, as well as its ability to ensure that its roadmap addresses common customer needs and use cases.

Business model: This criterion looks at the design, logic and execution of the vendor’s business proposition to achieve continued success. Consideration is given to the vendor’s business, value proposition and unique capabilities (for example, patents, people, technology and data).

Vertical industry strategy: This criterion considers a vendor’s strategy to direct resources, skills and products to meet the specific needs of individual market segments, including verticals. Additional consideration is given to the most common industries among customers, specific target industries and compliance with common industry regulations or certifications.

Innovation: This criterion looks at direct, related, complementary and synergistic layouts of resources, expertise or capital for investment, consolidation, defensive or preemptive purposes. Consideration is given to the strength of the DaaS offering roadmap.

Geographic strategy: This criterion looks at the provider’s strategy to direct resources, skills and offerings to meet the specific needs of geographies outside its “home” or native geography — either directly or through partners, channels and subsidiaries — as appropriate for that geography and market. Additional consideration is given to the number of employees allocated to different regions, tailoring of go-to-market or product strategy to address regional differences, and the depth and scope of partners available in countries with existing and new customers.

Criteria for market understanding, sales strategy, offering (product) strategy, business model, innovation, and geographic strategy have the most influence on whether a client will purchase the DaaS offering and its future health. The criteria weighting for geographic strategy increased from medium in 2024 to high in 2025 because several new vendors are qualifying that have distinct market focus and penetration in China and Asia, compared with established vendors with coverage for the largest spending regions of North America and Europe.

Criteria for vertical/industry strategy highlight DaaS is adopted by a broad set of verticals.

Criteria for marketing strategy emphasize how vendors plan to build awareness of their offering and increase mind share among prospects and clients.

The Completeness of Vision criteria used in this Magic Quadrant are listed in Table 2. For additional details on each criterion, see the Evaluation Criteria Definitions section.

Table 2: Completeness of Vision Evaluation Criteria

Quadrant Descriptions

Leaders
Leaders exhibit strong execution and vision scores and have proven their success in the market by gaining market share. Leaders have successfully shown they can attract clients new to desktop virtualization, as well as those migrating from on-premises VDI solutions. They address a broad range of use cases and have scale across multiple regions. They bring innovation to their offerings and have significant investment in their DaaS capabilities.

Challengers
Challengers exhibit a strong set of technologies, marketing and sales execution, and intellectual property, as also exhibited by Leaders, but they tailor solutions to specific market segments, regions or use cases. They may be satisfied with serving their current customer base or market, or they may lack the strategic support, direction or desire to compete in the Leaders quadrant.

Visionaries
Visionaries exhibit strong capabilities in their current offerings and a complete set of functionalities to address common use cases. However, the vendor’s size, size of its installed base, platform breadth or integration points make it appropriate for some, but not all, buyers. Characteristics of visionaries in this Magic Quadrant include a broad range of DaaS capabilities that have the opportunity to scale, are applicable to all industry verticals and have broad global reach.

Niche Players
Niche Players exhibit leadership in specific use cases, market segments or verticals. However, their offerings fail to provide a breadth of features that make them relevant to all buyers, regardless of vertical, geographic market or use case. Characteristics observed in Niche Players for this Magic Quadrant include high-performance workloads, rich graphics enabled by GPUs, focus on specific regions, and focus on specific industry verticals and capabilities that, while available for sale as DaaS offerings, are commonly deployed by others to enable white-label DaaS offerings. 

Context

The goal of any Magic Quadrant is to provide a level view of comparable products (size, capability and corporate structure) to address the demands of a wide variety of buyers. Not every organization’s requirements are identical. We encourage clients to review the accompanying Critical Capabilities for Desktop as a Service to evaluate use cases and functional requirements. Use this research to align industry expertise, vision, technology and cost requirements to the right vendor, regardless of the vendor’s quadrant.