Onscryn vs
Azure Virtual Desktop.
Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) is Microsoft's service for delivering Windows desktops and apps from Azure. Onscryn streams Windows apps to a browser from hosts you control. They overlap, but they are built around different starting points: AVD around the Microsoft cloud and its licensing, Onscryn around a browser link and the controls wrapped around it.
| Onscryn | Azure Virtual Desktop | |
|---|---|---|
| What you publish | A single app or a full desktop (plan-dependent) | Published RemoteApps or full desktops |
| Where it runs | Windows hosts you enroll, in your network or a cloud you choose | Azure session hosts, in your Azure subscription |
| User access | A link in a browser tab, nothing installed | Remote Desktop clients, and a web client |
| Licensing, per Microsoft's documentation | Windows and your own software still need licences. We go through it with you | An eligible licence per user (for example Microsoft 365 E3/E5, Windows Enterprise, or RDS CALs for Windows Server hosts) |
| Contractors | Roles, viewer-only sharing, SSO | Contractors count as internal users and need an eligible licence |
| Data controls | Clipboard and file policy at the broker, watermark, recording | Configured through Azure and Microsoft tooling. Check their documentation for specifics |
| Automation | UI-tree workflows and a Copilot (preview) built in | Not part of the service. Check their documentation |
| Infrastructure billed | You run the hosts | VMs, storage and other Azure services are billed separately from access |
Choose Azure Virtual Desktop if
- Your estate is already in Azure and Microsoft 365, and you want to reuse those licences and identity.
- You need full managed desktops at scale, with Microsoft's tooling for images and profiles.
- Your IT team is comfortable running Azure infrastructure.
Choose Onscryn if
- You want people to open a link in a browser, with nothing to install.
- You publish one or a few Windows apps rather than desktops for everyone.
- You want clipboard and file policy, a watermark, recording and automation in one product.
- You want your own branding and domain on the front door.
Licensing, in plain terms
Microsoft's documentation says AVD needs an eligible licence for each user who accesses it, such as Microsoft 365 E3 or E5, Windows Enterprise, or an RDS Client Access Licence with Software Assurance when the session hosts run Windows Server. For external commercial use there is separate per-user access pricing, billed through an Azure subscription on top of the infrastructure charges.
Onscryn does not remove Windows licensing either. Hosting Windows for users still carries obligations that depend on your Microsoft agreements. We would rather work through that with you than pretend otherwise.
Can they work together?
They are not mutually exclusive. Onscryn runs on Windows hosts you enroll, so the host can be a machine in your own network or a virtual machine in a cloud of your choice. Many teams will use a full desktop service for some people and per-app browser access for others.
Sources, reviewed October 2026
We make Onscryn. Vendors change products and terms, so check their documentation before you decide. Spot something out of date? Tell us at [email protected].
Questions.
For per-app access from a browser, it can be. For managed full desktops at scale inside Azure, AVD may be the better fit. It depends on what your people open.
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