Azure Virtual Desktop & Nerdio Alternative on Oracle Cloud
Replace AVD + Nerdio with Thinfinity on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. No stacked licensing fees. No Azure egress charges. No scripting.
Join over 5,000 leading companies that trust Cybele Software
Up to 50%
Lower TCO vs. AVD + Nerdio on Azure
$0
Nerdio-style management fee included in Thinfinity
10 TB/mo
Free OCI egress vs. Azure's ~$0.087/GB after 5 GB
Azure VDI looks affordable...
until you add everything it actually needs
AVD's control plane is free with Microsoft 365, but the infrastructure required to run it is not. Each layer you add, including FSLogix, Nerdio, NAT Gateway, and monitoring, compounds your monthly bill and your IT team's workload.
Consumption drift
Azure VMs run 24/7 unless you build autoscaling scripts manually or pay Nerdio. Idle session hosts silently drain your budget every night and weekend.
Nerdio is a required add-on
AVD's native tools have no real autoscaling, no image lifecycle management, and no real-time helpdesk monitoring. Nerdio adds $10–12 per user per month to fix this.
Complexity never goes away
FSLogix profile containers, host pool configuration, Azure Firewall or NAT Gateway (mandatory since Sept 2025), Intune, and Entra ID all require separate expertise and management.
Azure egress charges
Azure charges ~$0.087/GB for outbound data after only 5 GB free per month. For 500 users with active sessions, egress alone can add $5–15 per user monthly.
Named-user licensing penalty
You pay for every user who connects during the month — even once. Contractors, seasonal staff, and occasional users generate full monthly charges.
Azure lock-in, one hyperscaler
AVD runs only on Azure. Moving workloads, optimizing for a different cloud, or running hybrid deployments requires rebuilding your entire VDI stack.
Everything AVD + Nerdio does. Included, not stacked
Thinfinity Workspace on Oracle Cloud delivers full VDI, autoscaling, image management, ZTNA, session monitoring, and PAM from a single platform. No Nerdio. No FSLogix workarounds. No Azure dependency.
Cloud Manager included
Automated provisioning, autoscaling, golden image management, and lifecycle policies built into Thinfinity. No Nerdio license, no separate SaaS fee, no scripting required.
Concurrent-session licensing
Pay only for peak simultaneous users, not everyone who connected this month. An org with 1,000 users and 60% peak utilization needs 600 licenses, not 1,000.
ZTNA built in, no Azure VPN
Native Zero Trust gateway with MFA, SAML/OAuth/OIDC, and RBAC. No Azure Firewall, no NAT Gateway, no VPN requirement. The firewall stays fully closed.
Clientless HTML5 access
Users connect from any browser on any device, Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android. No RD client, no AVD client install, no version management overhead.
Real-time monitoring & RPAM
Session recording, real-time helpdesk visibility, keystroke logging, and PAM built in. No Azure Monitor lag, no Citrix Director equivalent needed.
Cloud-agnostic, not Azure-only
Deploy on OCI, Azure, AWS, IONOS, on-premises, or hybrid. Change cloud providers without rebuilding VDI. OCI's economics make it the default best choice.
OCI costs up to 50–75% less than Azure
before you even add Nerdio
Compute
- D-series standard VMs
- ~$0.19–0.38/vCPU-hour
Oracle pricing is consistent across all regions. Azure charges up to 60% more for São Paulo, Frankfurt, and other non-US regions.
Block Storage
- Managed disk (P-series)
- ~$0.17–0.25/GB/month
OCI block storage offers 1.5× the IOPS of equivalent Azure disks at 81% lower cost for a 500 GB volume.
Data Egress
- ~$0.087/GB after 5 GB free
- 100 TB = ~$8,900/month
For 500 VDI users with moderate session activity, Azure egress can add $5–15 per user monthly. OCI's 10 TB free tier covers most mid-market deployments entirely.
AVD + Nerdio vs. Thinfinity on OCI
AVD + Nerdio (On Azure)
Thinfinity on OCI
Run VDI without the Azure stack overhead
Replace Azure Virtual Desktop + Nerdio Manager + Azure Bastion + VPN or ADC with a single platform.
User access
User Device
Browser / native client Any OS. No client install
Secure Entry
Thinfinity Gateway
Reverse proxy - ZTNA TLS 1.3 - Outbound-only
Identity & access
Thinfinity Broker
MFA - SAML - OAuth OCI IDCS - Okta - Azure AD
Management plane
Cloud Manager
Autoscale - Provisioning Image lifecycle - Monitoring
Compute layer
OCI Compute
KVM native - GPU shapes Autoscale VM pools
Everything you need. Built in.
Automated provisioning
Deploy desktop pools from golden templates in minutes. VM creation, domain join, profile configuration, fully automated. No scripts.
Policy-driven autoscaling
Desktops spin up before business hours and shut down when idle, based on demand thresholds, not manual schedules. Cost savings are automatic.
Golden image management
Update and roll out new OS images across all host pools with one operation. Instant clone support. No PowerShell pipelines required.
Real-time monitoring
Live session visibility, user connection status, resource utilization, and helpdesk delegation, all in one console with no 15 minute lag.
Session recording & audit
Full session capture and keystroke logging for compliance. RPAM manages privileged third-party access. No separate product required.
Multi-cloud management
Manage OCI, Azure, AWS, and on-premises VMs from one dashboard. Migrate between clouds without rebuilding your VDI architecture.
Built for organizations leaving Azure VDI behind
Thinfinity on OCI is the right move for organizations that need predictable costs, simpler management, and the freedom to deploy beyond a single hyperscaler.
Organizations with unpredictable Azure bills
Teams drowning in AVD scripting & complexity
Enterprises running Oracle workloads on OCI
MSPs needing margin-positive DaaS
Questions we hear most from teams evaluating AVD + Nerdio alternatives
AVD's native tools have no real autoscaling, no image lifecycle management, and Azure Monitor lags 15 to 20 minutes for session visibility. Nerdio fills those gaps, but adds $10 to $12 per user per month on top of your Azure infrastructure bill. Thinfinity includes all of that in a single platform fee.