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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Parallels Desktop for Mac

    Score9.8 out of 10
    N/AParallels® Desktop for Mac is used to run Windows on Intel or Apple silicon. Users can switch between Mac and Windows applications, while retaining the macOS appearance, or use the familiar Windows desktop aesthetic.

    $99.99

    per year

    Pricing
    Parallels Desktop for Mac
    Editions & Modules
    Parallels Desktop Standard Edition
    $99.99
    per year
    Mac App Store
    $99.99
    per year
    Parallels Desktop Pro Edition
    $119.99
    per year
    Parallels Desktop Business Edition
    $149.99
    per year
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Parallels Desktop for Mac
    Free Trial
    Yes
    Free/Freemium Version
    No
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    No
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Parallels Desktop for Mac
    Considered Both Products
    Alludo
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    Runs much smoother, support is better.
    Price set at the time was much better.
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    We have tried VMware Fusion and Boot Camp. However, the level of graphics that we get in Parallels is much better compared to the other two tools. The speed, overall performance, ease of access, and features are a lot better on Parallels. Overall integration with Mac resources …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    The decision was based on ease of use, price and technical support.
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    Every software development company every software development company has their own solutions works on every software development company has their own solutions works on a multitude of solutions and when it comes to parallels they have fine tuned theirs and critique it to be …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    Parallels Desktop is faster when compared to other solutions, assuming that is for Mac computers only, is the fastest option and easiest to run
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    Performance for graphically intensive apps or development tools isn't as smooth as Parallels achieves, at least on M-chip MacBooks.
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    Main two features that made the balance decission go to the Parallels Desktop were the possibility to pause the Windows partition easily (allowing to consume less resources in Mac and save battery) and the other one is the user interface feature called "Coherence" with allows …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    Parallels makes running other operating systems on your Mac user friendly and not have the hassle of some of the server use cases. VMware is the closest competitor I use occationally but for the most part Parallels is what I use for the majority of the time.
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    Parallels Desktop has better experience for MacOS if we compare to VMware Workstation Pro. It has more extensions and feature that working great on MacOS environment. Support working multi virtual machines on the same time and no limit (if you have a powerful laptop) I am …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    Parallels [Desktop] is more polished and has a friendlier interface than VMware Fusion. While the VMware Fusion licensing model is simpler Parallels [Desktop] innovates faster and optimizes their product more often and with more features that customers want. At their core they …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    *VMware is not is the list but that is probably the most popular alternative. We went with Parallels because it was generally easier to install and maintain. VMWare is a solid product and we have people on staff who use it but most people who have experience both strongly …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    If you can follow a prompt and click a button, you can install Parallels. We chose Parallels because they make it so simple to buy, install, set up, and add licenses. I work with Creatives and getting them to run a Windows environment is a painful task. With Parallels, we can …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    I'm a longtime user of VMware Fusion and I still use it in some cases. We use it on RedHat Linux computers to run other Linux environments with specific software development environment configurations. I've also used VMware Fusion on a MacBook Pro laptop to run Windows and …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    At the end of the day, it seemed like Parallels Desktop has the fastest product with a feature set that was most important to our users. Additionally, it seemed to hit a mark where it was easy enough for our less tech-savvy users, but powerful enough for our users that really …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    I have not used any other program to meet these needs and to be honest I didn't want to. Parallels had great reviews and from my research it would do what I needed, so there was no reason to look elsewhere. On top of that, Parallels is not overly expensive for the capability …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    VMware Fusion is also a good product, but it tended to be a little more difficult to configure, and the price tag was higher in terms of the volume purchasing that we required.
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    Parallels Desktop ends up filling the sweet spot between free, but basic application (VirtualBox), and fully featured enterprise application (VMware Fusion.). Even at this point, we don't use all of the features of Parallels, but the perceived performance boost over VirtualBox …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    Not recommended for non-technical users but VMWare and Virtual Box are acceptable alternatives to these.
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    It's cheaper for one, it also is the company's sole focus so you know it is getting a lot of support on their end. I also feel it is easier to use. It is its own standalone and doesn't have any other flavors or variations like VMware. One stop software solution that works.
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    Parallels offers a much more streamlined and easier to navigate VM configuration interface. Once configured, device compatibility and overall system efficiency appears to be better in Parallels Desktop compared to others. Integration between the Mac host OS and the VM is …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    We did not evaluate any other applications.
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    Parallels has better performance and easier setup than VirtualBox (and VMWare the last time I tried it). Parallels is fairly expensive, while VirtualBox is free, so going with VirtualBox will save quite a bit of money. The strength of VirtualBox lies in use with Vagrant and …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    I have used VirtualBox on Windows as a free alternative, as I only used it to access an old scanner without recent drivers. So far, I stick with Parallels, but the OpenGL limitations are said to be resolved better with VMware Fusion. But I currently don't want to migrate to …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    Prior to using Parallels, I ran under Boot Camp. Of course, the OS runs just fine that way, but having to power down and back up each time I wanted to switch environments just wasn't working for me. That's what sent me looking for another solution. I tried Oracle VM VirtualBox, …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels Desktop for Mac
    Parallels Desktop for Mac was chosen because of its robust features and great price. Even though VirtualBox is free it does not provide the same features. In Parallels you can download extra patches to accommodate printer and usb drivers.
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Parallels Desktop for Mac
    Application Virtualization
    Comparison of Application Virtualization features of Parallels Desktop for Mac
    Feature
    Parallels Desktop for Mac
    8.7
    2 Ratings
    Application support8.12 Ratings
    Ease of deployment9.12 Ratings
    Security9.12 Ratings
    User Ratings
    Parallels Desktop for Mac
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.2
    (32 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (2 ratings)