--- title: Parallels Desktop for Mac Reviews meta\_title: 'Parallels Desktop for Mac Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta\_description: Filter 59 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how Parallels Desktop for Mac works for a business like yours. aggregate\_rating: rating\_value: 4.3 review\_count: 59 scale: '5' date\_modified: '2026-08-07' parent\_category: name: IT Infrastructure url: https://www.g2.com/categories/it-infrastructure --- # Parallels Desktop for Mac Reviews & Product Details Claimed ###### Profile Status This profile is currently managed by Parallels Desktop for Mac but has limited features. Are you part of the Parallels Desktop for Mac team? [Upgrade your plan](https://sell.g2.com) to enhance your branding and engage with visitors to your profile! A fast, easy and powerful application for running Windows on your Intel or Apple M1 Mac—all without rebooting. Includes 30+ one-touch tools to simplify everyday tasks on Mac and Windows. * * * Seller [Corel Corporation](https://www.g2.com/sellers/corel-corporation-10b41cd4-0594-4f58-8f0a-212c911385c6) Discussions [Parallels Desktop for Mac Community](https://www.g2.com/products/parallels-desktop-for-mac/discuss) Languages Supported German, English, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional) Solution Type Best-of-Breed Overview by Reed Younger (Internal and Corporate Communications Specialist at Alludo) Show More ## Pricing Pricing provided by Parallels Desktop for Mac. ### Parallels Desktop Business Edition $99.99 1 seat Per Year ### Parallels Desktop Pro Edition $99.99 1 seat Per Year [ View More Pricing Information ](https://www.g2.com/products/parallels-desktop-for-mac/pricing) ## Top-Rated Alternatives [ ![QEMU](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "QEMU") QEMU 4.3/5(29) ](https://www.g2.com/products/qemu/reviews) [ ![Crossover](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Crossover") Crossover 3.7/5(21) ](https://www.g2.com/products/crossover/reviews) [ ![RealVNC](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "RealVNC") RealVNC 4.7/5(439) ](https://www.g2.com/products/realvnc/reviews) [ View All Alternatives ](https://www.g2.com/products/parallels-desktop-for-mac/competitors/alternatives) ## User Insights Average based on 59 real user reviews. Perceived Cost $$$$$ Typical contract price $0k - $0k [Sign in to view](/login) Per Year [Log in to unlock pricing and user insights](/login) ![Verified User in Marketing and Advertising](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Marketing and Advertising") UM Verified User in Marketing and Advertising Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 7/18/2023 "Amazing and must have for Mac users!" 5/5 What do you like best about Parallels Desktop for Mac? I love how easy and simple it is to use. It's virtually painless to get it up and running and works near flawlessly! I have no overall need to use another computer or windows laptop to get my work done as it can run windows programs in MacOs. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Parallels Desktop for Mac? The price has been increasing and now the previous price for a permanent license is now the price for a 1-year subscription. It would also be nice to have a little more flexibility with the Virtual RAM and Virtual CPUs in the standard edition now that Macs in general are becoming more powerful. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Parallels Desktop for Mac solving and how is that benefiting you? Parallels has absolutley removed the necessity to require a windows PC for work. It has made my computing needs and traveling far easier by having the ability to use both Mac and Windows in a single device. I can now use any type of program I could possibly want on my Macbook Pro! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Vansh J.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Vansh J.") VJ Vansh J. Student Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 7/2/2023 "Windows Emulator for MacOS" 5/5 What do you like best about Parallels Desktop for Mac? Parallels Desktop is really an fantastic software developed to experience windows interface with Mac. With the help of this software you can use both Mac and windows at the same time and can run applications of both the platforms simultaneously. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Parallels Desktop for Mac? Parallels Desktop is not a free software and is not compatible with the lower versions of MacOS than 10.15 which is Catalina. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Parallels Desktop for Mac solving and how is that benefiting you? It helps in using windows platform applications in MacOS without any complications. It saves the files of windows also in the MacOS directory so we can access the files in both Mac and windows. It does not put much load on the hardware system. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Information Technology and Services](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Information Technology and Services") UI Verified User in Information Technology and Services Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 6/27/2023 "Smooth" 5/5 What do you like best about Parallels Desktop for Mac? The look and feel are great: It seems to be just a regular tab you are using, it is smooth to work and the VM refreshes quickly. Easy to use. The IT guy who configured my VM mentioned that Parallels may be having some issues with Apple M2 Chip machines, however, mine is working perfectly, Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Parallels Desktop for Mac? So far I like it all, there is nothing to complain about. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Parallels Desktop for Mac solving and how is that benefiting you? There are some business Apps that do not run on MAC machines, which is why Parallels VM helps me to run those Apps on a Microsoft VM. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerSource: Organic ![Christian I.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Christian I.") CI Christian I. Head IT & HR Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 7/6/2022 "Parallel Desktop - A relief solution to Virtual Environment on Mac Systems" 4/5 What do you like best about Parallels Desktop for Mac? I think as a Mac user, Parallel desktop gives me the option of virtualization. Which is very important to me as an IT administrator that has to test quite a lot of applications and their behavior in different Operating system environments. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Parallels Desktop for Mac? I dare say why I loud Parallel desktop as one of the best in the virtual environment application for MAC OS, it is expensive. Another drawback I have noticed is the issues and many times errors from the Microsoft Windows environment. I wouldn't know whether it is a function of the OS being virtualized or the Parallel desktop application. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering Parallels Desktop for Mac: If you are using any MacOS then Parallel Desktop is your best option. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Parallels Desktop for Mac solving and how is that benefiting you? I don't think there are more competitors, but Parallel Desktop is solving the problem of virtualization and testing of apps before deploying to their various native environments. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Financial Services](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Financial Services") UF Verified User in Financial Services Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 12/14/2021 "Parallels is no longer useful on my M1-based Mac" 0/5 What do you like best about Parallels Desktop for Mac? Parallels used to be my go-to way to run a couple of Windows apps on an occasional basis. I made the mistake of "upgrading" Parallels when I got an M1-based Mac and it orphaned all of my VMs with no way to recover them or their data. Parallels lost its place in my Dock and I am not even sure why I bother to have it on my Mac any longer. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Parallels Desktop for Mac? It no longer works on my M1-based Mac. Actually, it "works," in that it loads, it just can no longer access any of the VMs I had or provide any useful service to me. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering Parallels Desktop for Mac: Don't bother if you have an M1-based Mac. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Parallels Desktop for Mac solving and how is that benefiting you? Parallels no longer solves a problem for me, unless that problem is that I have too much money and too much free disk space. It does not benefit me at all any longer. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More 6/14/2022 Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Ryan G.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Ryan G.") RG Ryan G. Creative Director Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 6/10/2022 "Parallels helps you go where you thought impossible" 5/5 What do you like best about Parallels Desktop for Mac? Occassionally, as an avid Mac user, I run into needing access to Windows applications. I love how it runs in realtime and is easy to flip back and forth almost like a virtual machine. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Parallels Desktop for Mac? Honestly, not much to dislike. Usually I might complain about the price, but at $99 CAD for a new license, you can't go wrong. Featurewise, the program does more than I could ever need. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering Parallels Desktop for Mac: Very intuitive and easy to use. Just be prepared to use some disk space. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Parallels Desktop for Mac solving and how is that benefiting you? Parallels helps me access legacy software that simply does not have a Mac version available. Although many software developers are now creating for both platforms, Parallels helps me solve this occassional problem that I run into. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Simon M.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Simon M.") SM Simon M. Relationship Manager Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 2/4/2022 "Ideal solution for running Windows on Mac" 5/5 What do you like best about Parallels Desktop for Mac? This software enables for fast and straightforward switching between Mac OS and Windows 10 on my MacBook Pro. I have several Windows-only software that need Windows to run. This solution means I can deploy everything on a single machine. The user interface is intuitive and fast. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Parallels Desktop for Mac? This is expensive and requires an annual membership if you want it to stay up to date. It also takes up a lot of storage space on my Mac SDD, which means I have less room for my own files. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering Parallels Desktop for Mac: Have enough space on your hard drive to ensure you do not run out of room. You can also get a non-updating version that does not cost extra. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Parallels Desktop for Mac solving and how is that benefiting you? It is running Windows 10 on the same machine as my Mac OSX. This prevents the need for me to buy a second laptop that runs Windows on its own. It is fast and straightforward. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerSource: Organic AP Aaron P. Owner Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 12/31/2021 "Great virtualization software, but advanced features require an annual subscription" 3.5/5 What do you like best about Parallels Desktop for Mac? Parallels is hands down the fastest and most feature-rich virtualization software for the Mac. Parallels is consistently on the cutting edge of virtualization technology, even providing ARM-based Windows virtualization on Macs with Apple's ARM-based M1 process. In addition, Parallels support DirectX 11, allowing you to run several Windows-based games on Macs. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Parallels Desktop for Mac? As a result of being on the cutting edge technology wise, major releases of Parallels tend to be quite buggy. These bugs are often worked out in point releases, but they are nonetheless frustrating. In addition, in order to get the most advanced features from Parallels, you must have either the Pro or Business edition, both of which require a perpetual annual subscription. This subscription is only suitable for a single computer. As such, if you would like to run Parallels on multiple computers, you must have multiple licenses - each one at $99/year. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Parallels Desktop for Mac solving and how is that benefiting you? My primary use of Parallels is to run Windows and Windows-based software on Mac computers. In addition, I use Parallels to virtualize older versions of macOS, which allows me to run older Mac programs that newer versions of macOS cannot run - specifically 32-bit applications. In both of these regards, Parallels does a fantastic job. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Computer & Network Security](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Computer & Network Security") UC Verified User in Computer & Network Security Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 3/18/2022 "The best virtual machine handler for Macintosh !" 5/5 What do you like best about Parallels Desktop for Mac? Parallels is very easy to use and does not come up with updates all the time like some other products. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Parallels Desktop for Mac? It has happened once that I had a VM that got stuck but it was probably due to a hard drive failure. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Parallels Desktop for Mac solving and how is that benefiting you? I used other virtualization software on Mac, but Parallels is the only one that makes it easy for me to have Windows VM on Mac. VirtualBox failed at this, for example. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerSource: Organic ![Will G.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Will G.") WG Will G. Sr. Client Services Leader - Solutions | Implementation | Onboarding | Training Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 10/15/2021 "Parallels desktop is amazing. Coherence mode makes it the best Windows experience I've ever had." 5/5 What do you like best about Parallels Desktop for Mac? I love how simple it is to install and get started with Parallels. Downloading Windows is the most time consuming part of the process. Once you are live, Coherence mode helps you seamlessly meld your Windows apps with the MacOS environment. It doesn't feel like you are working on two different machines. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Parallels Desktop for Mac? I think the Windows menu in coherence mode hops around on the screen based on whether you have entered text in the search bar. Maybe that can be fixed with settings, but it is not apparent. Its also easily avoided if you put your Windows apps on your MacOS Desktop or Dock. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering Parallels Desktop for Mac: If you are committed to the Apple ecosystem, use Coherence mode and hide the Windows environment almost completely. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Parallels Desktop for Mac solving and how is that benefiting you? Running Windows apps that don't have a fully featured Mac version. Allows me to use the apps I want regardless of OS. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ## Questions about Parallels Desktop for Mac? Ask real users or explore answers from the community Get practical answers, real workflows, and honest pros and cons from the G2 community or share your insights. [ Ask about Parallels Desktop for Mac ](https://www.g2.com/products/parallels-desktop-for-mac/discussions/new) GU Guest User What is Parallels Desktop for Mac used for? 0 Upvotes 0 [ Join the conversation ](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-parallels-desktop-for-mac-used-for) GU Guest User • Last activity about 4 years ago Is parallels Free for Mac? 0 Upvotes 1 [ Join the conversation ](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-parallels-free-for-mac) [ View all Discussions ](https://www.g2.com/products/parallels-desktop-for-mac/discuss) ## Pricing Options Pricing provided by Parallels Desktop for Mac. ### Parallels Desktop Business Edition $99.99 1 seat Per Year ### Parallels Desktop Pro Edition $99.99 1 seat Per Year ### Parallels Desktop Standard Edition For Home & Student Use $79.99 1 seat Per Year [ View More Pricing Information ](https://www.g2.com/products/parallels-desktop-for-mac/pricing) Parallels Desktop for Mac Comparisons ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_031e1042ed24b072fea408b135c284cb/crossover.png "Product Avatar Image") Crossover 3.7/5(21) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/crossover-vs-parallels-desktop-for-mac) ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_2e509cbdbb6beddefe5e29332965118f/qemu.png "Product Avatar Image") QEMU 4.3/5(29) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/parallels-desktop-for-mac-vs-qemu) ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_550ccbc035edd075cbaafbc493aadabf/kasm-workspaces.png "Product Avatar Image") Kasm Workspaces 4.7/5(49) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/kasm-workspaces-vs-parallels-desktop-for-mac) ##### ##### Parallels Desktop for Mac Features Administration Usage Information Active Directory Integration Diagnostics Platform Cross-Platform Access Mobile Device Access Applications Management Security Remote Wipe Device Management Device Enrollment [ View More Features ](https://www.g2.com/products/parallels-desktop-for-mac/features) ##### Categories on G2 [Remote Desktop](https://www.g2.com/categories/remote-desktop) ##### Explore More [Which webinar provider is best for large events](https://www.g2.com/discussions/which-webinar-provider-is-best-for-large-events)[What are the most trusted lifestyle spending account platforms by benefits administrators based on user reviews?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-are-the-most-trusted-lifestyle-spending-account-platforms-by-benefits-administrators-based-on-user-reviews)[What NLP platforms are actually worth using for teams that need strong user adoption and minimal training requirements rather than a platform only data scientists can operate?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-nlp-platforms-are-actually-worth-using-for-teams-that-need-strong-user-adoption-and-minimal-training-requirements-rather-than-a-platform-that-only-data-scientists-can-operate) [Best CPaaS software for company communication](https://www.g2.com/discussions/best-cpaas-software-for-company-communication)[What do power users actually recommend for pro-level data and file recovery software on Windows for recovering critical files rather than experimenting with free tools?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-do-power-users-actually-recommend-for-pro-level-data-and-file-recovery-software-on-windows-for-recovering-critical-files-rather-than-experimenting-with-free-tools)[Pros and Cons Details](https://www.g2.com/products/parallels-desktop-for-mac/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons) [Show MoreShow Less](javascript:void(0);)