--- 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) HD Huseyin D. System Specialist Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 9/23/2021 "Virtual Machine Solution for Mac" 5/5 What do you like best about Parallels Desktop for Mac? I'm using Parallels Desktop for to have multiple operating systems all in one device. I can set the CPU, RAM, and Harddisk according to how many sources I need. Also, this app works really stable and supports almost all operating systems. Also possible to sync files between the local device and virtual machine. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Parallels Desktop for Mac? It's really expensive. I would love to see it on the Windows platform, too. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering Parallels Desktop for Mac: If you need an alternative for another operating system, this will work great for you, too. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Parallels Desktop for Mac solving and how is that benefiting you? To test our apps on multiple platforms, I'm using Parallels Desktop for Mac same like a virtualization center. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Aleksander B.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Aleksander B.") AB Aleksander B. Managing Director Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 12/8/2021 "Best Virtualisation for Macs" 5/5 What do you like best about Parallels Desktop for Mac? Seamless installation of the virtual machines operating systems. You can pick which you want, and it will get downloaded and installed without much interactions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Parallels Desktop for Mac? Nothing much really to dislike in this product. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering Parallels Desktop for Mac: All the competitors are far behind Parallels Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Parallels Desktop for Mac solving and how is that benefiting you? Playing games in Windows on a Mac OS X :) Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Louis L.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Louis L.") LL Louis L. System Administrator Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 11/23/2021 "Windows on a Mac - best of both worlds" 4.5/5 What do you like best about Parallels Desktop for Mac? The ability to effortlessly switch to a Windows app on my Mac greatly increases my productivity. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Parallels Desktop for Mac? There seems to be a large number of upgrades required to keep current. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Parallels Desktop for Mac solving and how is that benefiting you? Utilizing Windows only apps without having to switch from a Mac to a Windows PC. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Adam M.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Adam M.") AM Adam M. Systems Engineer II (End User Services) Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 9/22/2021 "If you need a Windows environment on your Mac, Parallels is the way to go!" 5/5 What do you like best about Parallels Desktop for Mac? Parallels has been my go to virtual platform for testing new versions of macOS and for setting up my PC desktop engineer environment. It is so powerful that I can easily use the virtual PC and avoid needing a physical PC laptop in addition to my Mac laptop Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Parallels Desktop for Mac? The only tricky part with Parallels was getting the virtual network adapter to work right to connect to internal networks Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Parallels Desktop for Mac solving and how is that benefiting you? Saving me the hassle of carrying around a PC laptop in addition to my Mac laptop. It is easily customizable to how much power resources Parallels uses Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Corey W.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Corey W.") CW Corey W. Customer Relations Manager Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 4/7/2021 "Works great for us Mac users that are required to work in Windows OS" 5/5 What do you like best about Parallels Desktop for Mac? It's easy to set up, runs efficiently, and comes with the Parallels toolbox with lots of different apps to help you be productive. Coherence mode is excellent because it overlays your Mac desktop and lets you seamlessly run 2 OSs in one Desktop rather than running in an application window, though you can run it that way. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Parallels Desktop for Mac? Occasionally the VM becomes corrupted, and you have to restore it from a backup, Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Parallels Desktop for Mac solving and how is that benefiting you? I have to run some Windows applications at my office but don't want a Windows computer, so Parallels has solved that issue. I have used Parallels for years, and it has always performed well. In some cases, it runs faster on a Mac than on an actual PC hardware! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Minji C.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Minji C.") MC Minji C. Managing Partner Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 3/25/2021 "Bad after sales service, Parallels not good for Mac" 0/5 What do you like best about Parallels Desktop for Mac? The program was easy to install but didn't work well on my Macbook. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Parallels Desktop for Mac? 1) Parallles requires a lot of space and ate up even more space on my Macbook. Made my computer extremely slow and lagging. 2) Parallels takes over my Macbook. I found it hard to "share" between Windows and Mac overall 3) When I requested for a refund from them, they didn't want to return the unused portion. never had this kind of problem before. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering Parallels Desktop for Mac: Just buy a second hand Windows computer. Unless your Mac a lot of space and a big screen Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Parallels Desktop for Mac solving and how is that benefiting you? I ended up buying a second computer that runs on Windows. And still need to pay for my unused Parallels program. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerSource: Organic ![Graham A.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Graham A.") GA Graham A. Managing Director Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 2/6/2021 "Best way to run Windows apps on a Mac ... period." 5/5 What do you like best about Parallels Desktop for Mac? Essy to install - always being updated and works with latest releases of Mac OS Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Parallels Desktop for Mac? Nothing to dislike - the app just works and it works well. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Parallels Desktop for Mac solving and how is that benefiting you? Need to test our app and development in Windows and prefer it all to be virtualised locally - also have some dodgy old apps that won't run on Windows so we have to run them in Windows. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerSource: Organic ![Verified User in Airlines/Aviation](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Airlines/Aviation") AA Verified User in Airlines/Aviation Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 6/16/2020 "An easy way to run Windows on your Mac" 4.5/5 What do you like best about Parallels Desktop for Mac? Parallels for Mac allows me to easily run window on my computer, giving me the flexibility to run a huge range of applications across both Mac and Windows one device. It was easy to set up using the built-in installer and has been updated throughout the past few years with new features. Once Windows has booted up, I am able to access files saved from both my Mac partition and my Windows partition at the same time, through the Windows operating system in Parallels. This makes it really easy for me to work across multiple documents between the 2 operating systems quickly and easily. In my set-up, the bootable software for Windows is run through an external hard-drive, which was easy to set up using the Parallels guidance information. This gives me the flexibility to have both operating systems available without the requirement to partition a large part of my Mac's internal memory. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Parallels Desktop for Mac? It’s very CPU intensive which can rapidly degrade battery life. It can sometimes lag when used on older Macs, but this is not very often. The programme sometimes sufferers from network connectivity issues which means that the Windows emulator can not connect to the internet or other internet-connected devices, such as wireless printers and other devices on the same shared network. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering Parallels Desktop for Mac: Ensure that you have a computer powerful enough to run Parallelsz Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Parallels Desktop for Mac solving and how is that benefiting you? I’m able to run a set of software designed only for Windows PC, but on my Mac. This gives me a huge flexibility and also has saved dramatically on the hardware costs of not needing to own 2 separate computers with separate operating systems. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More 6/18/2020 Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Albert G.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Albert G.") AG Albert G. Founder Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 8/1/2020 "Still can upgrade \>= Win7 to 64-bit Win10 for free in Parallels (and you should if it's 32-bit)" 1.5/5 What do you like best about Parallels Desktop for Mac? Easy configuration controls and forward compatibility (I'm still on Parallels 12 with Windows 10). Scenario 3 worked for me upgrading my 32-bit Win 7 VM: https://www.parallels.com/blogs/install-windows-10-parallels-desktop Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Parallels Desktop for Mac? Don't completely trust how secure it is, especially if not isolated from Mac OS. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Parallels Desktop for Mac solving and how is that benefiting you? I need to run some obscure PC-only code and Parallels lets me do that (and only that) while quarantining Windows from the rest of my activities under Mac OSX. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerSource: Organic AF Anna F. Property Manager Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 7/29/2020 "Extremely valuable tool for mac based business!" 5/5 What do you like best about Parallels Desktop for Mac? This is an extremely easy program to use and install, it is crucial for my job as I require programs that only run on Windows. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Parallels Desktop for Mac? The program takes up a lot of memory which is understandable but annoying when Macs are made with so little memory in the first place . Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Parallels Desktop for Mac solving and how is that benefiting you? I used to have to use a separate laptop to complete some of my responsibilities at work, I can now work from home easily with access to windows on one laptop. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerSource: Organic ## 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 [What are the highest-rated encryption key management software for reducing secrets sprawl across distributed teams?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-are-the-highest-rated-encryption-key-management-software-for-reducing-secrets-sprawl-across-distributed-teams%20)[Which is the best AI legal assistant for law firms?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/which-is-the-best-ai-legal-assistant-for-law-firms)[What are the best auditing services solutions with proven track records from reviews at companies with 2–10 employees in financial services?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-are-the-best-auditing-services-solutions-with-proven-track-records-from-reviews-at-companies-with-2-10-employees-in-financial-services) [What PR analytics tools work for a mid-size company that wants to track brand mentions and earned media without paying for an enterprise monitoring suite?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-pr-analytics-tools-work-for-a-mid-size-company-that-wants-to-track-brand-mentions-and-earned-media-without-paying-for-an-enterprise-monitoring-suite)[Best platforms for API monetization and usage tracking](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-are-the-best-platforms-for-api-monetization-and-usage-tracking)[Pros and Cons Details](https://www.g2.com/products/parallels-desktop-for-mac/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons) [Show MoreShow Less](javascript:void(0);)