--- title: Parrot Security OS Reviews meta_title: 'Parrot Security OS Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 60 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how Parrot Security OS works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 4.4 review_count: 60 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-08-04' parent_category: name: IT Infrastructure url: https://www.g2.com/categories/it-infrastructure --- # Parrot Security OS Reviews **Vendor:** Parrot Security OS **Category:** [Operating Systems](https://www.g2.com/categories/operating-system) **Average Rating:** 4.4/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 60 ## About Parrot Security OS Parrot Security OS is a free and open-source GNU/Linux distribution based on Debian, tailored for security experts, developers, and privacy-conscious users. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools for penetration testing, digital forensics, reverse engineering, and software development, all within a lightweight and flexible environment. Key Features and Functionality: - Extensive Toolset: Parrot Security OS includes over 600 tools for various cybersecurity operations, such as penetration testing, vulnerability assessment, and digital forensics. - Multiple Editions: The distribution offers several editions to cater to different user needs: - Security Edition: Designed for penetration testing and red team operations, providing a full arsenal of ready-to-use tools. - Home Edition: Aimed at daily use, privacy, and software development, with the option to manually install security tools as needed. - IoT Edition: Compatible with Raspberry Pi devices, suitable for embedded systems. - Docker Images: Pre-packaged Docker images for easy deployment in containerized environments. - Lightweight and Modular: Parrot Security OS is efficient even on older hardware, allowing users to select and install only the components they need. - Rolling Release Model: The system follows a rolling release model, ensuring users have access to the latest updates and features. - Privacy and Anonymity Tools: Built-in tools like AnonSurf, Tor, and I2P facilitate anonymous web browsing and enhance user privacy. Primary Value and User Solutions: Parrot Security OS provides a robust and versatile platform for cybersecurity professionals and enthusiasts. Its extensive toolset and modular design allow users to conduct comprehensive security assessments, develop software, and maintain privacy without the need for additional installations. The lightweight nature of the OS ensures optimal performance across a wide range of hardware, making it accessible to a broad user base. By integrating privacy-focused tools, Parrot Security OS addresses the growing need for secure and anonymous computing environments. ## Parrot Security OS Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users highlight the **lightweight size** of Parrot Security OS, ensuring smooth performance even on modest hardware. (7 reviews) - Users appreciate the **strong emphasis on privacy** in Parrot Security OS, making it ideal for secure and efficient workflows. (4 reviews) - Users appreciate the **lightweight and fast performance** of Parrot Security OS, making it ideal for low-end laptops. (4 reviews) - Users enjoy the **user-friendly interface** of Parrot Security OS, appreciating its lightweight performance and intuitive design. (4 reviews) - Users praise the **powerful features** of Parrot Security OS, enhancing efficiency in penetration testing and digital forensics. (3 reviews) - Users value the **lightweight and feature-rich** nature of Parrot Security OS, making it ideal for ethical hacking. (2 reviews) - Security/Safety (2 reviews) - Command Line Interface (CLI) (1 reviews) - Community Support (1 reviews) - Design Aesthetics (1 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Users report frequent **driver issues** with Parrot Security OS, citing compatibility problems and manual fixes after updates. (3 reviews) - Users find the **skill requirements** for Parrot Security OS high, making it complex for beginners to navigate. (2 reviews) - Users find the **time-consuming setup process** of Parrot Security OS challenging, especially when searching for effective tutorials. (2 reviews) - Users report frequent **compatibility issues** with tools and packages, complicating their experience with Parrot Security OS. (1 reviews) - Users face **hardware limitations** with Parrot Security OS, as it sometimes doesn't support certain Wifi monitor devices. (1 reviews) - Users find **integration issues** with enterprise tools in Parrot Security OS, affecting collaboration in team environments. (1 reviews) - Lack of Support (1 reviews) - Users find the **limited gaming** options on Parrot Security OS frustrating, impacting their overall experience with the system. (1 reviews) - Users find **limited software support** problematic, as updates can break functions and hardware compatibility is inconsistent. (1 reviews) - Slow Updates (1 reviews) ## Parrot Security OS Reviews ### 1. Parrotsecurity **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 19, 2021 **What do you like best about Parrot Security OS?** Its simplicity and use of functions in it **What do you dislike about Parrot Security OS?** some things are not supported in it. command line is tough **What problems is Parrot Security OS solving and how is that benefiting you?** I have just starting to use it ### 2. Great for a security researcher **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ashish R. | Founder, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 24, 2020 **What do you like best about Parrot Security OS?** The collection of tools is so far the best thing I found in parrot OS. The user interface is also very attractive. **What do you dislike about Parrot Security OS?** I dislike the updates that they keep rolling out. Every few days, there's a new update. **What problems is Parrot Security OS solving and how is that benefiting you?** When I need to do a security audit for my business network and website, parrot OS makes it easier for me. It includes everything at one place. ### 3. Best operating system i have used for pentesting. **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Daniels M. | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 13, 2020 **What do you like best about Parrot Security OS?** I like the good looking desktop environment and easy to use tools for vulnerability analysis. I didn't really have to download anything much except some things which aren't completely necessary to do my work, like VPN and wine. Also it's very easy to install on virtual machine without any problems. **What do you dislike about Parrot Security OS?** A bit harder to learn how to use than windows, but after watching some tutorials was pretty easy to do most work. **What problems is Parrot Security OS solving and how is that benefiting you?** I'm using Parrot OS mostly for penetration testing, anonymity and cryptography. Tested our business for many vulnerabilities easy and fast, which allowed to improve our security. ### 4. Parrot OS - A security analysts friend **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Mandar W. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 08, 2020 **What do you like best about Parrot Security OS?** GUI is better as compared to backtrack. Bootup time is less and tools are more comfortable than Kali Linux **What do you dislike about Parrot Security OS?** Superuser permission is required always. Kali is preferred in live rather than parrot live. **Recommendations to others considering Parrot Security OS:** It's definitely a good tool to start in Cyber Security. But permanently acceptance is not coming up so soon. **What problems is Parrot Security OS solving and how is that benefiting you?** I have used Parrot for VAPT applications and it's easy to use but few complications make Kali a compatibile option. ### 5. All essential Security tools in one OS. **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** James P. | Security Engineer, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 26, 2019 **What do you like best about Parrot Security OS?** Parrot is the latest distribution of Linux releases it has integrated security assessment tools for security professionals it has metasploit, burpsuite, SQLmap and so many penetration testing tools were integrated in the operating system. all tools are integrated in one operating system and no need to install one by one. **What do you dislike about Parrot Security OS?** Most of the Parrot-OS security tools are based on the command line if they can introduce inbuilt GUI based security tools it will be great. **Recommendations to others considering Parrot Security OS:** We are using parrot security OS it has more features than the kali linux there are more inbuilt exploitation libraries. **What problems is Parrot Security OS solving and how is that benefiting you?** We are using ParrotOS for perform penetration testings to our clients. ### 6. The most advanced security OS for information security professionals. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jacob C. | Senior Software Engineer Team Lead, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 01, 2019 **What do you like best about Parrot Security OS?** Parrot Security OS is freely available and user-friendly than other similar operating systems. Parrot provides many features for pen-testers, security professionals and all the necessary tools are pre installed. Although it provides many features it does not requires high system resources. There is a Sandbox feature to increase privacy and protection. Can be run as a live distro. **What do you dislike about Parrot Security OS?** I do not find any issues related to Parrot OS. I like this OS because all the necessary tools are pre-installed. The only disadvantage is there are few tutorials and user community related to Parrot OS. **Recommendations to others considering Parrot Security OS:** Better than other similar operating systems. **What problems is Parrot Security OS solving and how is that benefiting you?** As an information security professional, I mainly interacting with Parrot Security OS for pen-testing. All necessary features for pen-testing such as Burp Suite, Metasploit are pre-installed. Also, I find that Parrot OS is user-friendly than similar operating systems. ### 7. Best Operating system for security testings **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Zumri H. | Security Analsyt, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 09, 2019 **What do you like best about Parrot Security OS?** Parrot OS is one of the latest Security testing operating system after Kali it is more powerful than Kali and all of the Kali testing tools were integrate in to Parrot OS and it is more convenient than the Kali and Some of security testing tools has more in depth features than the Kali Linux. **What do you dislike about Parrot Security OS?** Parrot security OS also based on the Linux interface and more into command line, most of the tools are in command line such as Kali Linux and not support for many Graphical user interface supported testing tools. **Recommendations to others considering Parrot Security OS:** Parrot OS is a best platform for security testing it gives more advanced tools than the Kali linux and best for the experts. **What problems is Parrot Security OS solving and how is that benefiting you?** We mainly use Parrot OS for the web application security testings and the security vulnerability exploitation using the inbuilt command line tools on the Parrot OS ### 8. Solid as a pentest OS or a daily driver **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Mike B. | C-Level Executive / Platform Architect / Advisor, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 22, 2019 **What do you like best about Parrot Security OS?** Most of the tools from Kali, but on a much more stable base and with more current versions of kernel non-pentest software. Also, snapd is installed by default, giving you access to software from the Snap Store. Like Kali, chances are extremely high that your networking hardware will work out of the box (critical for wireless on a MacBook). Polished look and feel, easy install process, btrfs by default. **What do you dislike about Parrot Security OS?** Not much. The fact that it's Debian- rather than Ubuntu-based means that adding PPAs is a little more difficult (use sparingly - while not nearly as brittle as Kali, using Ubuntu repos on Debian can still potentially cause problems), in that you have to manually add them rather than a simple "sudo add-apt-repository ppa:whatever/whatever". Limited Mate desktop experience compared to Ubuntu Mate, but even the Mutiny look and feel can be replicated with a little work. Being Debian-based also means that lxd isn't available in the repositories, but you can install it as a snap. Nodesource and Docker repos (faking another distro's version name) and keys must be added manually. **What problems is Parrot Security OS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Pentesting (obviously), as well as development and virtualization/containers. Performs better than most other distros, even with a ton of software installed. ### 9. Very Good Security OS **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Information Technology and Services | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 26, 2019 **What do you like best about Parrot Security OS?** I like that it has already all the security software pre-installed and that it is configured to start safely. You pretty much don't have to set up anything. **What do you dislike about Parrot Security OS?** It is definitely not user-friendly for those who don't already know how to use Linux. Also, it is extremely safe which implies that some convenience features are not working. **Recommendations to others considering Parrot Security OS:** Know your Linux skills first **What problems is Parrot Security OS solving and how is that benefiting you?** A safe system with ok performances. I was using Zorin before which is very convenient but a bit less safe. ### 10. Testing Made Easier **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Research | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 20, 2018 **What do you like best about Parrot Security OS?** It worked with my oldest to newest hardware, and even had drivers for everything. **What do you dislike about Parrot Security OS?** I like it all. I can't say anything bad. Even in a VM, it's amazing. **Recommendations to others considering Parrot Security OS:** For almost any kind of network security testing, this is it. **What problems is Parrot Security OS solving and how is that benefiting you?** As a tool, it lets me easily demonstrate weaknesses in local network admin. It has potentially saved thousands. ## Parrot Security OS Discussions - [can i use this for hacking.](https://www.g2.com/discussions/can-i-use-this-for-hacking) - 2 comments, 1 upvote - [What tools does Parrot OS have?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-tools-does-parrot-os-have) - 2 comments - [How many tools does parrot security have?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/how-many-tools-does-parrot-security-have) - 2 comments - [Is Parrot OS a good OS?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-parrot-os-a-good-os) - 2 comments - [What can Parrot OS do?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-can-parrot-os-do) - 1 comment - [View Parrot Security OS pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/parrot-security-os/reviews?page=2§ion=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-08-04+09%3A54%3A29+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=a9a4d402-b737-4a22-aac9-173d2fecf82b&secure%5Btoken%5D=6d7d9bee7e99693274a9b49d6d04c0f5ec3683ab271a8cc474d75cbda99a7553&format=llm_user) ## Parrot Security OS Integrations - [Kali Linux](https://www.g2.com/products/kali-linux/reviews) - [Splunk Enterprise](https://www.g2.com/products/splunk-enterprise/reviews) - [VirtualBox](https://www.g2.com/products/virtualbox/reviews) ## Parrot Security OS Features **Analysis** - File Analysis - Memory Analysis - Registry Analysis - Email Analysis - Linux Analysis **Memory Management - Operating System** - RAM management **Functionality** - Incident Alerts - Anomaly Detection - Continuous Analysis - Decryption **Device Management - Operating System** - I/O management **Remediation** - Incident Reports - Remediation Suggestions - Response Automation **Backup and Recovery - Operating System** - Data backup **Generative AI** - AI Text Generation - AI Text Summarization **Error Detection - Operating System** - System operations monitoring ## Top Parrot Security OS Alternatives - [Ubuntu](https://www.g2.com/products/ubuntu/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (2,345 reviews) - [Red Hat Enterprise Linux](https://www.g2.com/products/red-hat-enterprise-linux/reviews) - 4.6/5.0 (933 reviews) - [Kali Linux](https://www.g2.com/products/kali-linux/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (241 reviews)