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Citrix Workspace (discontinued) vs. Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS)

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Citrix Workspace (discontinued)

    Score6.5 out of 10
    N/ACitrix Workspace is a workspace solution that delivers secure access to all apps and files from a single interface. Based on the former Scalextreme product, it will not receive future updates from Citrix.N/A

    Parallels RAS

    Score9.6 out of 10
    N/AParallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS, formerly 2X RAS), is application virtualization technology, billed as a solution to extend the life of legacy OS (like Windows XP) with its virtual desktop for any device. Maltese company 2X Software developed the technology, but was acquired by Parallels (in Seattle, WA) in February, 2015 to extend their cross-platform support solutions.

    $120

    per year per user

    Pricing
    Citrix Workspace (discontinued)Parallels RAS
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Citrix Workspace (discontinued)Parallels RAS
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Citrix Workspace (discontinued)Parallels RAS
    Considered Both Products
    Discontinued Products
    Chose Citrix Workspace (discontinued)
    Citrix does great at allowing us to access work from remote locations. Our IT provider is very familiar with the product and is able to troubleshoot this product much better than the competitors.
    Incentivized
    Parallels
    Chose Parallels RAS
    We love the easy integration and functionality on the client side. With Citrix Workspace we always had connectivity issues and re-logins, which we never had with Parallels RAS. Awingu was also a good choice, because of its browser-only approach, but sometimes it is too …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels RAS
    Less expensive. Better support. Better documentation. It's easier to set up.
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels RAS
    Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) stacks up against VMWare Horizon and Citrix workspace because it was much more cost effective and easier to install, configure and implement. Our decision to use Parallels RAS was because of using all features with one license …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels RAS
    Cost:Parallels RAS is generally considered to be more cost-effective than Citrix, with a lower upfront investment and lower ongoing maintenance costs.
    Parallels RAS is generally more user-friendly than Citrix, with a simpler user interface and more intuitive navigation for both …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels RAS
    Price is better for Parallels and Easier to install/roll out.
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels RAS
    The cost of the two products is significantly different. Though Citrix has many advantages and features, the cost was a primary factor that helped us make that choice.
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels RAS
    Simplicity cost. It is a wrapper for MS RDP, not its own proprietary protocol as in both of these examples. I like the greater support for multiple OS and client flexibility. However, tuning the base network stack for high latency is mostly out of scope.
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels RAS
    We used Citrix XenApp prior to Parallels and due to the complexity of an upgrade, it caused us to begin looking for other products. We ran into Parallels RAS and decided to give it a shot. We had a working POC within 30 minutes and launched apps within the hour. The …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels RAS
    We still have one small Citrix unit in production. But Parallels Remote Application Server is far simpler to configure and get working out the box with exactly what you need, whether it be publishing entire desktops or publishing standalone applications. One of the nice …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels RAS
    Parallels RAS stacks up against other options, but each has its own pros and cons; it is important to know what a company is trying to accomplish with the solution to make the best decision as they're all good products. The same is true across the board with IT. For instance, …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels RAS
    Citrix is much more expensive and MAS lacks some features that PRAS has out of the box.
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels RAS
    Does everything we used to do in Citrix for half the cost!
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels RAS
    To be honest, we thought of Parallels Remote Application Server as a poor man's Citrix. We went with it initially because it met the immediate need and was a lot cheaper, but that might not be a fair description considering the features provided. They've continued to add new …
    Incentivized
    Chose Parallels RAS
    Our previous Citrix environment was aging, and when we spoke with our ERP vendor, and discovered that they were using Parallels Remote Application Server as their own hosting platform for hosted clients, it made it an easier decision to deploy knowing that they were using the …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    88%
    Would buy again
    7 Answers
    97%
    Would buy again
    148 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    99%
    Delivers good value for the price
    143 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    88%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    99%
    Happy with the feature set
    150 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    129 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    145 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    Citrix Workspace (discontinued)Parallels RAS
    Small Businesses
    VMware Fusion
    Score7.3 out of 10
    VMware Fusion
    Score7.3 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    VMware Fusion
    Score7.3 out of 10
    VMware Fusion
    Score7.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    VMware Workstation Player
    Score9.9 out of 10
    VMware Workstation Player
    Score9.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Citrix Workspace (discontinued)Parallels RAS
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.2
    (8 ratings)
    9.7
    (154 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.5
    (24 ratings)
    Usability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.4
    (32 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    4.5
    (4 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (131 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (2 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.6
    (13 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (4 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    4.5
    (3 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (3 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Citrix Workspace (discontinued)Parallels RAS
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Discontinued Products
    Citrix Workspace is no doubt one of the best solutions if you are looking for seamless access to multiple daily used applications at a single place in a company secured connection. It has centralized updates and a patching mechanism which makes it operate hassle-free. If you are using AWS cloud in your company and big fan of it, you can also go for Amazon Workspaces for a uniform ecosystem.
    Read full review
    Parallels
    Scenarios where time is a factor in having a solution in place and up and running safely and securely. Where there are older devices that ordinarily wouldn't be up to the task of running modern apps and services. Where users need to work away from the network, and security is a concern.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Discontinued Products
    • It provides secure environment for the access of client's database.
    • If we have verified account or having the login id password (credentials) we have the access of Workspace as long as we want.
    • Connectivity is so simple that first time user also understand all the features.
    Read full review
    Parallels
    • The printing driver is quite excellent, both in the Parallels Client and on the HTML5 client.
    • Setup is incredibly easy; the default setup is very functional, and adding features is a breeze.
    • Speed is very acceptable in general for end-users, the clients adapt quite well to the amount of bandwidth available, and features are available to adjust further.
    • Automation through PowerShell is great.
    • Support is usually quite fast and efficient.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Discontinued Products
    • I find it particularly difficult to easily save to anything other than my file database, such as my regular desktop files. The series of folder paths is very confusing in my opinion.
    • I cannot save pdfs to my remote system and must save them locally.
    • No printing to work place destination capability.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Parallels
    • Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) continually improves the product but has broken some features recently. For example the web management portal lost the ability to manage user sessions after a major update. That issue was fixed in a later release
    • Multi-monitor support beyond 4 monitors (It does handle up to 4 -1080 monitors well)
    • More options around connection security and MFA. current options are sufficient but limited
    • We've noticed some performance issues with Windows Server 2019 and 2022. I'd like to see more robust support for remote applications running from those platforms.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Discontinued Products
    We find Citrix Workspace an easy to use, reliable and secure remote access tool. We never have issues accessing either environments (workstations, servers and virtual machines) not using deployed applications.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Parallels
    We have been using Parallels since it was called 2X - it is a major part of how we do business. It is fairly simple to use and maintain - staff like it, we like it. It is a product that makes a promise - and it keeps it. As Parallels evolves, and clean bandwidth becomes more readily available everywhere - it just makes sense to continue to use Parallels in our environment
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Discontinued Products
    Access to the workspace is simple and quick, using username and password and a second factor authentication. Once logged in, you can see all the environments (servers, virtual machines, etc) and applications that are available based on the permission granted to your user. With a couple of clicks you can easily access to your remote desktop or to one of the applications.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Parallels
    Parallels RAS was easy to setup, with great admin guides and resources. We especially liked the included Visio templates which made diagramming much easier. The reference deployment diagrams also simplified our deployment process. Our end users love Parallels RAS. Apps launch faster than Citrix, and the Parallels RAS client is far more reliable than Workspace.
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Parallels
    If there are any issues with Parallels - they are usually more about the server operating systems than Parallels itself. It would be rare for us to have any reason to take Parallels offline - we schedule a reboot on the servers at 3am to keep the O/S itself fresh, but again - it is not a Parallels issue. If individual users have any issues we ask them to completely log out of parallels - which ends their session - and then back in - and that typically resolves the issue right away.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Parallels
    I am giving Parallels 9/10 on this one because the only application that sometimes seems slow or has issues - is Microsoft Outlook. It is sometimes the result of a pop-up that may not show up in the published application (vs full desktop). Other than that - pages load very quickly - and it does not seem to slow down other applications that are running at the same time. Most of our users run Outlook, softphone and Teams locally - and published applications for everything else. When they do that - it is very solid.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Parallels
    Good support in place if required, very helpful when it comes to upgrades or any issues faced. The support team is knowledgeable, friendly, and quick to respond to issues The company also provides a range of online resources, including a
    knowledge base, documentation, and forums, which can be helpful before raising a ticket
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Parallels
    Documentation is fair but sometimes a little difficult to follow
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Parallels
    Overall, it was pretty simple compared to most other projects. Again, we had a strong familarity with the product so there was not much of a learning curve. Our 'biggest' issue is the end-user understanding of a 'local' application and a published application. For example - Online meetings need to run locally for camera/video to work smoothly so opening a link to a meeting from a published application continues to be an occasional issue.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Discontinued Products
    Citrix does great at allowing us to access work from remote locations. Our IT provider is very familiar with the product and is able to troubleshoot this product much better than the competitors.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Parallels
    Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) provides the finest end user experience while being cost-effective and reducing administrative and support man hours.
    Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) is platform agnostic; it works with various kinds of devices (computers, phones, tablets) and several operating systems (Windows, Linux, Apple, etc.), allowing users to access it on gadgets of their choice.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Parallels
    We added our Integrated Services Staff to parallels, with filtered, published applications - in a single afternoon. We added licensing and installed the desktop client software on multiple platforms both in the office and at remote sites all on the same day - and got remote users that had never used the product up and running - very quickly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Discontinued Products
    • During the pandemic, Citrix Workspace was vital in allowing me to continue operations by working from home. Without Citrix Workspace, I think that our company would have had a lot of trouble with all of the WFH operations.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Parallels
    • Our customers have had dramatic cost decreases due to no longer needing IT departments to work with our software.
    • We've been able to charge more for our hosting services due to our customers saving money in the long run. Parallels Remote Application Server has more than paid for itself, and the increased income has gone right back into the business.
    • Both our customers and our company have benefited from this transition.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Parallels RAS Screenshots

    Screenshot of the console interface, showing Parallels RAS' support for on-premises, private and public cloud providers, including Azure and AWS.Screenshot of the Parallels Web Client, which is accessible from any HTML5 browser or choose one of the many local clients.Screenshot of Parallels RAS' integration with MSIX app attach for modern, dynamic app delivery.Screenshot of Parallels RAS' support for multiple MFAs for security and flexibility.Screenshot of the integrated Let's Encrypt security certificates, to issue and manage certificates in Parallels RAS.Screenshot of expression-based filtering which makes it easier to set policies in the Parallels RAS.