Parallels Desktop is a virtual user session solution built to run Windows on Macintosh computers without rebooting. It is designed for OS X Yosemite with one-click tuning.
$49.99
per license
Splashtop
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Splashtop is a software solution for both remote access and remote support. Boasting 30+ million customers worldwide and users among both large and small organizations across the globe, Splashtop states they have a secure, high-performing solution to fit specific use-cases. Splashtop is ISO certified, SOC 2 and GDPR compliant. Splashtop Business Access is a remote desktop software solution for business professionals and teams, allowing them to work from wherever, using…
$5
per month per user, billed annually
Pricing
Parallels Desktop
Splashtop
Editions & Modules
Parallels Desktop 16
$49.99
per license
Parallels Desktop Pro Edition
$49.99
per license/per year
Parallels Desktop
$79.99
per license
Parallels Desktop Pro Edition
$99
per license/per year
Parallels Desktop Business Edition
$99.99
per license/per year
Splashtop Business Access Solo
$5.00
per month per user, billed annually
Splashtop Business Access Pro
$8.25
per month per user, billed annually
Splashtop Business Access Performance
$13.00
per month per user, billed annually
SOS
$17.00
per month per concurrent technician, billed annually
SOS+10
$19.00
per month per concurrent technician, billed annually
SOS Unlimited
$34.00
per month per concurrent technician, billed annually
I often get asked, why not the "free" stuff (VirtualBox), and/or why not VMWare. VirtualBox, etc. are not as performant for interactive usage. I think they are fine for small applications, perhaps some enterprise app usage, but for developers, it's not good enough. VMWare has become too enterprisey and lacks some of the user-friendly stuff that Parallels focuses on. Ultimately, for developer types running OSes for deep tasks, Parallels is unrivaled.
In my position Splashtop is perfectly suited for my needs. Allows me to connect to remote workers, or those who work from home. I use it while in the office as well as if I am doing after hours support at home. If you have workers who are local but at a different address, also useful. If you are supporting users just in the office you are in, obviously, it's not going to be a tool you will need
File Transfer - You can easily transfer files between Parallels virtualized desktops and the host desktop either through Copy and Paste functionality, or Drag and Drop. You can also configure shared folders.
Switch Between Virtual and Host Desktop - You can configure swipe gestures on a MacBook Pro to be able to switch between the virtualized and host desktop. You can also launch apps from the OS X Taskbar.
Performance - Apps in Parallels run quite smoothly on my 2015 MacBook Pro, as of 2020. Considering they are running on a 5-year-old computer, I give Parallels top marks for performance.
Splashtop usually works even when my client's computer isn't in great shape. I can sometimes do things remotely that an onsite user cannot.
Splashtop lets me work on many computers from one location, without leaving my own desk.
Splashtop allows me to serve clients who are hundreds and even thousands of miles away. I can do work for people I've never met.
My clients can usually install Splashtop by themselves, preventing the need for a costly and time consuming site visit.
Splashtop lets me create installation links for remote access that have been configured specifically to my particular needs and the needs of my clients.
The ability to do snapshots, backups, and other types of branching for VMs is a little confusing and takes a bit to get used to
The Parallels tools frequently pop up windows advertising functionality, while this is helpful at times it can also happen when you are doing a presentation or typing in a password.
Careful using the VMs on a shared cloud drive such as Dropbox or OneDrive, there are hundreds and sometimes thousands of files which are updated when running a VM and this can clog up your Dropbox or OneDrive sync for minutes to hours even on a 2gb connection.
Web Access should be available to all Splashtop Versions so support personnel do not need to have their laptop with them or Executable on USB Drive etc..
Remote access and scaling of screens sometimes is very difficult and have to resort to using keyboard commands to Navigate a screen because the mouse does not show where it is accurately on the remote screen no matter what changes you make on the client although I think this has been improving.
Intermittent loss of streamer access and showing that a system is online in the Dashboard has been flakey lately. What I mean by this is systems show offline then they come back online their own then offline again - intermittent
Users are familiar with the application which will keep us going for a little while. However since we are seeing a decline for a need for the software, I wouldn't be surprised to find that this answer changes dramatically in the near future. We would probably keep it to some extent, but we would probably reduce our licensing count.
I believe that I will renew Splashtop without any problems in the coming years as eating stable costs without increases even in critical periods such as the Covid virus, Splashtop allows access to 25 unattended stations and has continuous updates and new features. It also allows resale to users with sub-accounts
It has a good integration, including the connection of peripherals. Taking files back and forth works well and I can attach my Home drive as a network drive in Windows. There is even integration with iCloud and other macOS services. There are also a few different display modes which are useful and fleixible (coherence, windowed, full-screen with multiple screens)
It's hard to find any significant faults with Splashtop. It offers a very responsive remote access experience with clear and simple interface. There's very little learning curve as it's toolbar mimics other popular remote access solutions graphical user interface. It's gives you access to your remote computer quickly and stays out of your way
I've never had any issues with it, nor any connectivity issues. They always say when they'll be maintaining the system and it's always in the odd hours, so nobody uses then. But I've never had any issues.
So, this rating is a little skewed toward older behavior from Parallels, as I haven't had to contact them recently. However, in an older version of Parallels, an "update" included pop-ups urging users to upgrade to the latest version, implying that their current version wouldn't work for the latest MacOS. I found it very frustrating to be getting ads for a new version of the software in a version I had already paid for. I contacted support about this and got a generic, uncaring response. It was pretty disappointing.
Tickets lingered in the support queue. Our environment is complex and some solutions never work in it but inconsistency and long turn around time on seemingly simple support issues force our pursuit of alternative solutions. Our environment is atypical and should not be used as a litmus test for solutions however we found the support issues were more wide spread with other orgs voicing the same delays.
It couldn't have been any easier to setup and I have had no issues with it since it was implemented. It's a great product and makes remotely connecting to another device so simple and quick. I can't recommend it enough
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 you to show the Windows application windows as if they were native to the macOS, allowing for a better user experience.
Splashtop Business Enterprise is actually easier to implement and get it up and running, all users have to do is download the standard or personalize file and run it, then share the code with you and you are all set to go, i like it because you can even do it from your phone if necessary
It's a product that allows us to work remotely and access our servers from anywhere in the world. Our team works from different parts of the world and it's a great tool for us.
Avoid extra costs: majority of users have a Mac, so if they needed to dod something that is Windows related, it will require to users have an extra computer to do that tasks, and this have a lot of costs
Developers have more concerns how websites behaves on Windows only browsers, which increased the satisfaction of users
