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Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) vs. VMware Fusion

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    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

    VMware Fusion

    Score7.4 out of 10
    N/AVmware Fusion is a virtual user session software built to run Windows applications on Macintosh to run any Windows applications.N/A
    Pricing
    Parallels RASVMware Fusion
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Parallels RASVMware Fusion
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Parallels RASVMware Fusion
    Considered Both Products
    Parallels
    Chose Parallels RAS
    Outranks all competitors in both cost, support, and functionality. The others are getting too large and don't offer support for small to medium businesses with custom needs and non-standard applications and build. I used the top 4 brands in a previous corporate office, where …
    Incentivized
    VMware by Broadcom
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    97%
    Would buy again
    148 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    99%
    Delivers good value for the price
    143 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    99%
    Happy with the feature set
    150 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    129 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    145 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Best Alternatives
    Parallels RASVMware Fusion
    Small Businesses
    VMware Fusion
    Score7.4 out of 10
    Parallels RAS
    Score9.6 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    VMware Fusion
    Score7.4 out of 10
    Parallels RAS
    Score9.6 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
    Parallels RASVMware Fusion
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.7
    (154 ratings)
    8.0
    (20 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.5
    (24 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    8.4
    (32 ratings)
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    4.5
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.0
    (131 ratings)
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    Online Training
    7.3
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    7.6
    (13 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    7.3
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    4.5
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    7.3
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Parallels RASVMware Fusion
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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
    VMware by Broadcom
    Due to its perpetual licensing model, VMware Fusion is a great option for users whose needs do not change as much over time. It is also great for occasional-use scenarios such as testing and preparing code to run on newer platforms. Fusion is not really recommended for running graphics-intense applications as graphics acceleration in Fusion is fairly limited in both performance and API support. It has, however, come a very long way and offers near-native performance for many tasks.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    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
    VMware by Broadcom
    • Allows users to run Windows only applications on their Mac without switching devices.
    • Fusion is excellent for Windows image creation, and works exceptionally well on the Mac environment.
    • Assists a Mac user to virtualize Windows apps.
    • Excellent for installing Linux distros for penetration testing.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    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
    VMware by Broadcom
    • With OSX - 10.14.1 and the latest version of Fusion - 11.0.2 the user interface has taken a step back IMHO.
    • I would like to see price decrease.
    • Better remote host connection capabilities - remote server connections are available but connections are spotty.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    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
    VMware by Broadcom
    For Apple workstations VMware Fusion is the virtualization software to use. No other application (free or paid) can do what Fusion can. The features and constant updates make Fusion an application that cant be beat.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    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
    VMware by Broadcom
    I made an 8 because it's good in almost every aspect. As I said if you are on macos and you need both windows and linux I think is the best options out there. Otherwise if you need only windows there is a competitor that could be better for performance and integration.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    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
    VMware by Broadcom
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    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
    VMware by Broadcom
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    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
    VMware by Broadcom
    I have never contacted VMware, but there is a lot of support online on message boards, forums, StackOverflow, YouTube tutorial videos, and the like. VMware has been around nine years longer than its leading competitor, VirtualBox, although both seem to have a good presence of online user communities who can help solve issues that come up.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Parallels
    Documentation is fair but sometimes a little difficult to follow
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    VMware by Broadcom
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    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
    VMware by Broadcom
    This is a workstation application and no install insights are needed.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    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
    VMware by Broadcom
    I've heard of other/competitive software but frankly once I tried VMware, I never looked back. There is absolutely nothing that I need that this product does not deliver. It's fast, effective and seems to be extremely durable and reliable. My only concern (and minor) might have to do with memory resources, but frankly it has not been an issue yet.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    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
    VMware by Broadcom
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    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
    VMware by Broadcom
    • Users using a VM often don't need something as "fancy" as VMware Fusion, and instead can use a free option like Virtual Box, so we waste money on using an extra amount of VMware Fusion licenses.
    • Developers using and IT admins using VMware Fusion for testing saves us time and money. Simply, we know mistakes would take time and money to fix, but VMware is powerful, allows for proper and fast testing.
    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.