# Page 5 | Parallels Desktop for Mac Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Page 5 - Is Parallels Desktop for Mac the right Virtualization solution for you? Explore 147 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/170006/Parallels-Desktop-for-Mac/reviews --- Parallels Desktop for Mac 4.4 (147) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/170006/Parallels-Desktop-for-Mac/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Page 5 - Reviews of Parallels Desktop for Mac ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 101-125 of 147 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use RM Robin M. Filmmaker Motion Pictures and Film Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The best way to run windows on a mac" March 12, 2019 4.0 I have used Parallels on my both my MacBook Pro and iMac. I love having the ability to quickly access software that I would not normally be able to run on my Macs. Pros Parallels makes it easy to run Microsoft Windows on your Mac computer. It is simple to set up and gets you up and running quickly. There are a handful of Windows based software that cannot be run on a Mac. Parallels allows you to run these softwares without having to use a separate Windows machine. Cons Parallels can sometimes make you machine run sluggishly or slowly if you have too many programs running at the same time. Review Source DN Dennis N. Software Engineer Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Been using it to run windows applications on macOS while working for a software company." March 9, 2018 4.0 Pros I like the most that it has itself the image of the windows, so i don't have to download anything extra apart from the app, I like that it's super fast and it almost feels like real boot not a virtual machine, and last i like the design! Cons I don't like that when i downloaded it, it used to bug me out for buying the full version, and everytime i turn it on it has this big red text blocks saying that am on trial version, and its counting down how many days i got left, like the world is going to end. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer President Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 2+ years ### "A good option for Mac users" October 4, 2018 3.0 Pros The ability to customize operating system imports and run multiple virtual machines Cons Caused some settings to be lost or changed for scanner and other peripherals Review Source SW Simon W. Project Manager Construction Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Why did I wait so long?" August 19, 2021 5.0 Pros I had been using Bluebeam for Mac in my workflows until they discontinued and cut off support for the platform. Existing versions had failed so I installed Parallels and was amazed by how easy it was to switch back and forth and open windows based applications. Seamless! Cons The desktop clearing function is nice to have but also a nuisance to toggle. Review Source LB Laura B. Architect Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Parallels Using ACAD LT on Mac." May 2, 2018 4.0 Pros Love being able to use mac for adobe products as well as being able to print like the rest of the mac users in our small office, while concurrently running windows programs such as ACAD LT. Cons Not being able to save to desktop/server in quite the same way between mac and PC. The frequent updates for parallels can also be tedious and expensive. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Chief Operating Officer, and HIPAA Privacy Officer Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Parallels works well as long as you are not on a Windows Domain" June 21, 2018 4.0 Pros It's basically like running a PC and a Mac side by side. The two talk to each other so you can share files across them, and each one gets a different IP address. Cons If you are on a Windows Domain, every time Windows updates you'll lose your domain trust relationship. This makes it unsuitable for many businesses. Also, some hardware drivers don't translate well. For example, xray sensors that plug into USB slots may not work using the Windows drivers. Review Source OT Oliver T. Partner Used the software for: 2+ years ### "A must program for those dedicated to iMacs and MBPs that require legacy Microsoft based software." February 7, 2018 4.0 Pros This program has evolved nicely over the last three versions. The Parallels toolbox is a great addition that allows proper management of Mac OS X in a Microsoft fashion. Cons Still finding some glitches here and there, especially when Apple decides to upgrade OS X every fall. Parallels takes a few days or weeks to catch up with a patch. Review Source AK Aaron K. Teacher Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Not a great experience" May 5, 2018 3.0 Pros It does give you the capability of running Windos OS on your Mac. It came free with some other software that we had purchased. Cons It was very glitchy and really was slow! Overall, the software programs like Word and Excel or some gradebook programs were extremely slow and crashed often. Also, it took FOREVER for Parallels to boot up on the Macbooks that we had at the time. Once I figured out Bootcamp, Parallels was removed. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer President and Board Member Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Saves so much time, works great" July 30, 2018 5.0 Pros We just deployed this and were more than pleasantly surprised at how simple it was to do. The video tutorials are so simply written and easy to follow. We have already deployed remote apps via cloud in a breeze! Their SAS model makes it very affordable too. Cons There just wasn't much to write here, best new app of the year for us. Set up can be a challenge but the tutorials really help. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer surgeon Medical Practice Used the software for: I used a free trial ### "Best way to download Netflix videos on Mac" March 26, 2021 5.0 excellent Pros First off, I thought running windows would require you to be very tech savvy but Parallels makes it super easy. All you do is download it and now you have windows on Mac. This is the best and fastest way to be able to download the Netflix app on your Mac so you can have the option to download movies to your Mac. Cons It costs money but well worth it. Free trial is only 7 days. Review Source Filip T. Software Engineer Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Once you get it up and running it's a pretty smooth experience" March 7, 2018 3.0 Pros Great for running both Windows and Linux on a Mac. Seamless connectivity with external USB devices (a feature I mostly use Parallels for). Depending on your needs it can integrate with your Mac Dock environment. Cons Setup can be really painful. When choosing default available options to setup Windows trial I would have to restart the download dozens of times. Ended up downloading ISO separately. Terrible upgrade policy. Review Source Roy I. Works great as long as your Mac is powerful Financial Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great for Mac users that need PC applications" February 5, 2020 4.0 It is a great alternative to buying an actual PC and will run most PC software. It is actually easier to use than having 2 computers. Pros I like being able to share clipboard s between Mac And PC. The app is seamless between platforms it is surprisingly easy. Cons The support for the app is sometimes difficult to access and if you have difficulty installing an application you are stuck with typical PC issues like blue screens etc. Review Source BH Bud H. Principal Computer Software Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Implemented on multiple MACs (iMac, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air). Easy to install and maintain" February 16, 2018 4.0 One MAC able to run multiple operating systems and share resources as desired. We were able to clear out multiple desktop machines, KVM switches, cables, and power adaptors. Pros The ease of installation and the fact that the MAC does automatic archiving when you use TimeMachine. It's very easy to recover when a user messes up the system, or when they contract a virus. Because the guest OS is isolated from the other guests and from the MAC, recovery is easy. Review Source John S. Head of Talent Acquisition Real Estate Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Best of both worlds" November 14, 2018 5.0 Pros Parallels allows me to run my windows disk on my mac with no issue. Everything works as it should & I can even share files. Cons Parallels is expensive & not as good as other competitors Review Source KM Kyler M. Systems Analyst Higher Education Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "The Better of the Two Mac Virtualization Software" February 27, 2019 4.0 Pros Parallels is a great product because of how cheap it is to first buy the software and then paying for the yearly upgrades with each new macOS version that comes to market. Cons Parallels can have some small hiccups when first installing it on a device, but it is not too hard to figure out what went wrong and to manipulate the software for the guest O/S you are trying to use. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Associate Law Practice Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Offers significant platform flexibility" February 12, 2019 3.0 Pros I found that, (when it works as advertised), it can be a seamless solution for accessing software across platforms and taking advantage of those functionalities. Cons It is an enormous commitment to install and use this functions. Beware, should only be used when you're sure you need it at the risk of losing data. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer CTO Retail Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Perfect for Mac" November 9, 2022 5.0 Pros Parallels is very easy to use, it's work very well on mac with M1 architecture. Cons To be honest, I haven't see lot of cons, the software is very easy to use and setup, I didn't face any limitation Review Source AK Allie K. Author Publishing Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Parallels is the best of both worlds - A Fabulous addition to my Mac" September 21, 2022 5.0 This was the only way I could make some programs work for my business. I didn't want to have to carry around two laptops, and now I don't have to! I'm so happy! Pros Ever have those moments when you wonder why you switched to a Mac when some things aren't compatible? Wonder no longer! Parallels Desktop for Mac makes it easy to get the best of both worlds! I can use all of the things that are Mac exclusive and still get the functionality of a PC for PC-only programs with this easy virtual machine! Cons Some of the popups get a little obtrusive, but overall there isn't anything to complain about this product. Review Source MO Mark O. Therapist Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Parallels is a program I use to continue with legacy Windows programs needs." March 1, 2018 3.0 Pros I like the way the program starts up and integrates my Mac desktop with the windows environment tucked away behind a single icon. Cons Not easy to find some answers to obscure questions. Sometimes you have to shut down the whole Mac machine to fix some of the incompatabilities that the Windows program is having with the Win OS being cloned. Review Source JT Jacob T. Consumer Computer Software Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Parralells a way to run two OS on one mac" October 8, 2022 5.0 It’s a wonderful software and I used to use it to play my games on steam. Minimum software and hardware needed for a high performance job Pros It was a very easy setup and install you give the program specifics to get the machine installed then you have essentially the ability to operate a completely different operating system on your Mac Cons It can lag sometimes and when I was using it drag support was not enabled which is the purpose of me needing it at the time. Whereas you could drag things from your aerate operating system onto the native operating system Review Source LD Luz D. Project Manager Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Parallels desktop for Mac - A life saver for Mac users needing to run windows" September 17, 2021 5.0 My main benefit is being able to run the apps needed for work (Like Visio and other proprietary tools from work that only run on windows). Pros The main thing is that it allows me to keep using my Mac and IOS platform and at the same time use my Windows applications if needed. With the "Coherence" functionality, I can continue using my Mac as normally and open the windows app as if they were native Mac, without the annoying switching back and forth between virtual machines. Cons The space it takes to install the Windows instance is sizable. If you don't have enough free space it might not run properly. In some applications, I have noticed it slows down the CPU, but that's a price I am willing to pay for not needing to buy (or use) a windows computer. Review Source MD Matteo D. Managing Director Accounting Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Fantastic way to use Windows-based softwares on my Mac! " April 29, 2022 5.0 Pros This program saved me from having to purchase a new computer. I was unable to use our accounting software on my Mac, as it is only able to be used on Windows. However after some research I came across Parallels, which was easy to install and offered a 7 day free trial. I was then able to download the software onto my Parallels screen, which runs hybrid on my Mac, without having to switch in and out of interfaces. Cons The price is high, but better than having to buy a new computer to get my Windows-based softwares to work! Review Source VB Vanessa B. Canon for Administration Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Parallels decent solution but has its drawbacks" November 29, 2018 4.0 Pros Parallels offers a solution for those of use who are Mac users but who need to use software that is only Windows based. For that, it is valuable. I use at least two pieces of software on my computer that are necessary for my work, but am still able to use a Mac, which I prefer. Cons It can be exceedingly slow to load and can slow down software functioning, even when working with the most recent version of Parallels. This can be frustrating, particularly when doing design work and there are hitches and delays in function. Review Source Jason A. Owner/CEO Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Useful software for Windows on Mac" March 12, 2018 4.0 Pros Great way to be able to run Windows on a Mac! This software not only makes that easy but it also allows for easy switching between Operating Systems. Cons The pricing for the software is a little steep for a simple dual OS. If it were a little less costly it would be the perfect solution. Review Source SC Si C. Pastor Used the software for: 2+ years ### "A great application for running a Windows virtual desktop environment." April 9, 2018 4.0 Pros This program is a great solution for running native Windows applications on an Apple computer without having to reboot MacOS into Windows. While there are cheaper options, Parallels is easier to set up and more user friendly. Cons The cons of this software are the same for all virtual desktop applications. This includes the cost of purchasing a retail version of Microsoft Windows (unless one is running a Linux OS) and the challenge of running power hungry applications within the virtual desktop. Review Source Similar Products Featured