Anbox Cloud vs Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) comparison

Canonical and Parallels are both solutions in the Application Virtualization category. Canonical is ranked #7 with an average rating of 10.0, while Parallels is ranked #4. Canonical holds a 0.9% mindshare in AV, compared to Parallels’s 14.7% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Canonical users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Parallels users who would recommend it.

Anbox Cloud

Read 1 Anbox Cloud review

2,020 Views
20 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Parallels Remote Applicatio...

Read 25 Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) reviews

1,910 Views
573 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Anbox Cloud

Parallels Remote Applicatio...

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Anbox Cloud and Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix, Microsoft, Parallels and others in Application Virtualization.

To learn more, read our detailed Application Virtualization Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Application Virtualization

March 2026

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Helped 885,837 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Anbox Cloud

Ranking in Application Virtualization

7th

Average Rating

10.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Parallels Remote Applicatio...

Ranking in Application Virtualization

4th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (13th)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Application Virtualization category, the mindshare of Anbox Cloud is 0.9%. The mindshare of Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) is 14.7%, down from 16.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Virtualization Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)	14.7%
Anbox Cloud	0.9%
Other	84.4%

Application Virtualization

Featured Reviews

ANDRE VINICIUS HAMERSKI

IT Private Cloud & Infrastructure Leader at Sicredi

Facilitates digital transformation with seamless integration

We have enjoyed the same experience as public cloud with a digital transformation since 2016, leading to a necessity to improve our environment using infrastructure as code. It helps run Android and system containers using Ubuntu Pro. The product made it easier to insert new components and hosts in our private cloud, allowing us to update the number of hosts in our environment.

Read full review

JohanSkibdahl

CEO at Etcetera Networks

Secure access across devices with cost-effective seamless integration

One valuable feature is the ability to securely use a wide range of devices to access the company's infrastructure. The inclusion of all necessary components, such as load balancer and gateways, in a monthly fee is also beneficial. In terms of Parallels Desktop, the coherence mode that allows Mac and Windows applications to run seamlessly side by side is highly regarded.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"It helps run Android and system containers using Ubuntu Pro."

"We have an excellent experience with support from Canonical, as they provide great support and our experience with the support team has been excellent."

"Ease of use in publishing apps and installing the agent. The Interface is fairly intuitive after some tinkering. Although I inherited the app only two-thirds deployed, I was able to complete the deployment and service it over the last year without referring to any documentation."

"It permits us to control the applications that our users are able to get to, in a seamless manner. We're able to distribute applications to users' desktops, just like those applications are on each user's computer, but they're not."

"You have the opportunity to virtualize applications in different locations, and everything is in one pane or one window, which is quite good."

"Stability and reliability."

"The most valuable feature is the ease with which you can publish applications to different groups of users, by integrating with Windows Active Directory."

"With Parallels, I just install it once into one location and the client does the work for me, providing ease of use and minimizing the man-hours that go into installation and the maintenance of IT."

"The connection is compressed so we don't need a lot of resources to run it."

"One valuable feature is the ability to securely use a wide range of devices to access the company's infrastructure."

More Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) pros

Cons

"In Brazil, it is difficult to find technical professionals with OpenStack or this technology skills."

"Since I've been here less than a year, I have had to upgrade the system three times. The first time was the major upgrade but they have upgraded twice since, and I think that's too many times in that time span."

"We have encountered stability issues at times. Some updates are not good and are followed by a new update soon after."

"The customization of the web interface could possibly use some improvement."

"We use several gateways because access to our secret zone requires two-factor user authentication. It is a lot of hassle differentiating among users with or without two-factor. Of course, we could use two farms, but that would mean more management too."

"Sometimes you need to understand how to use load balancing and the gateway in order to scale, which means the team may need some additional technical knowledge."

"The customization of the web interface could possibly use some improvement. Little things, like being able to place a background image instead of just choosing from a palette of colors, would be nice."

"We have had significant, ongoing issues with printing."

"Delegation in 2X Console currently accepts user accounts only, please add delegation for AD groups."

More Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"I recommend testing Parallels and comparing it to your needs. Compare the prices against what you are able to do with the product and its alternatives. Parallels is not a cheap product."

"Comparable performance to Citrix for our use case at a significantly lower cost. Pricing is clear and there are relatively few options or other pricing considerations when compared to similar products. Just be sure not to forget the Microsoft licensing that goes along with a Parallels deployment."

"Work with the vendor, as this is a fairly new product and they want use cases. Deals can be made."

"I think the new pricing is a little bit high. If the price was lower, we could use it for many more customers. If there was one improvement to be made to this product, it would be a small-business version, at a much lower price point."

"Pricing is a little steep."

"We currently use Parallels side-by-side with an Azure cloud-hosted solution. This may be from a lack of product knowledge on my part, but we still need to work out the most effective way to shut down servers outside of hours, thereby reduce hosting costs. I am not entirely convinced Parallels does this well yet."

"I don't like the subscription model because it feels like I have to pay every month. If Parallels could go back to the professional license, it would be much better."

"The pricing has always been competitive, and the new SPLA licensing model works great for our business and clients."

More Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Insurance Company

74%

Construction Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Transportation Company

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	14
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	10

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Anbox Cloud?

We have three clouds: one production, one for production, and one lab. We have a license supporting a specific number of hosts and update it each year, making the contract simple with them. It is n...

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What needs improvement with Anbox Cloud?

In Brazil, it is difficult to find technical professionals with OpenStack or this technology skills. The solution is complex to administrate, and the initial setup requires significant experience.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Anbox Cloud?

We are implementing Vicarious, a vulnerability management tool, and have integrations with Kubernetes using APIs. Also, we use Canonical to support access to technology documents, articles, and to ...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)?

The pricing for Parallels RAS is straightforward with a monthly fee for a minimum of 15 licenses. For Parallels Desktop, it is a yearly cost of a couple of hundred euros. No additional fees for mai...

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What needs improvement with Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)?

A potential improvement could be reducing the dependency on Microsoft solutions for Parallels RAS. As for Parallels Desktop, there is nothing specific that needs improvement.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)?

The primary use case of Parallels is to offer it to customers as a hosted service. I help them to migrate from other solutions like VMware to Parallels RAS. I recommend it to companies that prefer ...

See all answers

Comparisons

TrackIt vs Anbox Cloud

Compared 100% of the time

More Anbox Cloud Competitors

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

Compared 14% of the time

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

Compared 13% of the time

Parallels Desktop vs Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

Compared 8% of the time

Amazon WorkSpaces vs Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

Compared 7% of the time

Oracle VDI vs Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

Compared 6% of the time

More Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Application Virtualization

March 2026

Download Anbox Cloud product report

Buyer's Guide

Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

March 2026

Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) report

Download Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) product report

Also Known As

No data available

Parallels RAS

Overview

Anbox Cloud is a platform designed to provide scalable cloud-based environments for running Android applications. It delivers a virtualized Android operating system, allowing apps to operate independently of user devices.

Anbox Cloud enhances application delivery and management by virtualizing Android at scale on any cloud infrastructure. It enables organizations to offload processing from user devices to the cloud, improving application performance and reducing hardware dependency. The platform is aimed at developers and enterprises seeking robust, scalable Android app deployment solutions while maintaining high-performance standards.

What are the standout features of Anbox Cloud?

Scalable Deployment: Easily scales to manage thousands of Android instances.
Device Agnostic: Runs applications on any device without dependency.
Seamless Integration: Integrates with existing cloud and on-premise environments.
Dedicated Graphics Acceleration: Supports GPU usage for high-performance rendering.
Secure Data Handling: Offers secure management of app data and user interactions.

What benefits and ROI should users consider?

Cost Reduction: Minimizes hardware costs by leveraging cloud infrastructure.
Performance Improvement: Offloads processing to servers, enhancing app speed.
Flexibility: Adapts to changing deployment strategies and user demands.
Innovation Support: Facilitates the rapid development and testing of new apps.

Anbox Cloud is used across industries like gaming and education, transforming how Android applications are developed and deployed. In gaming, it provides a cloud gaming experience that requires less client-side processing power. In education, it enables online learning platforms to deliver interactive content efficiently on a global scale.

Canonical

ApplicationServer delivers applications, data and virtual desktops from a central location, providing continuous availability, resource-based load-balancing and complete network transparency.

Parallels

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Arsari Group _ PT Netmarks Indonesia, Izhevsk Elektromekhanicheskiy Zavod (IEMZ) _ Kupol, Abilene Diagnostic Clinic, Fylde Borough Council, YARSTROYREZE LLC, VSK Insurance House, Melenkovsky District of Vladimirskaya Oblast, Sofrigam SA, Antenna International, KingsGate Community Church, Norwegian American Hospital, Island Hotels Group, Medway Council, Medway Council, Voices of September 11th, MacDonald Training Center, Kansas Childrenês Service League, Scope,Next Generation Clubs, WTC Communications, Opera Australia, HSE Integrated, Danier, Bridgwater College, Kern County Mental Health, Tony Tiendas, Spears Manufacturing, Managed Insurance Services Inc., Intuitive Medical Software, M.J. Soffe, Mazda Motors, Israel Military Industries (IMI), Telfair, Upic Solutions, Teleflora, Fisher & Company

Buyer's Guide

Application Virtualization

March 2026

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