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Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs Parallels Desktop comparison

Citrix and Parallels are both solutions in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category. Citrix is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.5, while Parallels is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.0. Citrix holds a 13.0% mindshare in VD, compared to Parallels’s 11.2% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Citrix users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Parallels users who would recommend it.
Parallels Desktop
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100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 2024

Citrix DaaS and Parallels Desktop are competing in the virtual desktop and application delivery market. Citrix DaaS has an advantage in scalability and support, while Parallels Desktop is noted for its feature set and overall value.

Features: Citrix DaaS offers robust enterprise-level capabilities, providing extensive scalability and integration with various IT environments. Key features include scalability, enterprise-level security, and integration with different IT ecosystems. Parallels Desktop delivers flexibility for seamless integration with macOS and Windows, making it ideal for high-performance application access on Mac devices. Key features include cross-platform compatibility, high-speed performance, and ease of use for both personal and professional tasks.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Citrix DaaS supports complex enterprise needs with a sophisticated deployment process, backed by comprehensive customer service. Parallels Desktop provides a straightforward setup process, beneficial for individual and small business users seeking quick, efficient deployment, and is supported by accessible customer service.

Pricing and ROI: Citrix DaaS generally incurs a higher setup cost due to its extensive capabilities, promising significant ROI for large enterprises over time. Parallels Desktop offers a cost-effective solution with quicker ROI, appealing to smaller businesses or individuals. Citrix focuses on long-term value for large-scale operations, while Parallels emphasizes immediate cost efficiency.

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To learn more, read our detailed Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs. Parallels Desktop Report (Updated: September 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs. Parallels Desktop
September 2025
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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

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citri...
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
127
Ranking in other categories
Application Virtualization (1st), Remote Access (4th), Desktop as a Service (DaaS) (1st)
Parallels Desktop
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
6th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) is 13.0%, up from 10.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Parallels Desktop is 11.2%, up from 11.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)13.0%
Parallels Desktop11.2%
Other75.8%
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

Grant Waddell - PeerSpot reviewer
User-friendly and easily accessible, but cost could be made cheaper
We use Citrix Workspace on Citrix Cloud. We have all of our servers on the AWS public cloud. There are a number of tools that we can implement that would save us costs. However, we've stuck to Citrix for convenience. If the prices keep increasing, we will have to consider other solutions. Users need to understand the tool's limitations correctly and what they require from a usability perspective. They should also understand the configuration of security policies. In some cases, people are unable to download or upload files onto their PCs, which is necessary for them to do their work. Users should understand the limitations of the product or the configuration options. Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
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Grant-Donald - PeerSpot reviewer
It integrates seamlessly with macOS, but it's not compatible with VMware
Parallels Desktop does the same thing as VMware but for Apple users Parallels Desktop integrates seamlessly with macOS. It works better than VMware on Apple operating systems.  The biggest challenge is compatibility between VMware and Parallels because the two systems are incompatible. It can be…
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

"The price and user interface are great."
"Remote work has been enhanced"
"One of the best features of Citrix Workspace is that we can access it from any device anywhere."
"Centralization and security are the most valuable features of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops."
"The most valuable feature is the gateway to a remote connection, to a physical or a virtual PC. Compared to a normal VPN client and connection, the connection via Citrix is more stable and does not consume as much network bandwidth."
"Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is a stable solution."
"My focus has primarily been on publishing virtual applications."
"The most valuable feature is the watermark because most of the time our employees connect from a remote location. In case they photograph the DDA or some data, the watermark will show which user did so and from which IP they connected. That makes it more secure."
More Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) pros
"Parallels Desktop integrates seamlessly with macOS. It works better than VMware on Apple operating systems."
"I like how, with Parallels, you can either boot into Mac or Windows to get better control over the resources of the laptops since you're sharing the resources in dual mode."
 

Cons

"There is room for improvement because it has a lot of dependency on Active Directory and other things. If they could come up with something similar and native, a complete solution portfolio would help."
"The product should expand its capabilities for integrating with other environments."
"It would be great if they included VPN features and improved connectivity."
"The product's technical support services need improvement."
"We would like to be able to provide VDI, a full desktop, to each of our users."
"Their customer support can be improved a lot as it lacks a lot of knowledgeable help."
"Where improvement could be driven is in terms of clarity as to the functionality of some of the solutions. If you go back to the older Citrix Xen products that we had, we understood those really well. As we've come into the new workstation premium suite, there is a lot of additional functionality that we perhaps have not yet fully exploited. It is not because we can't, but simply because we don't yet understand the depth of functionality that's offered."
"The product advances really fast. For some customers, we need better backwards compatibility."
More Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) cons
"The biggest challenge is compatibility between VMware and Parallels because the two systems are incompatible. It can be challenging if you are switching between Windows and Mac. I recommend sticking with one product because there isn't good compatibility between the different products."
"There may have been some issues with device drivers on my Mac. Similarly, there are some issues with transferring data from Parallels to the Mac."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If you look at cost, then you must look at the number of users that you are covering. If you are only using it for some users, then it is very expensive. However, if you have a massive amount of users, then it begins to be interesting to use Citrix. Because once you are managing thousands of servers with one guy, your maintenance costs decrease per user."
"The solution is expensive and I give the cost a four out of ten."
"Citrix is expensive."
"We have more than a million seats under management so we get the best price."
"Their licensing model used to be on a per-year basis, where you would negotiate the cost per user for a year. For instance, if you had 25,000 users, you could negotiate the cost accordingly. However, they are transitioning to a subscription-based model where the cost is incurred monthly."
"You can buy an on-cloud or on-prem license. You can switch between on-cloud users and on-prem users. Its licensing is cheap. It is from $8 to $15 per user. It is not that expensive when you compare the cost of buying new hardware with the cost of the license. For example, at $15 per user, it costs around $180 for a year, which is cheaper than buying a $600 PC that at a certain stage, you will again have to change because its hardware is not supported. It may also get damaged or stolen. So, you can compare the cost of the actual hardware that you have to buy and the time spent in supporting the clients with the cost of its license."
"We are just now approaching the end of our initial purchase, which was an excellent price for us as an academic institution. We got a very good deal to get us on board. That license is up for renewal in about a year, and we are nervously waiting to see what the pricing will be."
"They offer licensing per user. From time to time, they give discounts. Because it's a hybrid model, you can deploy some portion of it on cloud and some portion your on-prem."
More Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) pricing and cost advice
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
13%
University
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business43
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise68
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?
My focus has primarily been on publishing virtual applications.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?
I rate the product’s pricing a seven out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?
I have found that Citrix DaaS is still a complex product, especially on the desktop side, which affects scalability. Although it works well on the apps side, the desktop aspect still has room for i...
See all answers
What do you like most about Parallels Desktop?
I like how, with Parallels, you can either boot into Mac or Windows to get better control over the resources of the laptops since you're sharing the resources in dual mode.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Parallels Desktop?
If you want the standard version, it is more expensive but more advanced. You get what you pay for. These products cost money, and the company has to make a profit.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Parallels Desktop?
There may have been some issues with device drivers on my Mac. Similarly, there are some issues with transferring data from Parallels to the Mac.
See all answers
 

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)
September 2025
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) reportDownload Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) product report
Buyer's Guide
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
September 2025
Parallels Desktop reportDownload Parallels Desktop product report
 

Also Known As

XenDesktop, XenApp (Citrix Virtual Apps), Citrix Workspace
No data available
 

Interactive Demo

Citrix
Demo not available
Parallels
 

Overview

Enable secure, flexible work with the leader in virtual apps and desktops

Deliver desktop as a service (DaaS) from any cloud or datacenter

Get started with Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) in minutes to provide a familiar, high-performance digital workspace experience to your users. We’ll manage the infrastructure and security. You focus on your business.

Citrix

Parallels Desktop is a virtualization software for Mac that allows users to run Windows, Linux, and other operating systems alongside macOS without rebooting. It provides a seamless experience for users who need access to different operating systems on a single machine.

As a powerful cross-platform solution, Parallels Desktop is designed for developers, testers, and users who require flexibility in operating multiple systems concurrently. It efficiently manages resources, offering significant advantages for those who need Windows applications on a Mac without compromising on performance. Its intuitive setup and strong integration with macOS make it highly appealing to technical teams looking for productivity enhancements.

What features stand out in Parallels Desktop?
  • Coherence Mode: Integrates Windows applications with macOS for a unified user experience.
  • Resource Allocation: Allows users to fine-tune resources dedicated to each virtual machine for optimal performance.
  • Cross-Platform Data Transfer: Enables easy sharing of files and data between operating systems.
What benefits and ROI should users look for?
  • Increased Productivity: Seamless access to Windows applications on Mac can enhance workflow efficiency.
  • Cost-Effective Solution: Reduces the need for multiple devices, saving on hardware costs.
  • Improved Flexibility: Offers the ability to run testing environments on a single device, increasing operational flexibility.

In industries like software development and design, Parallels Desktop is often implemented to streamline operations, allowing professionals to simultaneously utilize macOS and Windows tools. This adaptability proves essential in environments that demand the use of diverse software applications, ensuring continuity and productivity.

Parallels
 

Sample Customers

Exelon, Aeronamic, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Alameda County Medical Center, Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Aloysius Stichting, Amarchand Mangaldas, AmBev, Amnet Technology Solutions, Arval
Lytro, University of Washington, Slalom, Veeva Systems, Oklahoma Christian University
Buyer's Guide
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs. Parallels Desktop
September 2025
Free Report: Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) vs. Parallels Desktop
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