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Horizon 8 vs Parallels Desktop comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 2024

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

Horizon 8
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
115
Ranking in other categories
User Virtualization (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 October 2025, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Horizon 8 is 7.4%, down from 12.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Parallels Desktop is 10.2%, down from 12.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Horizon 87.4%
Parallels Desktop10.2%
Other82.4%
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

Muhammad JunaidJawed - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps ensure data leaks do not occur from the base machine to VDI while multi-instance capabilities remain limited
I have been using Horizon for two years. It provides my DevOps team access to PAM and server through the provider The solution has helped ensure data leaks do not occur from the base machine to VDI, and it saves data through API copyright. The solution has data leak prevention features that…
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…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"VMware Horizon View is an easy-to-use solution."
"The support from VMware is very good and they have amazing experts."
"We like that VMware is the top competitor in virtualization."
"Users can log in from anywhere and from a variety of devices."
"The most valuable features of VMware Horizon in our education organization are its Graphics Virtualization Unit (GVU) integration."
"VMware Horizon 7 has its proprietary Elastic streaming protocol, which is very good for delivering VDI."
"Great sorting feature to create UI on demand."
"The solution simplifies our work."
"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."
"Parallels Desktop integrates seamlessly with macOS. It works better than VMware on Apple operating systems."
 

Cons

"VMware Horizon 7 could improve by supporting the active-active data center. At this time we are only deploying it in the production environment. Our customer is considered to deploy the VMware Horizon 7 to a secondary data center, but we found out that it cannot fully support the user in the deployment in the active-active data center. Any improvement on this would be beneficial."
"The technical support offered by VMware is an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"The product fails to support Mac or Apple workstations."
"The multimedia playback is not very good and they could improve it by increasing the quality."
"The product's initial setup process could be easier."
"The issue now with VMware is that we don't know the future of the solution. Because if you follow the news, it was acquired by another company, and they are changing the old product line."
"We would like to see better performance with the product."
"The initial setup is a little complicated."
"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

"VMware Horizon is priced high."
"VMware Horizon is expensive. It should provide a special price for more user licenses."
"The solution's pricing depends on certain factors. It would be best if you know which components you are looking for, as you may have other hardware costs. It is recommended if users want to use the VMware HPE as the hypervisor."
"The product is extremely expensive."
"We pay for the solution annually at a cost of approximately 10,000 HKD."
"This solution is expensive. A lot of companies in Mexico find that the price is too high."
"VMware Horizon View is an expensive product. My company needs to opt for a subscription-based pricing model when it comes to the licensing costs attached to the product."
"The pricing can be relatively competitive, but sometimes you have to go back to VMware and ask for additional discounts. You can make it competitive If you're prepared to put in the work. The list prices and standard discounts may not be competitive, but if you push hard enough, you can get the price to where you need it to be."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
14%
University
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business61
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise44
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

How does VMware Workspace One compare with VMware Horizon 7?
VMware Workspace One has a powerful set of helpful features. The solution offers very good documentation, the initial setup is easy, and the product is very stable and reliable. I think the fact th...
What do you like most about VMware Horizon 7?
VMware offers a friendly environment, and it's easy to provide the user with the package. It is a bundled solution that is readily deployable. The advantage lies in its simplicity, it requires mini...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Horizon 7?
We paid a lot of money for software that is not really fully operational out of the box. We had to have patches from VMware to get it into production. Hence, we lost a lot of time implementing the ...
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.
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.
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.
 

Also Known As

VMware Horizon, VMware Horizon View, Mware Dynamic Environment Manager
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

LCMC Health
Lytro, University of Washington, Slalom, Veeva Systems, Oklahoma Christian University
Find out what your peers are saying about Horizon 8 vs. Parallels Desktop and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
872,706 professionals have used our research since 2012.