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Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs Parallels Access comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

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

Microsoft Intune
Sponsored
Ranking in Remote Access
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
377
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (1st), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
Microsoft Remote Desktop Se...
Ranking in Remote Access
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
91
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (2nd)
Parallels Access
Ranking in Remote Access
23rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Remote Access category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 5.4%, down from 10.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is 6.6%, down from 10.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Parallels Access is 1.7%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Remote Access Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Intune5.4%
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services6.6%
Parallels Access1.7%
Other86.3%
Remote Access
 

Featured Reviews

HA
Senior Business Development Executive at Digitaltrack
Centralized device management has automated onboarding and improves remote security compliance
One thing I feel Microsoft Intune could improve is troubleshooting visibility. In many cases, when a policy or application deployment fails, the error messages are a bit generic. So, admins still spend time checking logs manually or testing on devices one by one. Compared to the simplicity of deployment, troubleshooting sometimes feels less mature. I also think reporting and real-time monitoring could be stronger. The dashboard gives useful information, but in large environments, many teams still depend on additional tools or scripts for deeper reporting and analytics. If I had to focus on one area first, I would probably choose troubleshooting and reporting. Deployment through Microsoft Intune is generally straightforward, but when something fails, identifying the exact root cause can still take more time than expected. Error messages are sometimes too generic, and admins often have to dig through logs, sync status, or multiple portals to understand what actually happened. I think user experience and policy management could also improve further. Microsoft Intune has become much better over the years, but sometimes the admin portal still feels fragmented because certain configurations open in different sections or redirect to older interfaces. For new admins, especially, it can take time to understand where everything is located. Another thing is policy conflict handling. In larger organizations, multiple device policies, compliance rules, and configuration profiles can overlap. When conflicts happen, the visibility is not always very clear, so admins spend time figuring out which policy actually won or caused the issue.
reviewer2795433 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Ops Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Secure remote access has protected sensitive country data and supports strict compliance needs
I understand from the IT team managing Microsoft Remote Desktop Services that it is complex to set up the multiple roles, certificates, and networks required. Networking is quite complicated. Even though on the data center side it is quite simple, maintaining the farm of other connections that connect to that server is the complex piece. I understand there are more modern systems replicating what this solution does, which are easier to use, such as Azure Virtual Desktop within Microsoft Azure Cloud or Amazon WorkSpaces, which I have used before. Rather than having to manage all the complex networking, you could abstract it away a little further in the cloud for easier use. I also understand that this tool is in an end-of-life state now, with Microsoft actively pushing people towards Azure Virtual Desktop or Windows 365. I do not believe further features will be rolled out due to its end-of-life state, making it a legacy solution now.
JP
CEO at a non-profit with 1-10 employees
Allows users to access and operate their computers remotely
When you want to transfer a file from your iPad or remote device to the computer, the copy-and-paste feature doesn't always work. I'd have to turn on the Bluetooth a lot of times and transfer it that way on both devices, which was troublesome. However, it would sometimes randomly work. I could go on my iPad, find whatever I wanted to do, click copy, then go over to the computer through Parallels Access, click paste, and it would randomly work. I had to call Parallels many times. They would log in and try something, which would temporarily work, but then it wouldn't. When it worked, it made integration between the two things great. That was a very helpful feature that didn't get polished.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Compliance and the policies that can be set are the most valuable features."
"These capabilities have made a significant impact in my work, providing a comprehensive view of all devices and features in a single platform."
"It is easy to use and easy to roll out with low impact on users; it is stable and scalable as well, and the central administration con dashboard is very easy to use and provides very good oversight on all that needs to be monitored."
"Microsoft Intune has positively impacted our organization by improving our security posture and making device management much more efficient, especially for remote users and distributed teams."
"Autopilot is the most valuable feature."
"The biggest benefits of Intune are the ability to push changes and the added security. When we moved forward with Defender, we onboarded all those machines automatically. That helps dramatically. For a while, we were left with machines that weren't protected. We could see where people had done things they shouldn't have done, and Defender saved our skins a few times. It didn't happen a lot, but it happened enough that it made us glad we made that decision."
"Microsoft Intune has positively impacted our organization by covering processes, improving security, and saving time."
"The Mobile Device Management in Intune is a valuable feature."
"I’d recommend the solution to others; it’s solved problems for us and worked well."
"It's a good solution, and especially if you already have Microsoft running then it's probably one of the better solutions to choose from."
"The product's initial setup phase was easy."
"The main benefit, is that it's easy for us to get the same desktop and do things in the same way regardless of our location."
"It's pretty stable."
"What I found most valuable in Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is accessibility because the solution lets you take control of your computer remotely."
"We've had a good experience with it over a number of years."
"Mostly we are quite happy with it."
"It's great that the total deployment can happen completely remotely."
"We don't have problems with stability. Everything is good."
"What seems to be the most valuable from the customer side is the ease of operation, and the overall experience they have."
"Parallels Access has flexible licensing policies, which is beneficial for customers who have intermittent usage or users who are on and off the system."
"The application used to publish for mobile devices is very good and the desktop publishing is very, very good."
"Parallels Access gives me full access and control of the computer, and I can do anything I want remotely."
"It's got a very easy-to-use interface."
 

Cons

"While the ability to deploy applications at startup is reliable, the policy-based application deployment method has not reached the same level of consistency."
"I find the price for Microsoft Intune too high, which represents an area for improvement in Microsoft's pricing model."
"Lacking ability to leverage more iOS device management internally."
"The challenge we experience is with Mac management. We find Intune not capable enough to handle Mac devices, configurations, or operating system deployments."
"The platform is incredibly slow and could be more responsive. Specifically, when making changes to security policies, I would like to see those changes take effect more quickly."
"Yes, there are a couple of issues with stability."
"There can be some added features, such as an improved dashboard. Any new feature that could be a benefit to our customers would be good."
"An area for improvement is the absence of seamless integration, particularly with external dashboards."
"We are searching for a product with better remote access and remote sessions."
"Microsoft still has some really bad remote desktop appliance for Mac."
"We had some instability during the implementation process. This has since been resolved."
"I've sometimes had trouble setting up an RDS connection if I want a specific user to be able to log in with their credentials and have the RDS element retain those settings so that the password isn't required each time."
"The initial setup of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services could be a bit simpler, as it is kind of tricky sometimes and there is not much good documentation mentioning all use cases or errors, which would be great if provided."
"It would be helpful if there was a feature that notifies you when the internet is down so you're not working for nothing, it should be something that pops right up where you can see it."
"The stability must be improved."
"For Microsoft, maybe bandwidth optimization is one of the areas that need improvement."
"There is room for improvement in the pricing policy. The price point is pretty aggressive."
"One challenge we do notice is that the application is limited to Windows servers only. If a customer has a Linux server, things get complicated. They should open it up a bit to be more compatible with different types of servers."
"When you want to transfer a file from your iPad or remote device to the computer, the copy-and-paste feature doesn't always work."
"The scalability is great for small or medium-sized businesses. However, it may not scale well for enterprise-level entities."
"The solution may not scale well for enterprises."
"They could improve the reporting."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"While Microsoft charges for actual usage, it lacks discount options."
"Intune comes with the licensing that is common for large organizations. However, Microsoft has recently released many add-ons that are very expensive, especially for large organizations or corporations."
"It is expensive. The cost depends on the license that we choose."
"It's reasonable. They're not giving it away, but it's reasonable."
"Microsoft Intune has a user-based subscription model. You can go for a monthly or a yearly payment."
"It is cheap, but as compared to Google, it is costly. Google is cheaper, but quality-wise, Microsoft Intune is better."
"The price of Microsoft Intune is reasonable."
"I am not that aware of the pricing, but as compared to other MDM solutions, Microsoft is providing a lot of things at the organizational level. So, it is quite reasonable as compared to other MDM solutions."
"The price of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is reasonable. The solution can come for free for some clients with certain agreements."
"Its licensing is on a yearly basis. We're on the educational or academic license, and our terms are good. We're very happy with the pricing."
"The tool's pricing is high in the Slovenian market. I rate it a nine out of ten."
"There is a licensing cost."
"The cost is fair."
"The solution is overly expensive."
"I recall that you don't need to pay for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services because that's included in Windows."
"The pricing is moderate."
"The licensing costs are about $100 per user."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Construction Company
7%
Construction Company
11%
University
11%
Transportation Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business192
Midsize Enterprise62
Large Enterprise186
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business45
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise36
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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Microsoft Intune is a great tool for managing a mobile device fleet while keeping access control. The solution makes ...
What are the pros and cons of Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune is a great configuration management tool and has a lot of good things going for it. Here are some of...
How does Google Cloud Identity compare with Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
The experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that the pricing is based on licensing costs and the setup ...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services can be improved in several areas. Currently, it requires a license cost, it has per...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
Our main use case for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is to allow multiple users to remotely access our Windows mac...
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Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
Remote Desktop Services
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Bank Alfalah Ltd.
Gilt Groupe K.K.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs. Parallels Access and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,877 professionals have used our research since 2012.