Nerdio vs Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) comparison

Nerdio and Parallels are both solutions in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category. Nerdio is ranked #10 with an average rating of 9.5, while Parallels is ranked #13. Nerdio holds a 2.6% mindshare in VD, compared to Parallels’s 3.3% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Nerdio users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Parallels users who would recommend it.

Nerdio

Read 2 Nerdio reviews

946 Views
946 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Parallels Remote Applicatio...

Read 25 Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) reviews

2,214 Views
2,059 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Nerdio

Parallels Remote Applicatio...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

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

Find out in this report how the two Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Nerdio vs. Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Nerdio vs. Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

April 2026

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Helped 886,664 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

Nerdio

Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

10th

Average Rating

9.6

Reviews Sentiment

8.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Parallels Remote Applicatio...

Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

13th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Virtualization (4th)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Nerdio is 2.6%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) is 3.3%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Nerdio	2.6%
Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)	3.3%
Other	94.1%

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Featured Reviews

Maarten Bruijnesteijn

IT Infrastucture Engineer at PPG

Automation capabilities enhance cost-saving and scaling efforts

The auto-heal functionality needs improvement. Currently, the feature is limited because it only allows one heal condition and doesn't support multiple triggers. The capability to use different conditions, like the presence of online users during a failed installation, is missing. The current state makes it less useful, but I have even submitted a feature request for a better solution.

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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

"Nerdio is completely an automation platform offering auto-scaling and flexibility."

"The customer service from Nerdio is excellent, and I even know the CEO personally and have a positive experience, rating it nine out of ten."

"The most valuable features of Nerdio are its automation capabilities, specifically the autoscale and auto-heal functionalities."

"The solution is one hundred percent stable and very much straightforward."

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

"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."

"Stability and reliability."

"Parallels Desktop allows me to run both Mac and Windows operating systems on a single machine, eliminating the need for separate Windows hardware."

"Very fast, easy to setup and manage."

"Allows us to publish applications accessible by current-generation HTML5 browser or OS-specific client (Windows, Android, iOS), and it supports popular single sign-on and multi-factor authentication protocols."

"The management capability from the RAS portal provides greater control than using pure MS inbuilt into RDS capabilities."

"We can publish apps and desktops on Terminal Servers and seamlessly share printers."

More Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) pros

Cons

"The auto-heal functionality needs improvement. Currently, the feature is limited because it only allows one heal condition and doesn't support multiple triggers."

"They should start providing the certifications on Nerdio for training and enhancements, mainly for the open community of IT."

"The auto-heal functionality needs improvement."

"They should start providing the certifications on Nerdio for training and enhancements, mainly for the open community of IT."

"When the customer is connected, they use a specific publishing agent and if that agent fails, the customer loses their connection."

"From a seller's point of view, there are a lot of things that they could do better in the sales cycle."

"The product does not utilize SQL for reporting purposes. Also, it does not support some hypervisors similar to Citrix. These particular areas need improvement."

"A web-based management interface for administration and reporting would be nice, instead of needing to log into a remote server."

"It needs Windows scaling on Android/iOS devices. At present, the concept of delivering apps to Android and iOS devices is appealing, but the reality is the screen size on these devices is so small that, unless there is some scaling option, it is not really usable."

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

"Improvement is needed in performance monitoring of the client's endpoint, and automatic re-connection of the client in the event of circuit disruptions (this works well generally but can present challenges)."

"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."

More Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"The product is not expensive. I rate its pricing a three or four out of ten."

"Parallels is a cost effective alternative to Citrix."

"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."

"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."

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

"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."

"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."

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

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Outsourcing 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 Nerdio?

It is competitively priced in the market.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Nerdio?

They should start providing the certifications on Nerdio for training and enhancements, mainly for the open community of IT. It should not be restricted to partners only, yet available to everyone.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Nerdio?

During the implementation and management stage, I use Nerdio Manager for enterprise for deploying and quickly rolling out virtual desktops to end users. Once I complete the production rollout, I st...

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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...

See all answers

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

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Compared 3% of the time

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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

VMware Workstation vs Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

Compared 6% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

April 2026

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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

Nerdio is the definitive solution for Microsoft Azure deployment, packaging, pricing, management, and optimization.

Nerdio for Azure empowers MSPs to build successful cloud practices in Azure, and we will do whatever it takes to help them succeed.

Nerdio

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

BeMo, Northstar Technologies

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

Nerdio vs. Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

April 2026

Free Report: Nerdio vs. Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)

Find out what your peers are saying about Nerdio vs. Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.

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