We compared Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion based on our user's reviews in several parameters.
Parallels Desktop excels in seamless Mac and Windows integration, running multiple OS effortlessly, exceptional performance, straightforward setup, and reliable virtualization. On the other hand, VMware Fusion is praised for seamless integration, powerful virtual machine performance, and extensive OS support. Parallels Desktop users appreciate its affordability, flexible licensing, and excellent customer service. VMware Fusion users value its exceptional customer support, positive ROI, and efficient performance. However, both products could benefit from improvements in performance, compatibility, user interface, and customer support according to user feedback.
Features: The valuable features of Parallels Desktop include seamless integration between Mac and Windows applications, the ability to run multiple operating systems, exceptional performance, easy setup process, and reliable virtualization capabilities. On the other hand, VMware Fusion is praised for its powerful virtual machine performance and extensive support for different operating systems.
Pricing and ROI: The setup cost for Parallels Desktop is praised for being affordable, straightforward, and without any additional costs. On the other hand, VMware Fusion's setup cost may require technical expertise. Both products offer flexible licensing options to meet different needs., Parallels Desktop has been praised for its efficiency in running Windows applications on a Mac, improving productivity and workflow. It is also cost-effective and reliable. On the other hand, VMware Fusion is valued for its ability to seamlessly run multiple operating systems, offering a user-friendly interface and delivering cost and time savings.
Room for Improvement: Parallels Desktop users want improved performance, user-friendly interface, better compatibility, customization options, and better customer support. VMware Fusion users desire better performance, compatibility, user interface, support, and frequent bug fixes and software updates.
Deployment and customer support: The reviews comparing Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion regarding the duration required for establishing a new tech solution highlight some differences. While both products had users reporting three months for deployment and an additional week for setup, some users found that deployment and setup took only a week. This suggests that the terms "deployment" and "setup" may refer to the same period, emphasizing the importance of understanding the context in which these terms are used., Customers have reported highly satisfactory customer service experiences with both Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion. Parallels Desktop offers prompt and helpful assistance, while VMware Fusion excels with their in-depth knowledge and professionalism.
The summary above is based on 6 interviews we conducted recently with Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion users. To access the review's full transcripts, download our report.
"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."
"It is a highly stable solution."
"The whole point of it is to run Windows VMs on a Mac. This is the most valuable feature. There is snapshotting, but we don't really use that. The Pro version allows me to actually attach to the Windows ESXi infrastructure at the backend, and I'm able to create a session that I can attach to the VMware hooks at the backend, so one is running a VM, and the whole operating system is running on the actual Mac. The other one is literally a frontend to the VMs that are running in the infrastructure at the backend. These are the two main features I use."
"The product is easy to use and has a simple user interface."
"The most value that it provides is that it is versatile."
"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."
"VMware Fusion's licensing cost needs improvement."
"The way they handle snapshotting can be improved. One time, I moved a machine from one to another, and I tried to pull it up on the second machine, but it didn't work. This was because I had not cleaned up the snapshot before I deleted it and moved it across. So, when I tried to pull it up, it wouldn't let me bring it up. The backups for the VMs themselves can also be improved. I pretty much have to rely on Windows backups and not something on VMware. That's where it needs improvement. I am able to upload from my Fusion into the ESXi easily. I'm able to spin something up on Fusion and push it into the big arena, but the reverse is not as easy, that is, trying to pull something down from that. I would love to have a functionality where I could pull something from the VMware infrastructure into Fusion, but I'm not sure if I can take something from ESXi and pull it into Fusion."
"I would like to see newer and updated cloud functions."
"Its installation process could be simpler."
Parallels Desktop is ranked 10th in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) with 2 reviews while VMware Fusion is ranked 7th in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) with 5 reviews. Parallels Desktop is rated 7.6, while VMware Fusion is rated 9.0. The top reviewer of Parallels Desktop writes "A great platform to develop interoperable code on". On the other hand, the top reviewer of VMware Fusion writes "Robust software with efficient snapshot and cloning features". Parallels Desktop is most compared with VMware Workstation, NComputing vSpace, NVIDIA GRID, VMware Horizon View and Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service), whereas VMware Fusion is most compared with VMware Workstation, VMware Player, VMware Horizon View, VMware Horizon and Citrix Workspace. See our Parallels Desktop vs. VMware Fusion report.
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