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Parallels Desktop vs Workspace ONE UEM 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

Parallels Desktop
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
8th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Workspace ONE UEM
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (6th), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (2nd), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (11th), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Parallels Desktop is 6.3%, down from 15.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Workspace ONE UEM is 2.5%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Workspace ONE UEM2.5%
Parallels Desktop6.3%
Other91.2%
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

MH
Payments Architect at Self Employed
A great platform to develop interoperable code on
The decision to transition away from Intel chips to their silicon. They are processing, and there are many examples. Instead of not having a product to use for a while, they have just released it now. However, if you're seeking a product that is industry-ready regularly or has plans to make it so, considering the upcoming changes, I recommend trying out Parallels Desktop in beta. When you're only dealing with Windows, we do much in the Windows version, but it is not improving the Windows operating system. If you're hosting a Windows platform or another version of the machine, the code will have limitations. Windows is not a walled garden, with no significant volatility or instability. Windows is quite versatile. I never encountered intrusive ads or unused features, which is quite good. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Vishal Bhatia - PeerSpot reviewer
Trainer/Consultant at Koenig Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
Effective product tracking and monitoring enhances daily operations despite needing documentation improvement
The documentation part of Workspace ONE UEM can be confusing. The documentation is not comprehensive compared to other VMware solutions or Microsoft documentation. Most people struggle to connect the dots when looking at the documentation. Even the training material and PowerPoint slide decks that trainers use are sometimes too confusing or overwhelming, with too much content but not enough clarity. The support side has recently become weaker compared to what it used to be with VMware. This is another area that needs improvement. Since working with Workspace ONE UEM from when it was AirWatch, it has improved significantly over the last five years. However, there are still some gray areas and scope for improvement, especially in documentation and workflow between different aspects of the solution.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the multi-platform support."
"The Workspace ONE UEM interface is very easy to understand; there are not many doubts regarding configuration and providing use cases, so it's good."
"The most valuable feature is the User Experience Designer, which has been very helpful for our project."
"If an end-user has an issue with a device, the administration has the ability to remote access the device after approval from the end-user."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the tracking of the devices."
"We used to have a system before, Mac OS Open Directory server and this open directory became obsolete because Apple decided to stop the enterprise market, so there was no other alternative for us to use. We chose this to replace the open directory and we found that it has many more features than the previous solution. We totally rely on it right now to manage all the devices on campus."
"The solution has a lot of capabilities, and it is easy to manage and customize."
"Good device management and good integration with third parties."
 

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."
"When we had some issues, the support did not respond quickly, and they did not provide a solution."
"The only downside to the solution is that the dashboard is very confusing."
"The Content Locker cannot inherit permissions for the Windows Public Folder. If they could integrate with Microsoft on this point, it would be the perfect functionality."
"One of the things that I want them to improve on, if possible, is the management of Mac devices, MacBook Pro, for example. They do it, but they have scope for improvement, in my opinion. It's not that it's that bad, it just a small need."
"The database gets corrupted when used in the cluster. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't."
"it's very dependent on an active directory"
"The license could be better."
"Sometimes, we have challenges with remote patching and remote version upgrades."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"If you purchase it for one year, it is very expensive. If you get it for three years or up to five years, then you can bargain a better price."
"My guess is that its licensing was yearly. There was probably no fee in addition to the standard licensing fee."
"I rate the product price a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive."
"I think that the price is reasonable."
"Our organization has stopped using the solution because it was expensive."
"The solution runs at roughly around $36/user for a year."
"There is a licensing fee for the users, and we pay a low amount for our support costs."
"In some cases, a customer may feel the solution is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
14%
Computer Software Company
12%
University
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business41
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise58
 

Questions from the Community

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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 Workspace ONE?
The platform provides a stable environment for operations and quickly creates new environments. Additionally, it offers efficient flexibility.
 

Also Known As

No data available
VMware Workspace ONE, VMware AirWatch, Workspace ONE Assist, VMware Identity Manager, Workspace ONE Access, VMware Horizon Air
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Lytro, University of Washington, Slalom, Veeva Systems, Oklahoma Christian University
Australian Sports Commission, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, Lomond School, Merck, United Bank, Medical College of Wisconsin, Latymer Upper School, 2gether NHS Foundation Trust, Dowling Aaron Inc., Trillium Lakelands District School Board, Harrogate Grammar School, Duke University Football, Delta Air Lines, Adventist Health System, Giochi Preziosi, Cramlington Learning Village, Intermountain Healthcare, Safexpress, TAG Aviation
Find out what your peers are saying about Parallels Desktop vs. Workspace ONE UEM and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
882,886 professionals have used our research since 2012.