Free Parallels Desktop Alternatives for Mac

There are many alternatives to Parallels Desktop for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best free Mac alternative is VirtualBox, which is also Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Parallels Desktop and 15 are free and available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free Mac alternatives to Parallels Desktop are Wine, QEMU, UTM and VMware Fusion.

filter to find the best alternatives

Parallels Desktop alternatives are mainly Virtualization Tools, but if you're looking for Compatibility Layer Tools you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Free, Mac, Open Source, Mac + Open Source, Virtualization and Mac + Free. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Parallels Desktop.
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Alternatives list

  1. VirtualBox icon

    VirtualBox

     2926 likes
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    Open source VirtualBox offers powerful x86/AMD64 virtualization available freely under GNU GPL v2. Runs on Windows, Linux, Mac, Solaris hosts. Supports a vast array of guest OS like Windows, Linux, Solaris. Portable, lightweight, ad-free, with dark mode.

    63 VirtualBox alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Oracle Solaris
    VirtualBox Manager
     
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    34
    Comments about VirtualBox as an Alternative to Parallels Desktop
    John Fastman
    Positive
    8

    Unlike Parallels, Virtualbox is free, open source and runs natively on Windows, Mac and Linux. What's not to like?

    Léana
    0

    I like it because it's FOSS, however, it's really glitchy. It has a lot of display issues with my guest OSs (screen flickering, black screen).

    ChristianFerretti
    Positive
    0

    free, lighter, even if less simple to use

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Parallels Desktop Icon
    VirtualBox icon

    • Most users think VirtualBox is a great Parallels Desktop alternative.

    • VirtualBox is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to Parallels Desktop.

    • VirtualBox is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Parallels Desktop.

    • VirtualBox is Free and Open SourceParallels Desktop is Paid and Proprietary
    • VirtualBox is Lightweight and Privacy focusedParallels Desktop is not according to our users
  2. Wine icon

    Wine

     743 likes
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    An advanced, free open-source tool enabling Windows applications to run on Linux and other systems without emulation. It offers configuration options, supports diverse operating systems, and benefits from continuous updates and robust community support to enhance Windows app compatibility.

    48 Wine alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Android
    • Android Tablet
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    Wine screenshot 1
     
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    Comments about Wine as an Alternative to Parallels Desktop
    Kelson V
    0

    Not quite the same thing. Parallels runs a whole Windows computer inside your Mac. Wine adds compatibility to run Windows apps directly on macOS. A lot of apps run great, but not everything translates between systems, and trying to match Windows is a moving target.

    Parallels Desktop Icon
    Wine icon

    • Most users think Wine is a great Parallels Desktop alternative.

    • Wine is the most popular Android & Android Tablet alternative to Parallels Desktop.

    • Wine is Free and Open SourceParallels Desktop is Paid and Proprietary
    • Wine is Privacy focused and LightweightParallels Desktop is not according to our users
  4. QEMU icon

    QEMU

     296 likes
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    QEMU, an open-source hypervisor, performs hardware virtualization, emulates CPUs using dynamic binary translation, and supports various architectures. It runs diverse unmodified guest OS, provides device models, and offers mixed translation modes for efficient execution.

    44 QEMU alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    QEMU with the free OS ReactOS
     
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    Comments about QEMU as an Alternative to Parallels Desktop
    Kelson V
    0

    QEMU by itself is built into macOS, but it's a pain to run (it's all command-line) unless you use a GUI wrapper like UTM. It's also slower than Parallels due to limited support for hardware accelleration.

    Parallels Desktop Icon
    QEMU icon
    • QEMU is Free and Open SourceParallels Desktop is Paid and Proprietary
    • QEMU is Lightweight, Privacy focused and Security-focusedParallels Desktop is not according to our users
  5. UTM icon

    UTM

     24 likes
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    UTM is a full featured system emulator and virtual machine host for iOS and macOS. It is based off of QEMU. In short, it allows you to run Windows, Linux, and more on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad.

    56 UTM alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • visionOS
    UTM screenshot 1
     
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    2
    Comments about UTM as an Alternative to Parallels Desktop
    Kelson V
    Positive
    0

    Not as many bells and whistles, and not as fast, but it's cheap/free, open source, and easier to set up emulation of different chip architectures (ex. running an x86_64 VM on your M2 Mac)

    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Its Open Source Unlike Parallels Desktop Its Also Open Source So Its More Trustable

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Parallels Desktop Icon
    UTM icon

    • UTM is the most popular iPhone & iPad alternative to Parallels Desktop.

    • UTM is Free and Open SourceParallels Desktop is Paid and Proprietary
    • UTM is Privacy focused and LightweightParallels Desktop is not according to our users
  6. VMware Fusion icon

    VMware Fusion

     115 likes
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    Seamlessly run your favorite Windows applications and devices, on any Intel-based Mac. Built from the ground up for the Mac, VMware Fusion is the easiest way to switch to Mac—letting you bring all of your Windows applications with you, making the most of your Windows software...

    40 VMware Fusion alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    VMware Fusion screenshot 1
     
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    1
    Comments about VMware Fusion as an Alternative to Parallels Desktop
    Kelson V
    Negative
    0

    I used this on my old Intel Mac, but ever since Broadcom bought them, it's been hard to even find the download for the installer.

    Parallels Desktop Icon
    VMware Fusion icon
    • VMware Fusion is Free and ProprietaryParallels Desktop is Paid and Proprietary
  7. RVVM icon

    RVVM

     3 likes
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    RVVM is a virtual machine / emulator for RISC-V guests, which emphasizes on performance, security, lean code and portability. It already runs a lot of guest operating systems, including Linux, Haiku, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, etc.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Windows
    • Mac
    RVVM screenshot 1
     
  9. Multipass icon

    Multipass

     7 likes
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    Multipass is a lightweight VM manager for Linux, Windows and macOS. It's designed for developers who want a fresh Ubuntu environment with a single command. It uses KVM on Linux, Hyper-V on Windows and HyperKit on macOS to run the VM with minimal overhead.

    57 Multipass alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Snapcraft
    Multipass screenshot 1
     
  10. VirtualBuddy icon

    VirtualBuddy

     1 like
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    VirtualBuddy can virtualize macOS 12 and later on Apple Silicon, with the goal of offering features that are useful to developers who need to test their apps on multiple versions of macOS, especially betas.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    VirtualBuddy screenshot 1
     
  11. Lima icon

    Lima

     3 likes
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    Lima launches Linux virtual machines on macOS, with automatic file sharing, port forwarding, and containerd.

    57 Lima alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  12. Karton icon

    Karton

     4 likes
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    Run Linux programs on macOS, a different Linux distro, or a different architecture.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
     
  13. Porting Kit icon

    Porting Kit

     14 likes
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    Using Wineskin technology, Porting Kit is a PaulTheTall.com app that can install games and apps compiled for Microsoft Windows® in Mac OS X. It has access to a server where we store WSI files for more than 300 games, which can be installed by any Porting Kit user.

    31 Porting Kit alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Skyrim on Porting Kit
     

  14. JavaQemu

     4 likes
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    JavaQemu is a Graphical User Interface Front End for QEMU, written in Java.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    JavaQemu screenshot 1
     
12 of 15 Parallels Desktop alternatives