Open Source Parallels Desktop Alternatives for Mac

There are many alternatives to Parallels Desktop for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best open source Mac alternative is VirtualBox. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Parallels Desktop and 13 are open source and available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source Mac alternatives to Parallels Desktop are Wine, QEMU, UTM and Lima.

filter to find the best alternatives

Parallels Desktop alternatives are mainly Virtualization Tools but may also be Compatibility Layer Tools or Remote Desktop Tools.  Other popular filters includes Mac + Open Source and Mac + Free. Filter by these or use the filter bar below if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Parallels Desktop.
  • ...

Virtualization tool enabling seamless operation of Windows and Linux on Mac. Support for Windows 11 on Apple Silicon with resource customization.

More about Parallels Desktop
Parallels Desktop alternatives page was last updated Dec 22, 2024
  1. VirtualBox icon
     2879 likes

    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
    VirtualBox Manager

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Oracle Solaris

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Virtualization
    2.  Multiple languages
    3. Zalando icon  Zalando integration
    4.  Ad-free
    5.  Container Virtualization
    6.  Dark Mode
    7.  Portable
    8.  Hypervisor
    VirtualBox iconParallels Desktop Icon

    VirtualBox VS Parallels Desktop

    Is VirtualBox a good alternative to Parallels Desktop?
     
    Comments about VirtualBox as an Alternative to Parallels Desktop
     
    John Fastman

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

    Positive commentDec 17, 2016
    8
    Léana

    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).

    CommentMay 13, 2022
    0
    ChristianFerretti

    free, lighter, even if less simple to use

    Positive commentMar 26, 2021
    0
    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
     702 likes

    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.

    41 Wine alternatives
    Wine screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Android
    • Android Tablet
    • BSD
    • Flathub

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Run Windows software
    2.  Compatibility Layer
    3.  Emulation
    4.  Ad-free
    Wine iconParallels Desktop Icon

    Wine VS Parallels Desktop

    Is Wine a good alternative to Parallels Desktop?
     
    • 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 LightweightParallels Desktop is not according to our users
  3. QEMU icon
     281 likes

    QEMU (short for "Quick EMUlator") is a free and open-source hosted hypervisor that performs hardware virtualization.

    49 QEMU alternatives
    QEMU  with the free OS ReactOS

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Virtualization
    2.  GPU Acceleration
    3.  Portable
    4.  Command line interface
    5.  Support for scripting
    6.  Emulation
    7.  Container Virtualization
    8.  User mode emulation
    QEMU iconParallels Desktop Icon

    QEMU VS Parallels Desktop

    Is QEMU a good alternative to Parallels Desktop?
     
  4. UTM icon
     19 likes

    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.

    55 UTM alternatives
    UTM screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • visionOS

    UTM Features

    1.  Virtualization
    2.  Multi System Emulator
    3.  Emulation
    4.  Ad-free
    5.  Container Virtualization
    UTM iconParallels Desktop Icon

    UTM VS Parallels Desktop

    Is UTM a good alternative to Parallels Desktop?
     
    • UTM is the most popular iPhone & iPad alternative to Parallels Desktop.

    • UTM is Free and Open SourceParallels Desktop is Paid and Proprietary
  5. Lima icon
     3 likes

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

    56 Lima alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Lima iconParallels Desktop Icon

    Lima VS Parallels Desktop

    Is Lima a good alternative to Parallels Desktop?
     
  6. Multipass icon
     6 likes

    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.

    56 Multipass alternatives
    Multipass screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Multipass iconParallels Desktop Icon

    Multipass VS Parallels Desktop

    Is Multipass a good alternative to Parallels Desktop?
     
  7. RVVM icon
     1 like

    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.

    10 RVVM alternatives
    RVVM screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Windows
    • Mac

    RVVM Features

    1.  Emulation
    RVVM iconParallels Desktop Icon

    RVVM VS Parallels Desktop

    Is RVVM a good alternative to Parallels Desktop?
     
  8. Wineskin Winery icon
     19 likes

    Wineskin is a tool used to make ports of Windows software to Mac OS X. The ports are in the form of normal Mac application bundle wrappers. It works like a wrapper around the Windows software, and you can share just the wrappers if you choose.

    32 Wineskin Winery alternatives
    Wineskin Options Window

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Wine

    Wineskin Winery Features

    1.  Run Windows software
    2.  Run Windows Games
    Discontinued

    Hasn't been updated in over 6 years and doesn't work on most modern versions of macOS: https://sourceforge.net/projects/wineskin/, https://github.com/Gcenx/WineskinServer#wineskin

    Wineskin Winery iconParallels Desktop Icon

    Wineskin Winery VS Parallels Desktop

    Is Wineskin Winery a good alternative to Parallels Desktop?
     
  9. Karton icon
     3 likes

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

    22 Karton alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    Karton iconParallels Desktop Icon

    Karton VS Parallels Desktop

    Is Karton a good alternative to Parallels Desktop?
     
  10. PCE icon
     4 likes

    PCE is a collection of microcomputer emulators. At the moment it contains three emulators:

    27 PCE alternatives
    PCE screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    PCE iconParallels Desktop Icon

    PCE VS Parallels Desktop

    Is PCE a good alternative to Parallels Desktop?
     
  11.  4 likes

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

    17 JavaQemu alternatives
    JavaQemu screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux

    JavaQemu Features

    1.  Emulation
    Discontinued

    Website states: "This project is no longer active because I stopped playing with Java since a long time."

    Parallels Desktop Icon

    JavaQemu VS Parallels Desktop

    Is JavaQemu a good alternative to Parallels Desktop?
     
  12. VirtualBuddy icon
     1 like

    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.

    49 VirtualBuddy alternatives
    VirtualBuddy screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    VirtualBuddy iconParallels Desktop Icon

    VirtualBuddy VS Parallels Desktop

    Is VirtualBuddy a good alternative to Parallels Desktop?
     
12 of 13 Parallels Desktop alternatives