Parallels Desktop Alternatives

Parallels Desktop is described as 'Virtualization tool enabling seamless operation of Windows and Linux on Mac. Support for Windows 11 on Apple Silicon with resource customization' and is a very popular compatibility layer tool in the network & admin category. There are more than 50 alternatives to Parallels Desktop for a variety of platforms, including Linux, Mac, Windows, BSD and Android apps. The best Parallels Desktop alternative is VirtualBox, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Parallels Desktop are Wine, WinBoat, QEMU and Proton.

filter to find the best alternatives

Parallels Desktop alternatives are mainly Virtualization Tools, but if you're looking for Compatibility Layer Tools or Remote Desktop 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.
Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard
Parallels Desktop alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. 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.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  2. Xvisor® is an open-source type-1 hypervisor, which aims at providing a monolithic, light-weight, portable, and flexible virtualization solution.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
  3. Qemu Simple Boot lets you to Boot ISO images without having to burn them to disc first , it is is a portable freeware virtualization tool

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
  4. Steam emulator that emulates steam online features. Lets you play games that use the steam multiplayer APIs on a LAN without steam or an internet connection.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Steam
     
  5. Lima icon
     3 likes

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

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  6. Turbo.net for Mac runs PC apps on your Mac without having to install a Virtual Machine.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • Chrome OS
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
     
  7. Winetricks icon
     2 likes

    Winetricks is an easy way to work around problems in Wine.

    41 Winetricks alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Arch Linux
    • Gentoo
    • Fedora
    • Wine
    • Ubuntu
    • Debian
    • FreeBSD
    • MacPorts
    • Homebrew
    • Slackware
     
  8. Awingu icon
     Like

    Awingu provides an online workspace, available through any browser. The online workspace make legacy apps, SaaS and files available in a highly intuitive way.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Online
     
  9. Karton icon
     4 likes

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

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
     
  10. QtEmu icon
     7 likes

    QtEmu is a graphical user interface for QEMU.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
     
  11. Virtualization solution for SME and freelancer. With Collax V-Cube you can run several servers, operating systems and applications virtually on only one hardware. Virtualization of hardware, network and storage. Collax V-Cube uses the KVM hypervisor.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
  12. Porting Kit icon
     14 likes

    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
     
You are at page 3 of Parallels Desktop alternatives