We performed a comparison between Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) and VMware Player based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."We use Cloudpaging to package and deploy the vast majority of our applications to our standard Windows 10 desktops. With the use of Parallels integration into Software2 AppsAnywhere hub, this means we can use the same packages to deliver Windows applications to almost any device - Windows, mac OS, iOS, Android, Linux, Xbox One, PS4 - just by ticking a box."
"We use RAS to publish cloud desktops to our clients. The ability to easily publish resources to a subset of users is what we find most valuable."
"Setup was straightforward. Our particular use case involved an Active Directory forest involving two data centers and three domains. User authentication against Active Directory was the easiest to set up and validate of any application installed in the last three years."
"The stability is ok - once I finished the setup, the system was quite stable."
"The solution is powerful, and it has good speed and performance."
"It is a stable solution."
"It provides flexible access to Windows applications from many types of devices."
"The most valuable feature is the ease with which you can publish applications to different groups of users, by integrating with Windows Active Directory."
"The most valuable feature of VMware Player is the ability to snapshot with or without memory."
"VMware Player helps you to virtualize and install Ubuntu or any other operating system, even on a Windows laptop."
"It's really easy to build testing environments with VMware Player."
"The solution's technical support team is excellent."
"VMware Player's best feature is the ability to run different OS's simultaneously."
"Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) is an expensive solution, and its pricing could be improved."
"We would like the ability to provide a popup message, such as a maintenance notification. That same notification on the Parallels client would be awesome."
"Improvement is needed in performance monitoring of the client's endpoint, and automatic re-connection of the client in the event of circuit disruptions (this works well generally but can present challenges)."
"If the solution crashes, then all the customers connected through that agent, lose their session."
"The main issue we have with all of our users is printing. Randomly, a printer will disconnect or someone won't connect to it and I will have to reset the print service and then nobody can print. That's the big headache we've had over the course of the five years."
"Since I've been here less than a year, I have had to upgrade the system three times. The first time was the major upgrade but they have upgraded twice since, and I think that's too many times in that time span."
"Currently in the RD Session Hosts – Sessions section, I can see what server a user is logged into but not what app he is using. Being able to do so would be immensely helpful when a non-technical user is complaining of issues, but I can’t tell which app he is using, and he is actually logged into multiple servers since they serve multiple apps."
"Opening a ticket should be available from the actual RAS console. It is cumbersome to go to a portal, hunt around for five minutes for a link to open a ticket, answer questions meant to direct you towards FAQs instead of live support, then fill out information (license #, version #, etc.) which could more easily be supplied by sending a ticket straight from the console with all of that information automatically specified."
"When you go to work on a server, it opens up the whole window, and that causes an error inside VMware Player."
"The tool has limited scalability."
"VMware Player isn't downgradable, so if you have a later set of VMs, you need to upgrade it or figure out a workaround."
"VMware Player should provide a cloud version with no limitations to hardware resources."
"Its networking features need improvement."
More Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) Pricing and Cost Advice →
Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) is ranked 12th in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) with 24 reviews while VMware Player is ranked 8th in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) with 10 reviews. Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) is rated 8.8, while VMware Player is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) writes "Provides good scalability and a secure environment". On the other hand, the top reviewer of VMware Player writes "A highly stable solution that has the ability to snapshot with or without memory". Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) is most compared with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, Citrix Workspace, Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service), Parallels Desktop and NVIDIA GRID, whereas VMware Player is most compared with VMware Workstation, VMware Fusion, VMware Horizon, Citrix Workspace and Parallels Desktop. See our Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) vs. VMware Player report.
See our list of best Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) vendors.
We monitor all Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.