Software Alternatives & Reviews

Hyper-V VS Parallels

Compare Hyper-V VS Parallels and see what are their differences

Hyper-V logo Hyper-V

Install Hyper-V on Windows 10

Parallels logo Parallels

Parallels Desktop is a virtualization software for Mac users to run Windows and Linux apps on OS X.
  • Hyper-V Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-25
  • Parallels Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-17

Hyper-V videos

What Exactly is Hyper-V?

Parallels videos

Parallels Desktop vs VMware Fusion Review | Best Mac Apps

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Parallels Access for iOS - Mini Video Tutorial
  • Review - First Look: Parallels Access for iPad Pro
  • Review - Parallels 15 Review - The Top 3 Features That Will Excite You + Giveaway
  • Review - Hands-on: Windows on Mac with Parallels 13
  • Review - Parallels Desktop 18 - Test and Review. Better Performance? Get Windows on M2-M1, M1 Pro MacBook
  • Review - Parallels 18 for Apple Silicon M1 / M2 Mac Review - The Best ARM Windows experience is Still a Mac!
  • Review - My Parallels 17 first impressions | Windows 11 on a Mac

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Hyper-V and Parallels)
Cloud Computing
64 64%
36% 36
Virtualization
66 66%
34% 34
Virtual Machine Management
Virtualization Platform
45 45%
55% 55

User comments

Share your experience with using Hyper-V and Parallels. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Hyper-V and Parallels

Hyper-V Reviews

10 Best VMware Alternatives and Similar Software
Each virtual machine in Hyper-V is operated in its own isolated environment, allowing you to run several virtual machines on the same hardware. You could do this to prevent issues like a crash that affects other tasks, or to grant access to various systems to different users.
Best Free Virtual Machine Software in 2022 – Start Your New Career
The virtual PC for Windows is another freeware program for virtualization by Microsoft. The program doesn’t work for the versions of the Operating Systems earlier than Windows 7. Also, you do not need this on the latest Windows Operating Systems since you can install free Hyper-V. Also, the Virtual PC doesn’t support MS-DOS either. Therefore, it is a program that runs at the...
Best Server Virtualization Software for 2021
Hyper-V scores only a little behind VMware on user ratings, but is less expensive and more tightly integrated to the entire Microsoft ecosystem. But VMware may be a better option for more environments. However, check compatibility carefully as Hyper-V has a wider range of supported hardware, and offers certain advanced features without requiring additional license fees.
12 Best FREE Virtual Machine (VM) Software in 2020
Hyper-V, earlier known as Windows Server Virtualization. It is a hypervisor designed to create virtual machines on x86-64 systems. A server computer that runs on Hyper-V can be configured to expose individual virtual machines to one or more networks.
Source: www.guru99.com
Best Server Virtualization Software
The server virtualization software capabilities Microsoft Hyper-V delivers are tightly integrated with the wider Windows suite of products. This tool gets high marks from most users and provides plenty of critical virtualization tools at a lower cost than VMware vSphere. Users can also take advantage of its Linux support, although Hyper-V is more popular with IT...

Parallels Reviews

Top 5 Alternatives to Citrix: Workspace Management Software for Secure Access to Applications and Desktops
One of the most notable features of Parallels RAS vs. Citrix is that it offers its service in a low price range that competes with alternatives like Inuvika. However, it needs to combine Parallels RAS and Awingu to compete with the complete feature set of Inuvika or VMware when delivering full Windows and Linux integration for digital workspace software. There is no current...
Best Alternatives of VirtualBox for Windows
No discussion of virtualization software can be complete without mentioning Parallels Desktop. Parallels Desktop is a direct competitor to VMware Fusion and Fusion Pro, and even offers two versions: one for personal use and one for business. Parallels Desktop does everything VMware Fusion does with a few subtle differences. It also allows Mac and Windows to run...
Best Free Virtual Machine Software in 2022 – Start Your New Career
Here is another excellent premium product. They are popular among Mac users. If you don’t know much about these VM programs, then you should go for the Parallels software. You can conveniently locate the ISO installation file and use this file. Moreover, you can download the hypervisor to your system with ease.
Best remote desktop software of 2021: Paid and free choices for businesses
One of our favorite things about Parallels Access is its tidy user interface. Rather than simply showing your desktop screen on a mobile device, like most of its competitors do, it presents a modified, mobile-friendly version. Overall, this program is a great choice for those who want to remotely access their computer from a mobile device.
12 Best FREE Virtual Machine (VM) Software in 2020
Parallels is the fastest, easiest, and virtual desktop application for running Windows or in Mac devices without the need to reboot. It allows you to deploy hundreds of installations in no time with Parallels.
Source: www.guru99.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Hyper-V should be more popular than Parallels. It has been mentiond 21 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Hyper-V mentions (21)

  • My PC blue-screens after enabling Hyper-v: system_thread_exception_not_handled
    I ran the following command based on this guide: Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V -All. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Questions about kvm performance
    Also, you can enable Hyper-V on windows under KVM then all but the most paranoid games (e.g. Valorant) will run. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Today I switched my Insteon Hub 2245-222 to work with Home Assistant & Home Assistant Cloud
    Hyper-V needs to be enabled - link Note, Hyper-V is not available on Home Edition. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Can I move easily between image backups?
    VMware Workstation Player is a good free option, there's also Hyper-V which is built into Windows. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Disable Hyper-V on Z690M AORUS ELITE AX DDR4 (rev. 1.x)
    Hyper-V is more a Windows feature https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/hyper-v-on-windows/quick-start/enable-hyper-v and can be uninstalled from optional features. Source: about 2 years ago
View more

Parallels mentions (5)

  • How/where to download windows for macbook with M1 for free?
    I've watched multiple videos and gone to many websites to find a good way to download windows on my macbook for free but the closest thing I found was parallels.com but that's only a 14 day free trial and if I had the money to pay for the full version I'd just get a pc lol. Source: 10 months ago
  • Can I use a Mac?
    You can use a Mac, then use Parallels or Virtual Box for any virtual machines you might need(I prefer Parallels). There are Educational versions of Windows amongst other Microsoft products available to you through NJIT. Source: 10 months ago
  • VBA Userforms Excel Mac 2022
    After hours of frustration and looking for add-ins and loopholes, I finally found a solution to getting userforms into VBA mac. I downloaded a virtual browser though https://parallels.com/ and have successfully been able to edit script and then run the file on my native OS through excel mac. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Please note that Boot Camp currently does not support Apple Silicon Macs (M1/Pro/Max/Ultra and later)
    Running Windows under a virtual machine is possible however with a free solution such as UTM or a paid solution such as Parallels Desktop for Mac. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Windows Parallels - is this the best option for me?
    Secondly, is that parallels.com website legit? It gives me the phishy vibes. Source: about 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Hyper-V and Parallels, you can also consider the following products

Proxmox VE - Proxmox is an open-source server virtualization management solution that offers the ability to manage virtual server technology with the Linux OpenVZ and KVM technology.

VirtualBox - VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as...

vSphere - Get started with VMware vSphere editions, the world’s leading server virtualization platform and the best foundation for your apps, your cloud, and your business.

VMware Fusion - Simple and powerful virtual machine for Mac. Mac virtualization software. Learn more about VMware Fusion and try it free today.

Azure Virtual Machines - Build Linux and Windows virtual machines (VMs) and save up to 80 percent with Azure Reserved Virtual Machine Instances and Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server.

Citrix Hypervisor - Optimized for server virtualization infrastructures, Citrix Hypervisor is a leading virtualization management platform that enables server consolidation and provides industry-leading scalability and performance under load.