Software Alternatives & Reviews

VirtualBox VS Parallels

Compare VirtualBox VS Parallels and see what are their differences

VirtualBox logo VirtualBox

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

Parallels logo Parallels

Parallels Desktop is a virtualization software for Mac users to run Windows and Linux apps on OS X.
  • VirtualBox Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-17
  • Parallels Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-17

VirtualBox videos

VirtualBox vs VMware Player - In-Depth Comparison on Ubuntu 18.04

More videos:

  • Review - Oracle VM VirtualBox Review (Real User: Erik Benner)
  • Tutorial - How to Use VirtualBox (Beginners Guide)

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 VirtualBox and Parallels)
Cloud Computing
76 76%
24% 24
Virtualization
76 76%
24% 24
Virtual Machine Management
Virtualization Platform
61 61%
39% 39

User comments

Share your experience with using VirtualBox 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 VirtualBox and Parallels

VirtualBox Reviews

Best Alternatives of VirtualBox for Windows
I’m sure you can appreciate the irony in the name of this program, but this is also a very accurate description of what Portable-VirtualBox is. In essence, this free and open source program is VirtualBox and does not need to be installed, making it useful even if it is contained on a USB drive. Portable-VirtualBox works by virtually downloading and installing VirtualBox on...
10 Best VMware Alternatives and Similar Software
VirtualBox now supports a broad number of guest operating systems and operates on Windows, Linux, Macintosh, and Solaris hosts. VirtualBox is constantly evolving, with regular patches and an ever-growing list of features, and it supports various OSs and platforms.
12 Best FREE Virtual Machine (VM) Software in 2020
VirtualBox is an open-source hypervisor for x86 computers. This tool supports the creation and management of virtual machines. It runs on Windows, Linux, BSD, and others.
Source: www.guru99.com
What are the Top Most Open Source Virtualization Software?
VirtualBox provides full virtualization for any operating system to run in a virtual environment with all the software installed within, abstracted from the existing operating system.
7 VirtualBox Alternatives You Can Consider
There are lots of virtualization software out there that let you run multiple applications from different platforms in the same hardware. One of them is VirtualBox by Oracle Corporation. VirtualBox is an open source and freeware that lets users create a virtual environment to run a different operating system on the same machine. It runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, and Solaris....

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, VirtualBox should be more popular than Parallels. It has been mentiond 32 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.

VirtualBox mentions (32)

  • Barbie Secret Agent game for Mac
    Also, if your sister has an Intel Mac instead of an M1 Mac, I highly suggest VirtualBox and setting up something like Windows XP on that instead of Windows 11-- the steps will be pretty similar, and VirtualBox is free. Source: 5 months ago
  • Is virtualbox.org down?
    I am unable to reach any page within the virtualbox.org domain including forums, but I can't find any post online about others having this issue. Is there a known problem at virtualbox.org or should I look locally? I usually get the error 502 - Bad Gateway. Source: 5 months ago
  • Multipass: Ubuntu Virtual Machines Made Easy
    Some of these tools include Oracle VM VirtualBox (that I've used since before the acquisition of Sun Microsystems by Oracle), VMWare Workstation Player, and QEMU, but last year, I found out about Multipass. - Source: dev.to / 5 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
  • Will anyone continue on debian 11?
    I thought Debian doesn't have VB packages? Or are you the talking about the ones from http://virtualbox.org web site? Source: 10 months 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: almost 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing VirtualBox and Parallels, you can also consider the following products

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

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

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.

VMware Workstation - VMware Workstation is a multiple operating system handler to easily evaluate the any other type of new operating systems.

Hyper-V - Install Hyper-V on Windows 10

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.