Run multiple instances of your favorite Mac apps side by side, each with its own Dock icon, tray menu, and isolated data. Parall creates lightweight native shortcuts with no copies, no repacking, no resigning, no background services or hacks.
A startup from Los Angeles, the United States that is founded by Ihor July.
This page is designed to help you find out whether Parall App is good and if it is the right choice for you.
Parall is a native macOS app that lets you run multiple instances of the same application at the same time. Each shortcut behaves like its own install with its own Dock icon, optional tray menu, configuration and data folder.
Instead of scripts or duplicated app bundles, Parall creates tiny shortcut apps that launch the original app with custom settings. When the main app updates, all shortcuts follow it automatically.
Key features
- Launch multiple instances of the same app side by side.
- Each shortcut behaves like a separate app in the Dock with its own icon and state.
- App data redirect supported for almost all non sandboxed macOS apps.
- Shortcuts always stay in sync whenever the original app updates.
- Add a tray menu icon to control any app.
- For supported browsers get quick actions from tray menu icon to open new windows.
- Assign unique icons or add draw text label to easily distinguish profiles in the Dock.
- Control menu bar behavior in native full screen for supported apps and force the menu bar to always show or always auto hide for Chrome based browsers.
- Experimental control of Dock icon visibility for advanced setups that need special Dock behavior.
- Add command line parameters or flags for each shortcut.
- Advanced Info.plist overrides for fine grained app behavior tuning.
- Define environment variables per shortcut for flexible control and behavior separation.
- Parall runs only when you use it. No background processes.
- Offline and private. Operates entirely offline and never transmits any data.
Parall has no background services and works fully offline. It never injects code or modifies existing apps. Shortcuts are lightweight .app bundles that simply launch your installed apps with isolated data and configuration so you can keep work, personal, testing or client profiles cleanly separated on the same Mac.
Listed in
Multiple instances of the same app
Run several copies of a macOS app side by side, each launched from its own shortcut
Per shortcut data separation
Redirect the app data storage or override HOME for each shortcut so every profile keeps its own files and settings
Independent Dock icons and app names
Every shortcut looks like a real app in the Dock with its own name, icon and state, so different profiles are easy to recognize and switch between
Shortcut bundles that act as real apps
Create .app shortcuts that have their own Dock icon, name and running state just like a normal app.
Auto updated with the original app
When the main app updates, every shortcut automatically launches the new version with no extra work.
Per app tray menu icon
Add a menu bar icon that appears only while the shortcut is running, giving quick access to its actions
Browser quick actions from the tray
For supported browsers you can open new windows directly from the tray icon for the current profile
Custom icons and text labels
Assign unique icons or draw a short text label on top of the icon so profiles are easy to tell apart in the Dock
Full screen menu bar control
Control how the menu bar behaves in native full screen for supported apps and force always show or always auto hide for compatible apps
Experimental Dock icon visibility control
Optionally change whether the shortcut Dock icon is shown or hidden for advanced Dock setups
Per shortcut command line flags
Attach different command line parameters to each shortcut to launch apps with different modes or profiles
Info.plist behavior overrides
Override selected Info.plist keys inside the shortcut to fine tune how the app behaves when launched
Per shortcut environment variables
Define environment variables for each shortcut to keep behavior and configuration fully separated between instances
Parall is built specifically to run multiple instances of your existing macOS apps as if each one were a separate install, with its own Dock icon, optional tray icon, configuration and data folder, and without any background service. Instead of wrapping websites or mounting cloud storage, Parall creates lightweight shortcut apps that launch the real native app bundle already on your Mac, with per shortcut data redirection, environment variables, Info.plist overrides and full native behavior for features like Dropbox sync or Chrome based profiles.
Most alternatives solve only part of the problem. Cloud mounting apps like CloudMounter or Mountain Duck mount cloud accounts as drives instead of running the real app. Web wrappers like Fluid, Coherence X or Unite turn websites into apps instead of working with the native Mac apps you already use. Multi service tools like Shift or Station keep everything inside one big container window. Tray utilities like Badgeify add menu bar items from a single always running background process.
Parall is different because it multiplies the native apps that are already on your Mac. Every shortcut is its own tiny app that launches the real bundle with its own Dock icon, optional tray icon, data folder, environment variables and Info.plist overrides, and there is no permanent background service. For cases like multiple Dropbox, Slack, Discord, Chrome or VS Code profiles you get separate Dock icons, real native behavior and clean profile isolation, instead of workarounds built on top of a browser or a cloud API.
Parall is a fully native macOS app built in Xcode using Objective C and C++. It relies on standard macOS frameworks like Cocoa and AppKit to integrate cleanly with the system, Dock and menu bar. I design and refine the app icon and graphics in Pixelmator Pro. For the English text in the app, website and documentation, I use ChatGPT to polish the wording since English is not my first language.
Parall is aimed at Mac users who need more than one clean instance of the same app at the same time. Typical examples are developers who test multiple environments, people who work with several client or company accounts, and power users who keep separate profiles for work, personal use, testing or streaming. It is especially useful if you depend on apps like Chrome based browsers, Dropbox, Slack, Discord, VS Code or similar tools and want each account or role to have its own Dock icon, its own data and its own controlled behavior without complex scripts or virtual machines.
I spent years on Windows where running multiple instances of the same app is usually straightforward. When I moved to macOS, I accepted that most apps only run as a single instance and that you are supposed to live with one Dock icon per app. I personally never needed multiple Chrome instances, until one Reddit user wrote to me and described a very simple wish: two Chrome icons in the Dock, each opening a different profile.
That conversation flipped a switch. I started noticing how many people were fighting the same thing, using extra browsers, strange scripts or manual copies of app bundles just to separate profiles or accounts. At that point I decided to build a native tool that solves this cleanly. No scripts, no automation tools, no hacks. Just lightweight shortcut apps that let you run multiple native instances side by side with their own icons and data. That became Parall.
Parall is mostly used by individual power users, developers and small teams who need multiple clean instances of apps like Dropbox, Chrome based browsers, Slack, Discord or VS Code on a single Mac. Parall does not include telemetry or usage tracking, and purchases go through the Mac App Store, so I do not maintain or publish a list of specific companies or "biggest" customers.
We have collected here some useful links to help you find out if Parall App is good.
Check the traffic stats of Parall App on SimilarWeb. The key metrics to look for are: monthly visits, average visit duration, pages per visit, and traffic by country. Moreoever, check the traffic sources. For example "Direct" traffic is a good sign.
Check the "Domain Rating" of Parall App on Ahrefs. The domain rating is a measure of the strength of a website's backlink profile on a scale from 0 to 100. It shows the strength of Parall App's backlink profile compared to the other websites. In most cases a domain rating of 60+ is considered good and 70+ is considered very good.
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The latest comments about Parall App on Reddit. This can help you find out how popualr the product is and what people think about it.
Parall is available on the Mac App Store and can do much more than this post covers. Learn more here: https://parall.app. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
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