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Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Remote Desktop Se...
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (2nd)
Parallels Remote Applicatio...
Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
10th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
Application Virtualization (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is 9.0%, down from 15.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) is 2.4%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
 

Featured Reviews

Mihai Dinca - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to use with good availability and reliability
The availability is very good. It's easy to use. New users especially find it very simple. You just connect and go. The solution is stable and reliable. You can combine the Remote Desktop Services with Citrix in some form, however, not with all of the features of both. It depends on the situation.
JohanSkibdahl - PeerSpot reviewer
Secure access across devices with cost-effective seamless integration
One valuable feature is the ability to securely use a wide range of devices to access the company's infrastructure. The inclusion of all necessary components, such as load balancer and gateways, in a monthly fee is also beneficial. In terms of Parallels Desktop, the coherence mode that allows Mac and Windows applications to run seamlessly side by side is highly regarded.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"In terms of the valuable features, I like the profile, the new version is really good."
"The solution now includes a multi-screen feature which is great."
"The performance meets our requirements and the stability is good."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is stable and reliable."
"The most valuable features of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services are unification, central management, and accessibility."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is its security and simple configuration."
"It's simple and easy to use."
"The solution is easy to deploy and there are many features available that you can turn on or off depending on your budget."
"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."
"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."
"The connection is compressed so we don't need a lot of resources to run it."
"It is a stable solution."
"We can provision the servers without the need for another third-party solution."
"We can publish apps and desktops on Terminal Servers and seamlessly share printers. We also combine Parallels with Deepnet Security to get two-factor authentication."
"Allows us to publish applications accessible by current-generation HTML5 browser or OS-specific client (Windows, Android, iOS), and it supports popular single sign-on and multi-factor authentication protocols."
"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."
 

Cons

"Sometimes difficult to set up without the requirement for login credentials each time."
"It could be more user-friendly."
"I want to connect easily from an external network even when I'm not in my enterprise or company. It should be easy to connect or integrate Microsoft Teams, for example, with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services."
"We find the services are not as transparent as we would like for our integration with Citrix."
"We are searching for a product with better remote access and remote sessions."
"The DB card needs improvement. I have a lot of experience with other competitors and Citrix is better than VMware and Microsoft. Citrix has more extensive features."
"Microsoft still has some really bad remote desktop appliance for Mac."
"We've had issues with security breaches."
"The customization of the web interface could possibly use some improvement. Little things, like being able to place a background image instead of just choosing from a palette of colors, would be nice."
"We would like to be able to re-label the OTP (One Time Password) popup so our users can easily recognize that they are to put in their DUO code on that line. Most users see OTP and ask what that is."
"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)."
"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."
"From a seller's point of view, there are a lot of things that they could do better in the sales cycle."
"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."
"If the solution crashes, then all the customers connected through that agent, lose their session."
"HALB is not stable in our environment. When running two HALBs we have stability problems, so we use an active one and a passive for backup. Also, it would be nice to implement an upgrade of the environment without having to stop the servers. As it is, this must be done during off-hours."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool must be cheaper."
"Although not an expensive product, pricing is always something that can be improved."
"I rate the price of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services a three out of five."
"Its licensing is on a yearly basis. We're on the educational or academic license, and our terms are good. We're very happy with the pricing."
"I am aware that for Azure we do have an extra license because we are leveraging on different tenants."
"The solution comes free with Microsoft Windows."
"I recall that you don't need to pay for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services because that's included in Windows."
"It will probably cost about $500 USD to get the resources set up in the cloud."
"It justifies the price. In terms of licensing, initially when we got the product it was an unlimited licensing strategy. We knew would grow in the coming years. So initially, we took a plan which had no limit. After a year or so the strategy changed and we were being limited to 105 licenses, that was the minimum... If there was flexibility for increasing the number of licenses that would be great because you never know how much you are going to grow in the next year."
"The pricing has always been competitive, and the new SPLA licensing model works great for our business and clients."
"Parallels is a cost effective alternative to Citrix."
"It is very affordable."
"The product is not expensive. I rate its pricing a three or four out of ten."
"I don't like the subscription model because it feels like I have to pay every month. If Parallels could go back to the professional license, it would be much better."
"Just compare it to Citrix and you will see the value in it."
"It is not that high. It is in the medium range. Of course, it could be lower, but the price is not the issue."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
17%
Government
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
I've never had an issue with it. I've always thought the pricing for RDS was reasonable.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
The current process I have to go through to get a Windows 11 VM up and running is difficult. Windows 10 worked a whole lot better than Windows 11.
What do you like most about Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)?
The solution is powerful, and it has good speed and performance.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)?
The pricing for Parallels RAS is straightforward with a monthly fee for a minimum of 15 licenses. For Parallels Desktop, it is a yearly cost of a couple of hundred euros. No additional fees for mai...
What needs improvement with Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS)?
A potential improvement could be reducing the dependency on Microsoft solutions for Parallels RAS. As for Parallels Desktop, there is nothing specific that needs improvement.
 

Also Known As

Remote Desktop Services, MS Remote Desktop Services
Parallels RAS
 

Learn More

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bank Alfalah Ltd.
Arsari Group _ PT Netmarks Indonesia, Izhevsk Elektromekhanicheskiy Zavod (IEMZ) _ Kupol, Abilene Diagnostic Clinic, Fylde Borough Council, YARSTROYREZE LLC, VSK Insurance House, Melenkovsky District of Vladimirskaya Oblast, Sofrigam SA, Antenna International, KingsGate Community Church, Norwegian American Hospital, Island Hotels Group, Medway Council, Medway Council, Voices of September 11th, MacDonald Training Center, Kansas Childrenês Service League, Scope,Next Generation Clubs, WTC Communications, Opera Australia, HSE Integrated, Danier, Bridgwater College, Kern County Mental Health, Tony Tiendas, Spears Manufacturing, Managed Insurance Services Inc., Intuitive Medical Software, M.J. Soffe, Mazda Motors, Israel Military Industries (IMI), Telfair, Upic Solutions, Teleflora, Fisher & Company
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs. Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,106 professionals have used our research since 2012.