Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs Parallels Access comparison

Sponsored
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 7, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Intune
Sponsored
Ranking in Remote Access
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
314
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (2nd), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
Microsoft Remote Desktop Se...
Ranking in Remote Access
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
83
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (5th)
Parallels Access
Ranking in Remote Access
19th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Remote Access category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 9.1%, down from 9.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is 8.2%, down from 11.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Parallels Access is 1.9%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Remote Access Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Intune9.1%
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services8.2%
Parallels Access1.9%
Other80.80000000000001%
Remote Access
 

Featured Reviews

AkashKamble - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr MacOS specialist engineer at Cyber24
Enables management of multiple operating systems with a single license
The best feature is that it's a Microsoft product, so if anything goes wrong, we get quick support for anything required. Remote system functionality allows us to sit anywhere and take control of any device via remote management. We can enhance security for clients' laptops with built-in Microsoft Defender, which is available with the Microsoft Intune license. We use it for reporting purposes through endpoint analytics. When pushing scripting, there are two types available: remediation script and reservation script. Through endpoint analytics, you can push defender policies to clients. It helps with reporting, inventory updates, and monitoring tenant status health.
MN
technology consultant at Bank of America
Remote access has simplified certificate checks and daily support tasks across our organization
The best features Microsoft Remote Desktop Services offers include providing me administrator access, certain inbuilt client tools, and the ability to remotely access enterprise applications, as well as helping me validate whether certificates exist or are missing, or near to expiry. The product also allows for multiple session virtualizations even if users are based in remote locations and offers support for legacy applications that need to be upgraded. Out of those features, the one I rely on the most is certificate validation and plugin installation or removal in certain IDEs which developers or coders generally use. Being able to do this remotely makes my job significantly easier than going to everyone's desk in the office.
JP
CEO at a non-profit with 1-10 employees
Allows users to access and operate their computers remotely
When you want to transfer a file from your iPad or remote device to the computer, the copy-and-paste feature doesn't always work. I'd have to turn on the Bluetooth a lot of times and transfer it that way on both devices, which was troublesome. However, it would sometimes randomly work. I could go on my iPad, find whatever I wanted to do, click copy, then go over to the computer through Parallels Access, click paste, and it would randomly work. I had to call Parallels many times. They would log in and try something, which would temporarily work, but then it wouldn't. When it worked, it made integration between the two things great. That was a very helpful feature that didn't get polished.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Internet-based access with security is what I have found to be most valuable. It is also a stable and scalable solution."
"What I appreciate the most about Microsoft Intune is that it's quick and easy to use from an authenticator perspective. There is simplicity in securing our platform. Microsoft Intune benefits my company because of its simplicity of use and cross-functional integration."
"The standout features of Intune are its excellent mobile device management and highly effective application management capabilities."
"Microsoft Intune has broad capabilities, particularly with mobile device management, with excellent management features like the ability to push configuration policies to all devices across the company and manage them effectively, strong configuration and compliance capabilities, and valuable application management that centralizes applications in one place and makes configuring or deploying them much easier."
"Microsoft Intune is easy to use, and it is able to enforce policies towards multiple devices. It is able to bring multiple classes of devices into the same security posture. I found that very useful."
"I have seen a return on investment right from the start of the tool's usage."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Intune is that it is more of a one-stop shop, providing an easier experience."
"Microsoft Intune benefits my company because of its simplicity of use and cross-functional integration."
"The tool shares computer resources perfectly."
"Mostly we are quite happy with it."
"Things can be made easier if someone is not with us or at a long distance since we can connect easily with those people. So, it's easy for us to use such features."
"The solution offers good value for money."
"The solution is easy to deploy and there are many features available that you can turn on or off depending on your budget."
"The solution has very smooth connectivity and is very user friendly."
"It works fine, and it is largely issue-free."
"The technical support is good."
"It's got a very easy-to-use interface."
"Parallels Access gives me full access and control of the computer, and I can do anything I want remotely."
"Parallels Access has flexible licensing policies, which is beneficial for customers who have intermittent usage or users who are on and off the system."
"It's great that the total deployment can happen completely remotely."
"We don't have problems with stability. Everything is good."
 

Cons

"There are challenges with Intune, specifically in reporting. Many third-party companies offer single-pane-of-glass reporting that shows you what your update environment looks like, how your patch is doing, application status, etc., but Intune's reporting is not intuitive."
"I'm still playing around with it and haven't had any issues with the product yet, but support can definitely be improved."
"However, due to access limitations, we are unable to deploy certain security features on end-user devices."
"The mobile management is good for iPhone and iPad, but the Apple Mac management needs improvement. That is probably because Microsoft does not have low-level access to Apple Mac hardware. If you are doing basic things, it is okay, but if you want to image Apple Macs and do things like that, then Jamf is much better."
"I think there should be a better tracking of the cell phones used on the Intune."
"Microsoft Intune has potential for improvement; I would like to see a lot more customization in the reporting tools."
"The product needs to upgrade itself when the server is overloaded."
"What would make this product better is adding more security policies and features in the next upgrade."
"In the next release, I would like to see better performance over slower networks, and integration with Linux, but this is something that we're going to get out of Microsoft in terms of a unified solution."
"I would like to see a web-based interface, instead of client installation to refresh the UI through HTML."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services could improve by allowing the sharing of the office application. For example, the ability to replace a PC when something is wrong."
"I would like to see the hard drives work without locking up and integrate the local drives in the next release."
"The only issue I experienced was with the initialization of the session, which affected the stability of the solution."
"My customers are worried that the RDP protocol can be easily compromised and would like the option to use an alternative like Blast."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services could be improved because we have keyboard compatibility issues with some platforms; on macOS, we sometimes experience keyboard connectivity issues, and it can be problematic when connecting to servers that then need to connect to other servers, as the keyboard layout doesn't match."
"Lacks a notification feature when internet is down."
"One challenge we do notice is that the application is limited to Windows servers only. If a customer has a Linux server, things get complicated. They should open it up a bit to be more compatible with different types of servers."
"The solution may not scale well for enterprises."
"When you want to transfer a file from your iPad or remote device to the computer, the copy-and-paste feature doesn't always work."
"They could improve the reporting."
"There is room for improvement in the pricing policy. The price point is pretty aggressive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost of the license and the features are justified for myself as a technical person."
"The price for Intune is fair."
"The cost is somewhat on the higher side, particularly when considering certain price points, especially in markets like India."
"If you ask the accountant or the finance department, they'll tell you that it is way too expensive, but when I look at the cost and compare it with the value you actually get, it's more than fair."
"The price of Microsoft Intune is reasonable."
"We use Defender ATP and E5 licenses."
"The price of Intune is often included as part of a bundle with other Microsoft licenses, which makes it somewhat cheaper."
"It's a bit expensive from a licensing perspective, especially as we look to have organizations with tenants across the globe."
"I am aware that for Azure we do have an extra license because we are leveraging on different tenants."
"We do not have to pay for the product."
"It's not an expensive product."
"The solution has a pretty comparable pricing."
"I rate the price of Microsoft Remote Desktop Services a three out of five."
"Microsoft Remote Desktop Services comes free as part of Microsoft Windows."
"The tool's pricing is high in the Slovenian market. I rate it a nine out of ten."
"The tool must be cheaper."
"The licensing costs are about $100 per user."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Remote Access solutions are best for your needs.
881,707 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
University
13%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Healthcare Company
9%
Computer Software Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business121
Midsize Enterprise47
Large Enterprise157
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business40
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise32
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

How does Microsoft Intune compare with VMware Workspace One?
Microsoft Intune is a great tool for managing a mobile device fleet while keeping access control. The solution makes ...
What are the pros and cons of Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune is a great configuration management tool and has a lot of good things going for it. Here are some of...
How does Google Cloud Identity compare with Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
In limited use cases, Microsoft Remote Desktop Services is free as it is defaulted by any Microsoft license. The paid...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services?
Microsoft Remote Desktop Services could be improved because we have keyboard compatibility issues with some platforms...
What do you like most about Parallels Access?
Parallels Access gives me full access and control of the computer, and I can do anything I want remotely.
What needs improvement with Parallels Access?
When you want to transfer a file from your iPad or remote device to the computer, the copy-and-paste feature doesn't ...
What is your primary use case for Parallels Access?
Parallels Access is an amazing product and a total game changer. The solution allows me to access and operate my comp...
 

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
Remote Desktop Services
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Bank Alfalah Ltd.
Gilt Groupe K.K.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs. Parallels Access and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,707 professionals have used our research since 2012.