N-able Take Control vs Parallels Access comparison

N-able and Parallels are both solutions in the Remote Access category. N-able is ranked #26, while Parallels is ranked #23. N-able holds a 2.2% mindshare in VUS, compared to Parallels’s 1.7% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of N-able users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Parallels users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 7, 2024

Parallels Access and N-able Take Control are remote access solutions competing in the same category. N-able Take Control holds the upper hand due to its additional functionalities and better overall value.

Features: Parallels Access offers seamless app access, quick connections, and cost-effectiveness. N-able Take Control includes multi-monitor support, session recording, and better overall value.

Room for Improvement: Parallels Access needs enhanced security options, better file transfer capabilities, and security upgrades. N-able Take Control requires a more intuitive setup process, refinement in audio quality during sessions, and easier configuration.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Parallels Access is known for easy deployment and responsive customer service. N-able Take Control, while also easy to set up, provides continuous support and resources.

Pricing and ROI: Parallels Access is cost-effective with quick ROI. N-able Take Control has slightly higher setup costs but is worth the investment due to its extensive features.

To learn more, read our detailed N-able Take Control vs. Parallels Access Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

N-able Take Control vs. Parallels Access

June 2026

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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

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Remote Access category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 5.4%, down from 10.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of N-able Take Control is 2.2%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Parallels Access is 1.7%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Remote Access Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Intune	5.4%
Parallels Access	1.7%
N-able Take Control	2.2%
Other	90.7%

Remote Access

Featured Reviews

OluwashileAdeniyi

Senior Infrastructure Security Engineer at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees

Centralized endpoint security has improved and supports hybrid work and BYOD policies

Regarding what I dislike about Microsoft Intune and its downsides, I would say that more Mac controls are needed because we have limited Mac and Linux control. When comparing controls and policies between Windows, Mac, and Linux, Windows has almost everything you can think of, while Mac and Linux have limited types of control. You cannot implement certain things on Mac and Linux that you can on Windows. The limited controls are a major issue. Additionally, if Microsoft could find a way to embed servers into Microsoft Intune, that would be beneficial. Microsoft Intune is not really designed for servers or Windows servers. It is more tailored towards Windows 11 and Windows 10 operating systems. Windows servers are not fully supported. Enterprise organizations usually have both servers and endpoints, which are users' workstations. For servers, most people look for other solutions such as SCCM, which is Configuration Manager. However, SCCM is what Microsoft Intune is trying to replace. Both SCCM and Microsoft Intune belong to Microsoft. Microsoft is trying to transition organizations into Microsoft Intune, the native cloud solution. However, because this update is still in process, servers are not fully compatible with Microsoft Intune and cannot be managed by it. The current policy that has emerged from issues with clients is what they call co-management, which is relatively new, and I do not know if adoption is significant. Many legacy or older customers who have been using these products for decades still have SCCM. When it is time for them to manage their Windows devices, they use what is called cloud attach. Cloud attach is a term whereby your SCCM is connected to your Microsoft Intune. Most people do not know about it, but I have deployed it for several organizations. Cloud attach and co-management work together so that your device is in SCCM, but some policies are pushed from Microsoft Intune. It is like two different solutions working hand in hand. That is what they call co-management. Microsoft Intune does not bring all of your endpoint and security management tools into one place, which is the goal and how it should be. However, as I mentioned, servers are not included. If we talk about end users, Microsoft Intune does bring all your devices together. In a typical enterprise environment, you have end users with workstations, laptops, company-issued phones, and bring your own devices. You can create policies for all of these. However, for the backend, your servers do not have much coverage. Servers are not really covered by Microsoft Intune in that way.

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Brian Hershey

Platform Manager at a outsourcing company with 11-50 employees

It covers you for HIPAA and PCI certification

Take Control is a way to remotely take over the console of a managed machine, but it also gives you other abilities. You can take over the console, access the registry, throw commands at it in the background, and manipulate the file system Take Control enables you to collaborate with end users.…

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Jason Parkinson

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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The system itself is great."

"Its overall integration into Microsoft 365 is great."

"Windows Autopatch is the most valuable because it removes the burden of patch management."

"If you are looking for an MDM provider specifically for user and device certificate enrollment for your BYOD use cases or corporate devices, I believe Microsoft Intune could be one of the best solutions available."

"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."

"With these improvements, I estimate we've reduced our patching costs by over $100,000 a month, as the MSP previously had to troubleshoot various issues manually."

"By using Microsoft Intune we can control which websites the users can go to and it provides a secure environment for our employees using their laptops that are having access from home. We have installed Intune to control the user's environment minimizing the chances of any hacking."

"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."

More Microsoft Intune pros

"The most valuable part of N-able Take Control is being able to remotely access your customer's site. You are able to view their network. Once you have it set up, it's always available. N-able Take Control can be used even when other remote access controls have been made."

"Take Control enables you to collaborate with end users. It's for supporting a workstation where you want the person on the other side to see you moving their mouse, and you can work with them."

"N-able Take Control has saved me a lot of time driving back and forth to the customer's site."

"Parallels Access gives me full access and control of the computer, and I can do anything I want remotely."

"It's great that the total deployment can happen completely remotely."

"What seems to be the most valuable from the customer side is the ease of operation, and the overall experience they have."

"Parallels Access has flexible licensing policies, which is beneficial for customers who have intermittent usage or users who are on and off the system."

"The application used to publish for mobile devices is very good and the desktop publishing is very, very good."

"We don't have problems with stability. Everything is good."

"It's got a very easy-to-use interface."

Cons

"I would like the ability to install the agent on devices from suppliers, which would enable us to implement a zero-trust strategy for guest devices."

"When I started learning Microsoft Intune, I struggled because it was not straightforward; everything is in forms and it takes time to understand. The UI is extremely bad; it has a lot of overlapping elements and is confusing in many senses."

"I'd like some more reporting so that I don't have to delve into PowerShell and I can pull more of the local device information such as memory, apps installed, etc. It would be nice to be able to see the apps that are present there but might not be managed. For example, if they installed 7Zip, it could report that back via an installed program or feature to see what was currently installed."

"When you have a pressing issue, there is a lack of response. I believe Microsoft support needs to work on the response aspect."

"Intune has limited integration with non-Microsoft solutions."

"Intune endpoint analytics can be challenging."

"The scalability could be improved, and like most other MDM products, Intune is good but not 100% there yet."

"I would like some integration with the Microsoft reporting platform Power BI."

More Microsoft Intune cons

"The dashboards I do not use because there are issues. The solution monitors your antivirus and other programs but it does not seem to work well."

"We've seen some latency problems in AWS environments. Aside from that, it's a pretty solid service."

"The solution may not scale well for enterprises."

"They could improve the reporting."

"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."

"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."

"There is room for improvement in the pricing policy. The price point is pretty aggressive."

"The scalability is great for small or medium-sized businesses. However, it may not scale well for enterprise-level entities."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Intune is linked with Microsoft. We can deploy the Microsoft E365 license to users by Intune. There are different types of licenses, such as device administrator licenses, E5 licenses for device enrollment manually, and P1 and p2 licenses for device enrollment automatically. These are the licenses required for the administration."

"Intune is cost-effective as it is included in some of the Office 365 packages."

"The purchase of the product was handled by someone else."

"I am satisfied with the pricing."

"It's reasonable. They're not giving it away, but it's reasonable."

"All security solutions worldwide are expensive. Microsoft has allowed a small scale of features within Microsoft Intune for cost-efficient solutions. If you want the full suite, you need to invest more to gain better security features."

"Microsoft Intune is moderately priced. There is a monthly license required to use the solution and it is approximately eight dollars per month."

"The product is relatively pricey, but considering its benefits, I'd say it's fair. The benefits outweigh the expensive licensing fees, especially for large organizations, but medium-sized and smaller businesses may be unable to afford it."

More Microsoft Intune pricing and cost advice

"N-able Take Control charges you a monthly fee for every customer that you have booked in, and it used to be inexpensive but it's a little bit more expensive now."

"The licensing costs are about $100 per user."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Outsourcing Company

Comms Service Provider

18%

Construction Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

11%

University

11%

Transportation Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	192
Midsize Enterprise	62
Large Enterprise	186

No data available

Questions from the Community

How does Microsoft Intune compare with VMware Workspace One?

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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...

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Comparisons

IBM MaaS360 vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 11% of the time

Jamf Pro vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 10% of the time

Workspace ONE UEM vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 3% of the time

ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 3% of the time

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VNC Connect vs N-able Take Control

Compared 13% of the time

ScreenConnect vs N-able Take Control

Compared 12% of the time

TeamViewer vs N-able Take Control

Compared 12% of the time

Dameware Remote Support vs N-able Take Control

Compared 7% of the time

Devolutions Remote Desktop Manager vs N-able Take Control

Compared 3% of the time

More N-able Take Control Competitors

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs Parallels Access

Compared 16% of the time

TeamViewer vs Parallels Access

Compared 14% of the time

Splashtop Remote Support vs Parallels Access

Compared 11% of the time

ScreenConnect vs Parallels Access

Compared 9% of the time

MSP360 Connect vs Parallels Access

Compared 8% of the time

More Parallels Access Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Intune

July 2026

Download Microsoft Intune product report

Buyer's Guide

Remote Access

July 2026

Download N-able Take Control product report

Buyer's Guide

Remote Access

July 2026

Download Parallels Access product report

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager

SolarWinds MSP Take Control, SolarWinds MSP Anywhere, SolarWinds Take Control

No data available

Overview

Microsoft Intune is a cloud-based service designed for device management, security, and compliance. It supports automation and facilitates endpoint management for Windows, iOS, and Android devices, ensuring data protection and efficient policy enforcement.

Microsoft Intune offers seamless integration with tools like Windows Autopilot to automate device setup and deployment. Integrated with Azure Active Directory, it enhances policy management while providing robust reporting and analytics tools for compliance tracking. Despite its intuitive interface aimed at simplifying navigation and device security management, there are challenges such as compatibility issues with Linux and Mac, limited policy support for Android, and demands for better third-party integration. It's widely used for both corporate-owned devices and BYOD scenarios in dynamic IT environments.

What are the key features of Microsoft Intune?

Windows Autopilot: Automates device setup for rapid deployment.
Azure Active Directory Integration: Enhances user policy management.
Reporting and Analytics: Improves compliance visibility.
Mobile Application Management: Ensures app security without compromising personal data.
Cloud-Based Management: Allows management from any location.

What benefits and ROI can users expect?

Time Efficiency: Automation reduces time in policy enforcement and configuration updates.
Enhanced Security: Ensures data protection across corporate-owned and BYOD devices.
Improved Compliance: Advanced reporting tools enhance compliance visibility.
Flexible Management: Cloud-based nature supports management from any location.

In industries such as finance and healthcare, Microsoft Intune is implemented to ensure data protection and compliance with regulatory standards. Manufacturing sectors utilize Intune for managing a distributed workforce across global locations, while educational institutions employ it to secure and manage devices in learning environments supporting both students and faculty.

Microsoft

N-able Take Control offers robust features for IT professionals needing remote access solutions, ensuring efficient and secure management of devices from anywhere. It's designed to be a reliable option for IT support teams looking to manage client systems effectively.

N-able Take Control allows IT professionals to remotely access client systems with ease, providing powerful tools for troubleshooting, diagnostics, and support. The platform emphasizes security and accessibility, addressing the needs of businesses aiming for efficient IT operations. With real-time performance and diverse integrations, N-able Take Control ensures a seamless experience for IT administrators needing streamlined workflows.

What are the key features of N-able Take Control?

Remote Access: Instant, secure access to client devices from anywhere.
Session Recording: Capture and save sessions for compliance and training.
System Monitoring: Real-time insights into device performance.
Customization: Tailor tools and scripts to specific business needs.
Integrations: Compatible with multiple platforms and services.

What benefits and ROI should users consider in reviews?

Improved Efficiency: Streamlines remote support tasks, saving time and resources.
Enhanced Security: Protects sensitive data during remote sessions.
Cost Savings: Reduces travel and overhead costs with remote capabilities.
User Satisfaction: Positive reviews for easy-to-use interface and reliable performance.

In industries like healthcare, finance, and education, N-able Take Control is implemented to manage remote workstations securely and efficiently. IT teams in these fields rely on its capabilities to ensure uninterrupted service delivery, maintaining privacy and operational standards while optimizing their technical resources.

N-able

Parallels Access is a fast and reliable remote access software, enabling users to connect to computers from anywhere. It streamlines operations by allowing access to applications, files, and multiple computers seamlessly.

Parallels Access provides a stable, user-friendly platform with superior desktop and mobile capabilities. Designed for both small and large businesses, it emphasizes ease of use and secure remote access, enhancing user independence, particularly for those with physical limitations. However, it faces challenges including scalability issues for enterprises and aggressive pricing. Reporting and compatibility particularly with Linux and Unix servers need enhancement, alongside integration issues like the copy-and-paste function between iPads and computers.

What are the key features of Parallels Access?

Remote Deployment: Facilitates easy setup for businesses.
Scalability: Supports small to large business needs.
User Independence: Assists users with physical limitations through enhanced control.
Mobile Publishing: Offers superior capabilities for mobile users.
Secure Platform: Ensures high-level security for remote operations.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Operational Efficiency: Offers flexibility by controlling computers via iPads.
Centralized Management: Saves hardware resources.
Application Publishing: Allows independent application deployment.
Use Case Flexibility: Supports CAD and ERP applications.

Entities integrate Parallels Access into their services for remote application access, focusing on efficiency through centralized management. It supports industries such as engineering and education with Virtual Desktop Infrastructure solutions, enabling flexibility and enhancing operational efficiency. Companies work alongside system integrators and channel partners to tailor offerings to customer needs.

Parallels

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway

Bainbridge Technology Solutions, NKIT Systems

Gilt Groupe K.K.

Buyer's Guide

N-able Take Control vs. Parallels Access

June 2026

Free Report: N-able Take Control vs. Parallels Access

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