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Parallels Access vs VNC Connect comparison

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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
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
384
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (3rd), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
Parallels Access
Ranking in Remote Access
26th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
VNC Connect
Ranking in Remote Access
15th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Remote Access category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 4.6%, down from 10.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Parallels Access is 1.8%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VNC Connect is 3.3%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Remote Access Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Intune4.6%
VNC Connect3.3%
Parallels Access1.8%
Other90.3%
Remote Access
 

Featured Reviews

HA
Senior Business Development Executive at Digitaltrack
Centralized device management has automated onboarding and improves remote security compliance
One thing I feel Microsoft Intune could improve is troubleshooting visibility. In many cases, when a policy or application deployment fails, the error messages are a bit generic. So, admins still spend time checking logs manually or testing on devices one by one. Compared to the simplicity of deployment, troubleshooting sometimes feels less mature. I also think reporting and real-time monitoring could be stronger. The dashboard gives useful information, but in large environments, many teams still depend on additional tools or scripts for deeper reporting and analytics. If I had to focus on one area first, I would probably choose troubleshooting and reporting. Deployment through Microsoft Intune is generally straightforward, but when something fails, identifying the exact root cause can still take more time than expected. Error messages are sometimes too generic, and admins often have to dig through logs, sync status, or multiple portals to understand what actually happened. I think user experience and policy management could also improve further. Microsoft Intune has become much better over the years, but sometimes the admin portal still feels fragmented because certain configurations open in different sections or redirect to older interfaces. For new admins, especially, it can take time to understand where everything is located. Another thing is policy conflict handling. In larger organizations, multiple device policies, compliance rules, and configuration profiles can overlap. When conflicts happen, the visibility is not always very clear, so admins spend time figuring out which policy actually won or caused the issue.
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.
Jose Miguel Moya - PeerSpot reviewer
SACTA Architect at MRInformatica
Easy to deploy, but scalability needs improvement
There are no specific challenges I faced while using the product. I haven't used the solution to support any AI-driven projects. In our company, we need to have remote access to our labs because if not, people have to move to the laboratory, and we will spend a lot of time working. I don't know the features of VNC Connect that improved our company's support capabilities. I rate the tool a six out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The main benefit for us with Microsoft Intune is centralized management of all devices, allowing us to apply one policy across the company from one location."
"I like how Intune deploys the policies and makes them customizable. You can deploy it through Intune and forget about it."
"Microsoft Intune is far more efficient and faster than MECM."
"It works well if you have a Microsoft environment."
"I like that we can implement conditional access."
"It significantly reduces the overhead associated with providing support."
"Microsoft Intune is a must and should be needed for this time, for this hybrid model period, and I highly recommend this product for employees, education institutions, or device management."
"Fortunately, now everything is streamlined into a single, unified platform."
"Parallels Access gives me full access and control of the computer, and I can do anything I want remotely."
"We don't have problems with stability. Everything is good."
"It's got a very easy-to-use interface."
"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."
"It's great that the total deployment can happen completely remotely."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its ease of use."
"The product’s ease of use and security are valuable."
"The most valuable features are that it is consistently low profile and consistently works without hiccups or headaches."
 

Cons

"Onboarding of endpoint devices is not straightforward. The onboarding process was a little heavier than I thought it would be. That's the key improvement area. Obviously, the more control you have over the devices, the better it is."
"There could be more wizard-driven policy development or creation. Some of the policies can get quite complex. If they have a wizard that assists the administrators in creating the policy, that will be a great job."
"One area where Microsoft Intune could improve is policy troubleshooting and reporting. Identifying why a device is non-compliant or why a deployment failed can sometimes require longer than expected."
"Intune should improve the management of non-Microsoft devices. It would be better to manage Mac, Android, and other non-Microsoft operating system devices within the same Intune interface."
"I rate Microsoft customer service six out of 10. While some technicians go above and beyond, there is inconsistency, and connecting with the most helpful representatives is occasionally challenging."
"Intune endpoint analytics can be challenging."
"The solution can have some compliance problems in general and the end-point user can bypass easily the company policies in Intune."
"There have been instances where enrolling devices should take 10 minutes but ends up taking an hour due to various issues."
"The scalability is great for small or medium-sized businesses. However, it may not scale well for enterprise-level entities."
"They could improve the reporting."
"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."
"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."
"Improvements are required in the area of scalability since it is an aspect of the tool where there are shortcomings."
"We occasionally have issues with the graphic software of the interface."
"Ease of access is a bit of a challenge."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's a part of Microsoft 365 and E5 licenses. Microsoft's strategy of making every feature in Microsoft Intune paid needs optimization. Remote control is one of the basic features, not a luxury feature, yet we must pay for it. I"
"Intune is cost-effective as it is included in some of the Office 365 packages."
"It is expensive. The cost depends on the license that we choose."
"The price of Microsoft Intune is reasonable."
"The pricing is inherently reasonable, as Microsoft leverages market insights to maintain the total cost of ownership at around ninety to ninety-five percent of what would be incurred in an on-premise scenario."
"It's a bit expensive from a licensing perspective, especially as we look to have organizations with tenants across the globe."
"Based on the features that it gives, it is cost-efficient. It is not necessarily on the expensive side of the scale. It provides a hefty number of features that any organization would want. It is in a good price range."
"Microsoft Intune has a user-based subscription model. You can go for a monthly or a yearly payment."
"The licensing costs are about $100 per user."
"The tool is not cheap."
"I use the tool's free version."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
14%
Construction Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Transportation Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
17%
Healthcare Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business195
Midsize Enterprise64
Large Enterprise190
No data available
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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What are the pros and cons of Microsoft Intune?
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Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also ...
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Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
No data available
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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Gilt Groupe K.K.
Telesat Canada, St. Anthony's School, Pratt and Whitney, City of Sacramento
Find out what your peers are saying about Parallels Access vs. VNC Connect and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.