Portable Virtualbox vs Parallels Desktop : Which is Better?

Portable Virtualbox icon

Portable Virtualbox

Portable-VirtualBox is a free and open source software tool that lets you run any operating system from a usb stick without separate installation. Developed by Runar Buvik

License: Open Source

Categories: Network & Admin

Apps available for Windows

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Parallels Desktop icon

Parallels Desktop

Parallels Desktop for Mac, by Parallels, is software providing hardware virtualization for Macintosh computers with Intel processors. Developed by Parallels IP Holdings GmbH

License: Commercial

Apps available for Mac OS X

Portable Virtualbox VS Parallels Desktop

Portable VirtualBox is a free, open-source virtualization solution that is lightweight and portable, making it ideal for users needing basic virtualization across different OS platforms. In contrast, Parallels Desktop offers a high-performance, user-friendly experience designed specifically for macOS users, but comes at a premium price and requires more system resources.

Portable Virtualbox

Pros:

  • Free to use
  • Lightweight and portable
  • Cross-platform compatibility
  • Open-source
  • Good community support

Cons:

  • Limited features compared to paid solutions
  • Performance can be slower
  • Requires manual setup
  • Less intuitive for beginners
  • Limited commercial support

Parallels Desktop

Pros:

  • High performance
  • User-friendly interface
  • Robust support for macOS
  • Seamless integration with macOS
  • Advanced features like snapshots

Cons:

  • Expensive
  • Only available for macOS
  • Resource-intensive
  • Less flexible in VM customization
  • Not portable

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