Parallels Reviews 1,776

I was automatically charged for a yearly renewal without clear notice or consent. When I contacted support, they refused to issue a refund and only offered a three-month extension — which is pointless since I don’t even use the product anymore.

This is a terrible way to treat paying customers. The renewal process is misleading, and the support response feels scripted with no genuine intention to help.

I’ve used many subscription-based products before, but this has been one of the worst customer service experiences I’ve had. I would strongly advise others to be cautious before purchasing.

I was charged automatically for a renewal I never approved or intended to continue. When I reached out for a refund, the company refused and instead offered a three-month extension — which is completely useless to me since I don’t even use the product.

This kind of renewal policy feels dishonest and unfair. The support team showed no real effort to resolve the issue or value customer satisfaction. I’m very disappointed and won’t be using their services again.

I’m leaving this review so others are aware before subscribing — be careful with their auto-renewal and refund practices.

Parallels itself works fine, but cancelling the subscription is far more complicated than it should be. Their renewal emails didn’t show any clear “cancel” option, and the Parallels account page wasn’t helpful either. It felt like a lot of people online had the same experience, so here’s what actually worked for me in the end:

Check your original purchase email. Mine came from no-reply AT cleverbridge.com
, not Parallels.

In that email there’s a “Manage Subscription” link. Follow it.

Cleverbridge then sends a new link to your email with access to your subscription.

Only on that page did the real cancel option appear.

It takes you to a page trying to offer discounts, and the actual cancel link is very small.

After clicking it, I finally received an email confirming my subscription was cancelled.

If you’re stuck trying to stop auto-renew, use the Cleverbridge link from your original invoice — the renewal reminder didn’t show any cancel button at all. Hope this helps someone avoid wasting time.

Unethical and Untrustworthy.
Firstly, they are scammers with the billing and you should be prepared to have your bank do a chargeback and possibly contact the attorney general in Washington State where they are headquartered. They set up their system where it is difficult to find the do not renew. I found it the day before it was to renew. If you are like me then you have more things to do than search for the renewal options that some slimy unethical charlatans have intentionally hidden so that it is like an easter egg hunt to find it.
They have teams of Indian and Arab regurgitation experts giving bs excuses why they are not going to refund your money after playing a game to pretend like they are following some rules that don't exist. THEIR MODE OF OPERATION IS:
"WE GOT YOUR MONEY! FU!" - LITERALLY.
THEY WILL AUTO-RENEW YOU AT THE HIGHEST PRICE THEY HAVE! THEY WILL REFUSE TO MAKE IT RIGHT. THEIR ETHICS ARE NOT BETTER THAN THE THIEVES.
Their customer service/support is an absolute torment. They clearly have the intention to make it as difficult &time consuming as possible to get support .
You will get a regurgitated email asking for the information that you already provided from someone that has an Indian or Arab name. They will not communicate effectively in English. Their system is setup to make it difficult and time consuming to get support. They are massively inefficient on purpose and do not have any intention of efficiently helping customers.
THEY ARE NOT A GERMAN COMPANY!! They use the. Gmbh to trick you! The founder (Serg Bell) is a Russian that lives in Singapore but the company is based in Bellevue, Washington, USA.
The price of this is an absolute rip-off. For what they charge, they should include a windows license. If you are American then you can report them to the state attorney general in your state as the billing will need to be refunded to your bank card. I'm sure that this varies from state to state.
The software is fairly good although it makes app switching very slow and causes unusual behavior in the computer while it is running parallels. It sometimes makes window sizing and app behavior unpredictable. FYI, MBP 16 M3pro, Sequoia.
I had no intention of renewing it as I will be unfortunately using Winders for 5-7 more years and it just makes sense to buy a windows laptop. But the scumbags charged me and now I must do a charge back as anything you purchase online has a 30 day right of refusal. That is why all software companies give you this time as they know that you have the right to return it and get your money back. Parallels and their founder - Sergey Mikhaylovich Belousov(serg bell) are real scumbags.
Anyhow, hope this post helps someone. My advice is to just go straight to your bank asap and tell them that you did not authorize the charge. If they get hit with enough chargebacks they may even face a lawsuit. Very clearly unethical.

I purchased a permanent license, and after 15 months, I can no longer use it because I am not allowed to install the latest version, and the old versions no longer work on my computer. There is no support from this dump either, because you have to pay extra for it even if their product doesn't work. Great job ripping off your customers.

Beware! Parallels will set your subscription to auto-renew, and they will not notify you before it renews. There are no refunds given for subscriptions, and the company gives you no way to speak to a real person. This company is VERY scammy. Be careful!

It is close to impossible to cancel subscription.
All links end in 404 / error / etc
You can't send a mail.
You cant talk to a person.

e-mail support no matter what. In my situation, I have found e-mail support to be catastrophic. Not being able to talk to someone in any way whatsoever when your computer (and your business) runs on their software (and not the other way round) is not fun. In the long term it is much, much cheaper to just buy a computer running the OS you were missing. Avoid. Please. Avoid.

They make it nearly impossible to cancel a subscription and send suspicious, scam-like emails. Be cautious — I’ll be staying away from this company.

Cheater company. AVOID IT
EXTREMELY BAD PRODUCT.
ACCIDENTLLY RENEWED and CONTACTED SAME DAY BUT STILL NOT ISSUE REFUND. THEY WANT TO MAKE MONEY BY TRAPPING CUSTOMER IN AUTO RENEWAL NOT BY SELLING THEIR PRODUCT.

Customer service is horrible to contact. I originally had a student account and when I left school I could no longer access my email account. Parallels has been charging me for 3 years and every time I try to dispute the charge and Parallels refuses to let me go. Companies like Parallels make me wish we could give zero-star reviews.

I was scammed but Solved by professionals in picture

Licensed in 2023. Did not use so i cancelled in 24. Just billed for 2025 without warning notification. Billing practices are illegal. For subscriptions with an initial term of one year or more, companies must send an annual reminder 15–45 days before the renewal date. This reminder must include clear instructions on how to cancel. Cancellation notice was ignored and NO reminder was sent.

Beware of their autorenewal, they WILL take your money. They also made it hard for you to unsubscribe. This company is a SCAM. Please be careful.

The service does work - however, poor customer service and predatory service renewals lead me to suggest if you need this type of service, I recommend looking elsewhere.

Echoing many of the other critiques, I lost access to the workstation I had this software installed, and the only way to cancel the auto renewal was to log into the workstation. They offer no refunds period. They did, however, offer to extend my server another three months, which is not helpful as I no longer have access to the workstation. Business as usual for them, this is how they make their money

I used Parallels Desktop for a short time and never authorized
auto-renewal, yet they set it up without my consent and charged my account
for three years. When I finally caught it and requested a refund, they
refused, despite clear evidence that I hadn’t used the product during that
time.

Even after escalating and asking them to reconsider — on principle and on
fairness — they flatly denied any refund or partial credit. Their customer
service was unhelpful, showing zero accountability.

This is not just bad service — it’s predatory behavior. Hiding behind fine
print and refusing to refund clearly unwanted charges is unethical,
especially for software priced at a premium.

*Be warned:* Parallels will auto-renew you without warning and refuse
refunds even for unused licenses. If you're considering buying, be prepared
to watch your back — and your bank statements.

What the Website does not say: Windows needs to be purchased separately.

Again: Windows needs to be purchased separately!

I hate in-transparency. So I fill the gap right here, right now.

Auto-renewal scam. I asked for a refund for a product I won't use 3 days after getting charged on auto-renew and they said no. What loss are they taking on refunding software? I'm not returning a used product! Even Amazon lets you get refunds no questions asked and they send you tens of emails! Parallels has ruined their great software with a terrible customer experience!

Here's a bit more context. I've used Parallels since 2020 after switching from VMWare for a couple of years. Last year (2024) I got a replacement computer. Since I couldn't transfer my license from one computer to another, I had to buy a second license. But I didn't care, I was happy to do so. And then one day I wake up to getting a $200 bill, $100 for each of two licenses. I immediately contact Parallels and they play hard ball. It's like I'm dealing with some second-rate company.

After talking with support I dig around in my emails and see that they send the reminder from a different email address (renewals at parallelsnetwork.com) than the billing (no-reply at cleverbridge.com), and that's probably why it gets sent to spam. I use a Microsoft-based email.

I have the penultimate version of Desktop for Mac and it will NOT run Windows 11. I suspect the only solution is to upgrade yet again. Oh wait....

I wonder if there's such a thing as VMWare Fusion, which is both free and runs Windows 11 flawlessly. Yes there is - problem solved.

Poor customer service. No responding email after a month of waiting.
Poor product
Poor auto annual renewal that comes with no reminder.

Very hard to cancel.

Avoid at all costs.