Parsec vs Shadow PC (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Parsec grades higher than Shadow PC: 2.6 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Parsec grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Parsec
Low-latency remote desktop for games and creative work
Shadow PC
A full Windows PC in the cloud for gaming and creative work
Which one is for you
Pick Parsec if
- Fits if you want to play games on your own gaming PC from the sofa or a laptop
- Works for studios inviting playtesters onto a machine, at $25 per outside guest
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you use it for work, since that needs Teams at $30 a user a month, or $45 on Enterprise
- Skip it if you want to connect from an iPhone or iPad, as there's no iOS app
- Not for you if the computer you want to reach runs Linux, as only Windows and Mac can host
- Tight if you stay free: one monitor, 60 FPS, and no 4:4:4 color, privacy mode or Wacom pressure
- Watch out: outside guests cost $25 an invitation on Teams, there are no volume discounts, and Enterprise is yearly only
Pick Shadow PC if
- Fits if you want a Windows gaming PC on a laptop or phone
- Works for monthly use with no long commitment
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you play often, since the cheapest plan is $29.99 and Lite caps at 120 hours a month
- Skip it if you want a trial first, as none is listed
- Watch out: peak-hour queue priority depends on your tier, from Lite to Premium
- Watch out: the vendor notes that not every game or app will run
- Watch out: businesses use a separate Cloud Workstations line with its own pricing
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAParsecGood | 1.8GPAShadow PCWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CGaming at home is free, and Warp, the personal plan with extra monitors and 4:4:4 colour, is $8.33 a month billed annually. Any work use needs Teams at $30 a user a month, though, well above what Splashtop's Performance plan and Jump Desktop's Teams Enterprise charge for the same creative job. | D$29.99 a month for the cheapest plan, just under the $30 line where the category's dearest tenth begins. Neo Pro is $44.99 and Power Pro $59.99. |
| Free plan and trial | BPersonal Use is free for gaming and other non-commercial use, with 60 FPS, controllers and link sharing, and one person can live on that. It's one monitor only, no 4:4:4 colour and no work use at all; Teams has a 14-day trial. | FNo free plan and no trial is listed anywhere on the vendor pages. |
| Features | CLow-latency streaming at up to 4K and 240 frames per second, controllers, Wacom pressure, shared sessions and guest access. The gaps it lists itself: only Windows and Mac computers can be hosts, there's no iOS app, and outside guests cost $25 an invitation. | CA full Windows PC streamed to many devices, with team management on Pro. Monthly playtime and resolution limits apply, with 120 hours on Lite. |
| Ease of use | BNo App Store rating on record. Install it on the computer you want to reach and the one you're sitting at, and connect. There's nothing to configure for a game at home. | BNo store rating on record. You install the client, sign in and stream, with nothing to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWindows, Mac, Linux, Android and a Chrome browser client, with a Teams API on Enterprise. There's no iPhone or iPad app, and Linux, Android and the browser can only connect, not host. | BWeb, Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone and Android clients, with Steam, Epic and Battle.net. No API is listed. |
| Best for | streaming games and creative work from a PC | a full Windows gaming PC streamed to your devices |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Parsec and Shadow PC. How we grade
Price against what you get
Parsec starts at $8.33 a month for each person and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Shadow PC starts at $29.99 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Parsec starts $21.66 a month lower. Of the other remote desktop apps on the chart, 2 score higher than Parsec for less, and 5 score higher than Shadow PC for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Shadow PC also covers AI agents.
At a glance
| Parsec | Shadow PC | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Paid |
| Starts at | $8.33 per user / month, billed annually ($9.99 billed monthly) | $29.99 per month, no commitment |
| Free plan | Personal Use is free for non-commercial use: low-latency 60 FPS desktop capture, link sharing, keyboard, mouse and gamepad support and encrypted peer-to-peer connections, on one monitor. | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of Teams and Enterprise | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Unity Technologies SF | Shadow |
| Price read from | parsec.app | shadow.tech |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Parsec
- The free and Individuals plans are for personal, non-commercial use only; any work use needs Teams or Enterprise.
- Only Windows 10+ and macOS 10.15+ computers can be hosts; Linux, Android and the Chrome web client can only connect. There is no iOS app.
- Guest access for external users costs $25 per invitation on top of the Teams plan.
- Parsec does not offer volume discounts, and Enterprise is sold with annual billing only.
Shadow PC
- Playtime is a fair-use cap that resets on the 1st of each month; Lite allows 120 hours.
- Peak-hour queue priority depends on the tier, from Lite to Premium.
- The vendor notes that not every game or app will run, flagged with an asterisk on its page.
- A separate Cloud Workstations line for businesses has its own pricing page.
Key features
Parsec
- Low-latency streaming
- Up to 4K resolution and up to 240 frames per second (60 at 4K), with 4:4:4 color on paid plans, over direct peer-to-peer connections.
- Controllers and Wacom tablets
- Keyboard, mouse and gamepad input on every plan; paid plans add pressure- and tilt-sensitive Wacom tablet support.
- Shared sessions
- Share a link so someone can watch or take control of your computer, for co-op games, live reviews or working on something together.
- Team computers
- Teams can provision computers on demand to a team member or group, and block computers inside the network from hosting connections.
- Guest access
- Invite outside people into a Teams computer for up to five days, for playtests, events or user research, using separately bought credits.
- Enterprise relay and API
- Enterprise adds a high-performance relay that sits in your firewall, a Teams API for automating deployment, SCIM and role-based admin roles.
Shadow PC
- A full Windows PC
- Install games from Steam, Epic or Battle.net, plus mods and your own software, instead of picking from a fixed library.
- Stream to many devices
- The download page lists apps for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, and the site also offers a browser version and Android TV and Apple TV.
- Monthly playtime and session caps
- Lite plans allow 120 hours a month in sessions of up to 4 hours. Other plans list 210 hours, sessions of 6 to 8 hours and an Always On option.
- Resolution and monitor limits
- The comparison table shows 1440p at 60 Hz on the lightest tier and up to 5K at 240 Hz on the others, with 1 to 3 monitors.
- Team management on Pro
- Pro plans include a subscriptions and users manager, and a team suite adds roles, fleet management, IAM and centralized billing.
Plans
Parsec
Personal Use$0
Free for gaming and other non-commercial use. No multi-monitor streaming, 4:4:4 color, privacy mode or Wacom pressure support.
Individuals (Warp)$8.33
per user / month, billed annually ($9.99 billed monthly)
Personal, non-commercial use with up to 3 monitors, 4:4:4 color, virtual monitors, privacy mode and Wacom pressure and tilt.
Teams$30
per user / month, billed annually ($35 billed monthly)
Licensed for work: admin panel, SAML single sign-on, team-managed computers and groups, 7 days of audit logs and paid guest access.
Enterprise$45
per user / month, billed annually only
Adds the high-performance relay server, Teams API, role-based access, SCIM provisioning, full audit logs and usage analytics.
Shadow PC
Neo Lite$29.99
per month, no commitment
Up to 120 hours of playtime a month, sessions up to 4 hours, streaming in 1440p, 256 GB storage.
Neo$37.99
per month, no commitment
Streaming up to 1440p, multi-screen and ultrawide support, RTX and DLSS. The comparison table lists 210 hours a month.
Power Lite$43.99
per month, no commitment
Up to 50% more GPU power than Neo, 28 GB RAM and 20 GB VRAM, 120 hours a month, 4-hour sessions.
Neo Pro$44.99
per month, no commitment
For 3D and rendering: priority access, longer sessions and a subscriptions and users manager.
Power$54.99
per month, no commitment
Up to 50% more GPU power, 28 GB RAM and 20 GB VRAM, streaming up to 5K.
Power Pro$59.99
per month, no commitment
Power hardware with priority access, longer sessions, a users manager and installs of CUDA and RTX workflows.
Ways to pay less
Parsec
- Annual discount
Annual billing saves up to about 17%
Individuals is $8.33 a month paid annually against $9.99 monthly, about 17% less; Teams is $30 against $35, about 14% less.
Shadow PC
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Parsec or Shadow PC?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Parsec starts at $8.33 per user / month, billed annually ($9.99 billed monthly), and Shadow PC starts at $29.99 per month, no commitment. One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Parsec or Shadow PC?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Parsec has a free plan. Shadow PC does not.
Which platforms do Parsec and Shadow PC run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Shadow PC lists an iOS app. Both list a web app and macOS, Windows, Linux and Android apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.