Parsec vs Vagon (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Parsec grades higher than Vagon: 2.6 against 2.2 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 the free plan and platforms. Vagon grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money and ease of use.
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
Vagon
Cloud workstations with GPUs, billed by the minute
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 Vagon if
- Fits if you need a high-spec machine for a few hours at a time
- Works for people who like paying only for minutes used
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a flat monthly bill, as usage and storage are charged separately
- Watch out: data sent out is free for the first 10 GB a month, then $1.5 for each extra 10 GB
- Watch out: usage is paid from a prepaid balance, and rates can vary by region
- Tight if you want a free trial, as the trial starts from $0.99
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAParsecGood | 2.2GPAVagonFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CStorage is $7.99 a month, with usage from $0.25 an hour on top, so a month's cost depends on hours used. |
| 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. | DThe pricing page offers a trial from $0.99, so there is a payment up front, and no free plan. |
| 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. | BPay-per-minute use, GPU and CPU machines, preinstalled apps, AI agents and team workspaces are listed. |
| 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. It opens in a browser with apps already installed, so there is little 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. | CWeb only. No desktop or phone apps are listed, though Blender, Unreal, Unity and Premiere Pro are named. |
| Best for | streaming games and creative work from a PC | pay-per-minute cloud computers in a browser |
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 Vagon. 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. Vagon starts at $7.99 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Vagon starts $0.34 a month lower. Of the other remote desktop apps on the chart, 2 score higher than Parsec for less, and 2 score higher than Vagon 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
- Vagon also covers AI agents and file sharing.
At a glance
| Parsec | Vagon | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $8.33 per user / month, billed annually ($9.99 billed monthly) | $7.99 per month for storage, plus usage from $0.25 per hour |
| 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 | Trial offered from $0.99, per the pricing page |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Unity Technologies SF | Vagon |
| Price read from | parsec.app | vagon.io |
| 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.
Vagon
- Costs are split between a monthly storage fee and minute-based usage, so a monthly bill depends on hours used.
- Data sent out of Vagon is free for the first 10 GB a month, then $1.5 for each extra 10 GB.
- Usage is paid from a prepaid account balance, and rates can vary by region.
- Only a browser client is described; no separate desktop or mobile apps were found.
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.
Vagon
- Pay per minute
- Each performance option has its own hourly rate, charged by the minute, and you can switch between options as you like.
- GPU and CPU machines
- Options include RTX-enabled A10G machines from $1.67 per hour, Tesla T4 machines from $0.99 per hour and CPU machines from $0.25 per hour.
- Works in the browser
- The vendor says Vagon runs on PC, Mac, Linux, tablets and phones with only a browser and internet connection.
- Preinstalled apps
- You pick applications from a catalog when creating a computer, and they come preinstalled, with drag-and-drop file transfer.
- AI agents and team workspaces
- The homepage describes running Claude Code, Codex or OpenCode on a dedicated GPU computer, and team workspaces for companies.
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.
Vagon
Personal storage$7.99
per month, plus usage charged by the minute
75 GB disk and 5 GB of Vagon Files storage. Usage runs from $0.25 per hour (Sand CPU) to $11.97 per hour (Lava GPU).
Premium storage$19.99
per month, plus usage charged by the minute
75 GB disk and 25 GB of Vagon Files storage. The pricing page marks a tier as available soon, so check this one.
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.
Vagon
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Parsec or Vagon?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Parsec starts at $8.33 per user / month, billed annually ($9.99 billed monthly), and Vagon starts at $7.99 per month for storage, plus usage from $0.25 per hour. 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 Vagon?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Parsec has a free plan. Vagon does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Parsec and Vagon run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Parsec lists macOS, Windows, Linux and Android apps. Both list a web app. 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.