Parsec
Parsec provides proprietary low-latency peer-to-peer remote desktop software enabling gamers, creative professionals, and game studios to access high-performance workstations from any device at up to 4K/240FPS. Founded in 2016 and acquired by Unity Technologies in 2021.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Parsec does
Parsec is a remote desktop streaming platform founded in 2016 that provides proprietary low-latency peer-to-peer software for accessing high-performance workstations from any device. The platform delivers up to 240 FPS streaming at 4K resolution with 4:4:4 color fidelity using direct, end-to-end encrypted peer-to-peer connections that bypass Parsec's infrastructure, designed for latency-sensitive workloads such as gaming, 3D creative production, and software development.
The company operates a tiered SaaS model: a free consumer tier for gaming and individual use; Parsec Warp at $8.33/user/month (annual) for independent creatives with multi-monitor, 4:4:4 color, and Wacom tablet support; Parsec for Teams at $30/user/month with SAML SSO, granular permissions, and 7-day audit logs; and Parsec for Enterprise at $45/user/month adding high-performance relay servers, SCIM provisioning, full audit logs, and Teams API access. Parsec serves individual gamers, creative professionals (VFX, animation, post-production), and game development studios, with named enterprise customers including Xbox Research, EA, Ubisoft, Blizzard Entertainment, Square Enix, Remedy, Paradox Interactive, 72 Films, and Warm & Fuzzy. Distribution combines product-led growth via self-serve downloads, inside sales for Teams tier, and enterprise field sales, with additional go-to-market through the Microsoft Azure Marketplace.
Parsec was acquired by Unity Technologies in August 2021 for approximately $320 million in cash and operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary (legal entity: Unity Technologies SF). Prior to the acquisition, the company raised approximately $33 million across a seed round ($1M, January 2017), Series A ($7M, May 2020 led by Makers Fund with HP Tech Ventures participation), and Series B ($25M, December 2020 led by Andreessen Horowitz with HP Ventures Group, Lerer Hippeau, Makers Fund, NextView Ventures, and Notation Capital). The platform is SOC 2 Type 2 certified and available across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and Web, supporting a global customer base without disclosed geographic restrictions.
Parsec firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Parsec
- Legal name
- Unity Technologies SF
- Website
- https://parsec.app
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Parsec provides proprietary low-latency peer-to-peer remote desktop software enabling gamers, creative professionals, and game studios to access high-performance workstations from any device at up to 4K/240FPS. Founded in 2016 and acquired by Unity Technologies in 2021.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Parsec industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Remote Desktop Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (513210), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (516210)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Media Processing at the Edge (Transcoding, Packaging, DRM at Edge) (HDABAGAD)
Keywords
Where Parsec is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Parsec business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Consumer Gaming (Free): Free tier for personal gaming use. Connects individuals to their gaming rigs remotely at no cost.
- Parsec Warp (Individual): $8.33/user/month (annual) or $9.99/month for individuals. Includes multi-monitor support, 4:4:4 color mode, privacy mode, Wacom tablet support. 14-day free trial.
- Parsec for Teams: $30/user/month (annual) or $35/month. Adds secure team access, SAML SSO, granular permissions, team computer management, audit logs (7 days). 14-day free trial.
- Parsec for Enterprise: $45/user/month, annual only. Includes high-performance relay server, full audit logs, Teams API access, role-based access, SCIM provisioning.
- Guest Access Credits: $25 per invitation for temporary guest access to team hardware for events, tests, or user research. Available on Teams and Enterprise tiers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free tier for personal gaming |
| Subscription | Annual | Professional features for individuals ($8.33/mo annual) |
| Per seat | Annual | Team collaboration with admin controls ($30/mo annual) |
| Per seat | Annual | Enterprise scale with API and relay ($45/mo annual) |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels8 records
Parsec product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Parsec provides proprietary low-latency remote desktop streaming software that enables users to connect to high-performance workstations from anywhere. It delivers up to 4K resolution at 60 FPS (up to 240 FPS at lower resolutions) using direct peer-to-peer, end-to-end encrypted connections that bypass Parsec's infrastructure. The platform serves individual gamers (free/Warp tiers), creative professionals, game development studios, and enterprise teams with secure collaboration and IT management features.
Product overview
Parsec is a remote desktop platform offering a tiered product portfolio: the free Parsec consumer app provides basic high-speed, low-latency remote access for gaming; Parsec Warp ($8.33/month) adds professional creative features like 4:4:4 color and Wacom support; Parsec for Teams ($30/month) enables secure team collaboration with SSO and permissions management; and Parsec for Enterprise ($45/month) provides API access, high-performance relay servers, and SCIM provisioning for large organizations. All tiers share core peer-to-peer technology delivering 60 FPS up to 4K resolution with near-zero latency.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Parsec Warp: Professional tier offering enhanced with support for pressure sensitive pens and Wacom tablets, 4:4:4 color mode, and multi-monitor support. Priced at $8.33 per user/month.
- Parsec for Teams
- Parsec for Enterprise
Products and services
- Parsec (Free Consumer) Free remote desktop software for individual gamers enabling high-speed, low-latency access to gaming rigs from anywhere. Supports 60 FPS, up to 4K resolution, peer-to-peer connections, and cross-platform access on PC, Mac, tablet, laptop, or phone.
- Parsec Warp
Quantifiable outcome
- 10x faster remote rendering (8 hours to 30 minutes)
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Parsec
Customer profileNamed customers21 records
Segments8 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Parsec technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
Feature8 records
Parsec partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Microsoft AzurecoreMicrosoft Studios ecosystem has adopted Parsec for Teams Enterprise in partnership with Azure. Through the Azure Marketplace, creative teams can deploy VMs preconfigured with Parsec in under 5 minutes. Xbox Research and other Microsoft studios use Azure VMs with Parsec for virtual playtesting.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Parsec competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- TeamViewer: TeamViewer is a leading global remote desktop and access platform serving enterprise IT, support, and collaboration use cases. It is directly comparable to Parsec across the SMB and enterprise tiers, though TeamViewer's architecture is more relay-mediated and lacks Parsec's P2P latency profile.
- AnyDesk: AnyDesk is a remote desktop software vendor competing head-to-head with Parsec on low-latency streaming performance. Like Parsec, it markets to creative and enterprise users and uses proprietary codec technology (DeskRT) to deliver frame-rate-sensitive remote sessions.
- Splashtop: Splashtop is a remote access and remote desktop platform with strong traction in creative, education, and MSP segments. It directly competes with Parsec in the high-performance creative workflow use case, often positioning on price-performance for VFX and 3D artists.
- NoMachine: NoMachine provides remote desktop software with a focus on high-performance multimedia and gaming use cases. It competes with Parsec for users needing low-latency remote access to graphical workstations, particularly in academic and pro-creator segments.
Emerging players
- RustDesk: RustDesk is an open-source remote desktop alternative gaining traction as a self-hostable substitute for TeamViewer/AnyDesk. It is comparable to Parsec in core functionality but lacks Parsec's enterprise admin, SSO, and managed relay layers.
- Shadow: Shadow provides cloud-hosted Windows PCs accessible from any device, targeting gamers and creative professionals. It is comparable to Parsec at the consumer/creator tier but offers a fully managed cloud workstation rather than streaming the user's existing hardware.
- Moonlight (GameStream): Moonlight is an open-source game-streaming client that connects to NVIDIA GameStream-compatible hosts. It is comparable to Parsec in the low-latency local-network game streaming use case but lacks Parsec's internet-relay and enterprise team-management features.
Broad incumbents
- Citrix (Cloud Software Group): Citrix is a long-established enterprise remote desktop and VDI leader serving Fortune 500 customers with virtualization and DaaS offerings. It overlaps with Parsec's enterprise team-access use case but is much broader, serving general knowledge workers rather than specializing in latency-sensitive creative workloads.
- Microsoft (Windows 365 Cloud PC / RDP): Microsoft bundles remote desktop and Cloud PC offerings (Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, RDP) directly into its enterprise stack. It represents the most consequential competitive threat to Parsec, as Microsoft's distribution, identity integrations, and bundling make standalone remote desktop difficult to justify for IT buyers.
- AWS (NICE DCV / WorkSpaces): AWS offers NICE DCV for high-performance remote desktop streaming into EC2 instances, plus WorkSpaces for managed cloud desktops. It competes with Parsec's cloud-rendered workstation deployments (e.g., Azure VM + Parsec for Xbox Research playtesting) by bundling streaming into AWS infrastructure spend.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Parsec social profiles
Digital presenceParsec compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Parsec financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Parsec leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Parsec funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors7 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Parsec M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Parsec
What does Parsec do?
Parsec provides proprietary low-latency remote desktop streaming software that enables users to connect to high-performance workstations from anywhere. It delivers up to 4K resolution at 60 FPS (up to 240 FPS at lower resolutions) using direct peer-to-peer, end-to-end encrypted connections that bypass Parsec's infrastructure. The platform serves individual gamers (free/Warp tiers), creative professionals, game development studios, and enterprise teams with secure collaboration and IT management features.
Is Parsec a public or private company?
Parsec is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Parsec founded?
Parsec was founded in 2016. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Parsec based?
Parsec is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Parsec make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Consumer Gaming (Free) is the primary driver. The others are parsec Warp (Individual), parsec for Teams, parsec for Enterprise and guest Access Credits.
Who are Parsec's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are TeamViewer, AnyDesk, Splashtop and NoMachine. Emerging players are RustDesk, Shadow and Moonlight (GameStream). Broad incumbents are Citrix (Cloud Software Group), Microsoft (Windows 365 Cloud PC / RDP) and AWS (NICE DCV / WorkSpaces).
Does Parsec have an API?
Yes. Parsec offers a Teams API for enterprise customers. The API enables automation of core functions including: team member invitation and management, computer and group assignment, permissions management, app rule assignment, and audit log retrieval. The v2 endpoint for audit logs (/v2/teams/:teamID/events) requires start_at and end_at parameters, limits queries to a maximum 7-day window, supports gzip response bodies, and has a maximum limit of 5000 records (increased from 1000). Rate limits: Maximum 50 requests in a 5 minute window, blocked for 5 minutes if exceeded. Developer documentation is at parsec.app/docs/teams-api.
What industry is Parsec in?
Parsec's product category is Remote Desktop Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDABAGAD, Media Processing at the Edge (Transcoding, Packaging, DRM at Edge). Its NAICS code is 513210 and its SIC code is 7372.