Parallex and Parall, side by side
Parall and Parallex both run a second instance of a Mac app with its own data. Parall makes small launcher shortcuts that start the original app, which it never copies or changes. Parallex makes those too, and can also give an app a copy with an identity of its own, which is what separates App Store apps like WhatsApp. Both are good; which suits you depends on your apps.
Facts about other apps checked against their own sites on October 4, 2026.
At a glance
| Parallex | Parall | |
|---|---|---|
| How it separates an app | An instance that starts the app with a data folder of its own, or its own copy of the app with its own identity, Library and keychain | A launcher shortcut that starts the installed app with a data folder, environment or home of its own |
| Changes to the app | Never to the original. A copy is an APFS clone, re-signed on your Mac | None: the original app runs, with its own signature |
| App Store apps (WhatsApp, for one) | Its own copy, with containers of its own | Data separation for some families of apps; WhatsApp and Teams as web-app shortcuts |
| Dock icon | Copies and website instances have their own; plain instances share the app's, with colored window outlines | Each shortcut has its own |
| Notifications | A copy's come from the copy, under its own name | Its FAQ notes that clicking one can bring the wrong instance forward |
| Signing in through the browser | Parallex Links sends the sign-in link back to the instance that asked | Its FAQ asks for Safari as the default browser and other instances closed |
| Checking the separation | Verify Isolation lists what an instance has opened of the original's; a public lab tests over 30 apps every night | A compatibility table of over 120 apps |
| Websites as apps | Yes, each with its own sign-in, notifications and Dock badge | Yes, with notifications and unread badges |
| Works on | macOS 14 and later | macOS 10.11 and later |
| How you get it | Download, Homebrew or Terminal; signed and notarized by Apple | Mac App Store, with Family Sharing |
| Price | Free to try | $9.99 once |
Where Parall is the better choice
- You're on an older Mac. Parall runs on macOS 10.11 and later; Parallex needs macOS 14.
- You'd rather nothing about an app changed. Parall never copies or re-signs an app, so every app keeps its developer's signature and hardened runtime. Parallex's plain instances work the same way, but its own copies are re-signed on your Mac, and How it works is honest about what that trades away.
- You want it from the Mac App Store, with Family Sharing.
- Your apps are on its list. Its compatibility table covers over 120 apps.
Where Parallex is the better choice
- App Store apps, as the real app. A Parallex copy of WhatsApp is the WhatsApp app, signed out, with its database in containers of its own; Parall runs WhatsApp and Teams as web-app shortcuts.
- A copy that is its own app to macOS: its own Dock icon, notifications under its name, and its own camera, microphone and screen-recording permissions.
- Sign-ins kept apart: a copy keeps what it stores in the keychain in a keychain of its own, and Guard keeps it out of the original app's data.
- Signing in without closing everything: sign-in links go back to the instance that asked for them.
- Proof you can read: Verify Isolation lists what an instance has opened of the original's, and a nightly lab publishes every app's result.
- More than apps: workspaces that open together, a persona per workspace for Git and other command-line tools, snapshots, and the
parallexcommand.
On copying and re-signing
Parall's site argues against tools that copy and re-sign apps: copies can fall behind the original, and re-signing can lose permissions you gave. That's fair for a copy made once and left alone. Parallex turns a copy's own updater off and refreshes the copy itself when the original updates, and signs every copy with the same certificate, made on your Mac, so macOS keeps the permissions you gave it. Where you'd rather an app kept its developer's signature, a plain Parallex instance does that, as Parall's shortcuts do.
Questions
Can I use both?
Yes. They don't touch each other's instances, and neither changes your original apps.
Does Parallex work with the apps Parall supports?
Most of them, and the same apps people most often want twice: Slack, Discord, Telegram, Signal, Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code, Chrome, Zoom and more. Each app's page has its latest night in Parallex's lab.
Get Parallex
Free to try, for macOS 14 and later. In Terminal:
curl -fsSL https://parallex.mandip.dev/install | shOr download the disk image, or with Homebrew: brew install --cask mandipadk/parallex/parallex.