Parrot OS is a Linux distribution based on Debian with a focus on security, privacy, and development.

Parrot is based on Debian's "stable" branch, with the Linux kernel based on upstream Debian's LTS kernel. The distro also follows a LTS development model in regards to package management.

The default desktop environment was MATE, and the default display manager was LightDM until Parrot OS 7.

The system is certified to run on devices which have a minimum of 256MB of RAM, and it is suitable for both 32-bit (i386) and 64-bit (amd64) processor architectures. Moreover, the project is available for ARMv7 (armhf) architectures.

In June 2017, the Parrot Team announced they were considering to change from Debian to Devuan, mainly because of problems with systemd.

As of 21 January 2019, the Parrot team has begun to phase out the development of their 32-bit (i386) ISO.

In August 2020 with Parrot OS 4.10, the Parrot OS team started supporting Xfce.

With the release of Parrot OS 7 (based on Debian 13), the default desktop environment will switch to KDE Plasma.