diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b742a72568..0ed3cdec56 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ dist
 .lighthouse
 **/.visual/dist
 **/.visual/.tmp-*
+**/.visual/port-*
 *.diff.png
 coverage
 vendor/
diff --git a/projects/core/vitest.visual.ts b/projects/core/vitest.visual.ts
index 64282ea72d..25214cd1f9 100644
--- a/projects/core/vitest.visual.ts
+++ b/projects/core/vitest.visual.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ import { libraryVisualTestConfig } from '@internals/vite/configs/visual.js';
 export default mergeConfig(libraryVisualTestConfig, {
   root: import.meta.dirname,
   test: {
+    fileParallelism: true,
+    maxWorkers: 2,
+    maxConcurrency: 1,
     include: ['src/**/*.test.visual.ts', '!src/internal/styles/*.test.visual.ts'],
     outputFile: {
       junit: './coverage/visual/junit.xml'
diff --git a/projects/internals/vite/src/configs/visual.js b/projects/internals/vite/src/configs/visual.js
index 805421eaf0..5d96f141e5 100644
--- a/projects/internals/vite/src/configs/visual.js
+++ b/projects/internals/vite/src/configs/visual.js
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ export const libraryVisualTestConfig = {
     }
   },
   test: {
+    runner: '@internals/vite/runners/visual-test.js',
     retry: 2,
     isolate: false,
     fileParallelism: false,
diff --git a/projects/internals/vite/src/runners/playwright.js b/projects/internals/vite/src/runners/playwright.js
index 80bbab6955..1c1abdbb25 100644
--- a/projects/internals/vite/src/runners/playwright.js
+++ b/projects/internals/vite/src/runners/playwright.js
@@ -98,13 +98,7 @@ export class VitePlaywrightRunner {
 
   async open() {
     if (!this.#server) {
-      if (!fs.existsSync(this.#root)) {
-        fs.mkdirSync(this.#root);
-      }
-
-      if (!fs.existsSync(this.#dist)) {
-        fs.mkdirSync(this.#dist);
-      }
+      fs.mkdirSync(this.#dist, { recursive: true });
 
       console.log('playwright-runner: launching browser');
       // Chromium reserves the debugging port itself, avoiding a free-port race.
@@ -138,10 +132,10 @@ export class VitePlaywrightRunner {
     }
   }
 
-  async close() {
+  async close({ collectReports: collect = true } = {}) {
     const failures = [];
     try {
-      if (fs.existsSync(this.#dist)) {
+      if (collect && fs.existsSync(this.#dist)) {
         const report = collectReports(this.#root);
         fs.writeFileSync(`${this.#dist}/report.json`, JSON.stringify(report, null, 2));
       }
diff --git a/projects/internals/vite/src/runners/visual-test.js b/projects/internals/vite/src/runners/visual-test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3547903d6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/projects/internals/vite/src/runners/visual-test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import { TestRunner } from 'vitest';
+import { visualRunner } from './visual.js';
+
+/** Keeps one browser per worker and closes it after the worker's files finish. */
+export default class VisualTestRunner extends TestRunner {
+  constructor(config) {
+    super(config);
+    this.onCleanupWorkerContext?.(() => visualRunner.close());
+  }
+
+  async onAfterRunFiles(files) {
+    try {
+      // VM pools do not expose worker cleanup and cannot retain the browser between contexts.
+      if (!this.onCleanupWorkerContext) {
+        await visualRunner.close();
+      }
+    } finally {
+      await super.onAfterRunFiles(files);
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/projects/internals/vite/src/runners/visual.js b/projects/internals/vite/src/runners/visual.js
index c9b0f7255b..7b0c3432eb 100644
--- a/projects/internals/vite/src/runners/visual.js
+++ b/projects/internals/vite/src/runners/visual.js
@@ -19,7 +19,11 @@ export class VisualRunner {
 
   constructor({ chromiumArgs = CHROMIUM_ARGS } = {}) {
     this.#chromiumArgs = chromiumArgs;
-    this.#runner = new VitePlaywrightRunner({ runnerID: RUNNER_ID, chromiumArgs });
+    this.#runner = new VitePlaywrightRunner({
+      runnerID: RUNNER_ID,
+      instanceID: process.env.VITEST_POOL_ID ?? '1',
+      chromiumArgs
+    });
   }
 
   async open() {
@@ -27,7 +31,8 @@ export class VisualRunner {
   }
 
   async close() {
-    await this.#runner.close();
+    // Visual results belong to Vitest; workers must not write a shared runner report.
+    await this.#runner.close({ collectReports: false });
   }
 
   async render(name, content, options = { network: false }) {
diff --git a/projects/internals/vite/src/setup/visual.js b/projects/internals/vite/src/setup/visual.js
index f0313e616e..ffa5429765 100644
--- a/projects/internals/vite/src/setup/visual.js
+++ b/projects/internals/vite/src/setup/visual.js
@@ -2,11 +2,6 @@ import './lit.js';
 import { beforeAll } from 'vitest';
 import { visualRunner } from '../runners/visual.js';
 
-let runnerInstance = null;
-
 beforeAll(async () => {
-  if (!runnerInstance) {
-    runnerInstance = visualRunner;
-    await runnerInstance.open();
-  }
+  await visualRunner.open();
 });
diff --git a/projects/media/vitest.visual.ts b/projects/media/vitest.visual.ts
index 58fed0d07f..c443ae0bfc 100644
--- a/projects/media/vitest.visual.ts
+++ b/projects/media/vitest.visual.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ import { libraryVisualTestConfig } from '@internals/vite/configs/visual.js';
 export default mergeConfig(libraryVisualTestConfig, {
   root: import.meta.dirname,
   test: {
+    fileParallelism: true,
+    maxWorkers: 2,
+    maxConcurrency: 1,
     include: ['src/**/*.test.visual.ts'],
     outputFile: {
       junit: './coverage/visual/junit.xml'
diff --git a/projects/monaco/src/fixtures.test.visual.ts b/projects/monaco/src/fixtures.test.visual.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..500fb3c9ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/projects/monaco/src/fixtures.test.visual.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+import { template as inputTemplate, readyCheck as inputReadyCheck } from './input/input.test.visual.js';
+import { template as editorTemplate, readyCheck as editorReadyCheck } from './editor/editor.test.visual.js';
+import {
+  template as diffEditorTemplate,
+  readyCheck as diffEditorReadyCheck
+} from './diff-editor/diff-editor.test.visual.js';
+import {
+  template as diffInputTemplate,
+  readyCheck as diffInputReadyCheck
+} from './diff-input/diff-input.test.visual.js';
+import { template as problemsTemplate, readyCheck as problemsReadyCheck } from './problems/problems.test.visual.js';
+
+export async function readyCheck(evaluate: (fn: () => boolean) => Promise<boolean>) {
+  await inputReadyCheck(evaluate);
+  await editorReadyCheck(evaluate);
+  await diffEditorReadyCheck(evaluate);
+  await diffInputReadyCheck(evaluate);
+  await problemsReadyCheck(evaluate);
+}
+
+export function template(theme: '' | 'dark' = '') {
+  return /* html */ `
+  <script type="module">
+    import '@nvidia-elements/core/forms/define.js';
+    import '@nvidia-elements/monaco/input/define.js';
+    import '@nvidia-elements/monaco/editor/define.js';
+    import '@nvidia-elements/monaco/diff-editor/define.js';
+    import '@nvidia-elements/monaco/diff-input/define.js';
+    import '@nvidia-elements/monaco/problems/define.js';
+    document.documentElement.setAttribute('nve-theme', '${theme} reduced-motion');
+  </script>
+  <div nve-layout="column gap:lg align:stretch">
+    ${inputTemplate()}
+    ${editorTemplate()}
+    ${diffEditorTemplate()}
+    ${diffInputTemplate()}
+    ${problemsTemplate()}
+  </div>`;
+}
diff --git a/projects/monaco/src/index.dark.test.visual.ts b/projects/monaco/src/index.dark.test.visual.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f3faaa96f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/projects/monaco/src/index.dark.test.visual.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+import { expect, test, describe } from 'vitest';
+import { visualRunner } from '@internals/vite';
+import { template, readyCheck } from './fixtures.test.visual.js';
+
+describe('monaco input visual', () => {
+  test('input should match visual baseline dark theme', async () => {
+    const report = await visualRunner.render('monaco.dark', template('dark'), { network: true, waitFor: readyCheck });
+    expect(report.maxDiffPercentage).toBeLessThanOrEqual(5);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/projects/monaco/src/index.test.visual.ts b/projects/monaco/src/index.test.visual.ts
index 42778e80c4..d4dec4043c 100644
--- a/projects/monaco/src/index.test.visual.ts
+++ b/projects/monaco/src/index.test.visual.ts
@@ -3,54 +3,11 @@
 
 import { expect, test, describe } from 'vitest';
 import { visualRunner } from '@internals/vite';
-import { template as inputTemplate, readyCheck as inputReadyCheck } from './input/input.test.visual.js';
-import { template as editorTemplate, readyCheck as editorReadyCheck } from './editor/editor.test.visual.js';
-import {
-  template as diffEditorTemplate,
-  readyCheck as diffEditorReadyCheck
-} from './diff-editor/diff-editor.test.visual.js';
-import {
-  template as diffInputTemplate,
-  readyCheck as diffInputReadyCheck
-} from './diff-input/diff-input.test.visual.js';
-import { template as problemsTemplate, readyCheck as problemsReadyCheck } from './problems/problems.test.visual.js';
+import { template, readyCheck } from './fixtures.test.visual.js';
 
 describe('monaco input visual', () => {
   test('input should match visual baseline', async () => {
     const report = await visualRunner.render('monaco', template(''), { network: true, waitFor: readyCheck });
     expect(report.maxDiffPercentage).toBeLessThanOrEqual(5);
   });
-
-  test('input should match visual baseline dark theme', async () => {
-    const report = await visualRunner.render('monaco.dark', template('dark'), { network: true, waitFor: readyCheck });
-    expect(report.maxDiffPercentage).toBeLessThanOrEqual(5);
-  });
 });
-
-async function readyCheck(evaluate: (fn: () => boolean) => Promise<boolean>) {
-  await inputReadyCheck(evaluate);
-  await editorReadyCheck(evaluate);
-  await diffEditorReadyCheck(evaluate);
-  await diffInputReadyCheck(evaluate);
-  await problemsReadyCheck(evaluate);
-}
-
-function template(theme: '' | 'dark' = '') {
-  return /* html */ `
-  <script type="module">
-    import '@nvidia-elements/core/forms/define.js';
-    import '@nvidia-elements/monaco/input/define.js';
-    import '@nvidia-elements/monaco/editor/define.js';
-    import '@nvidia-elements/monaco/diff-editor/define.js';
-    import '@nvidia-elements/monaco/diff-input/define.js';
-    import '@nvidia-elements/monaco/problems/define.js';
-    document.documentElement.setAttribute('nve-theme', '${theme} reduced-motion');
-  </script>
-  <div nve-layout="column gap:lg align:stretch">
-    ${inputTemplate()}
-    ${editorTemplate()}
-    ${diffEditorTemplate()}
-    ${diffInputTemplate()}
-    ${problemsTemplate()}
-  </div>`;
-}
diff --git a/projects/monaco/vitest.visual.ts b/projects/monaco/vitest.visual.ts
index c17cef23ca..96e27d38f1 100644
--- a/projects/monaco/vitest.visual.ts
+++ b/projects/monaco/vitest.visual.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,10 @@ import { libraryVisualTestConfig } from '@internals/vite/configs/visual.js';
 export default mergeConfig(libraryVisualTestConfig, {
   root: import.meta.dirname,
   test: {
-    include: ['src/index.test.visual.ts'],
+    fileParallelism: true,
+    maxWorkers: 2,
+    maxConcurrency: 1,
+    include: ['src/index*.test.visual.ts'],
     outputFile: {
       junit: './coverage/visual/junit.xml'
     }
diff --git a/projects/viewport/vitest.visual.ts b/projects/viewport/vitest.visual.ts
index 58fed0d07f..c443ae0bfc 100644
--- a/projects/viewport/vitest.visual.ts
+++ b/projects/viewport/vitest.visual.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ import { libraryVisualTestConfig } from '@internals/vite/configs/visual.js';
 export default mergeConfig(libraryVisualTestConfig, {
   root: import.meta.dirname,
   test: {
+    fileParallelism: true,
+    maxWorkers: 2,
+    maxConcurrency: 1,
     include: ['src/**/*.test.visual.ts'],
     outputFile: {
       junit: './coverage/visual/junit.xml'