The embodiment of the invention provides a water heater multi-machine parallel system and a control method, and relates to the technical field of water heater control. The method comprises the following steps that according to a water flow of a main water inlet pipeline, the plurality of water heaters are sequentially started to work according to a preset sequence, so that the total load of the plurality of water heaters which are started to work is matched with the water flow of the main water inlet pipeline, wherein the load of each water heater in the multiple water heaters for starting work is the same and any load of one water heater which is started to work is smaller than a first preset value. According to the multi-machine parallel system and the control method, the water using experience of a user can be improved.