Alternatives to Parsec
A low-latency remote desktop app for reaching a work or gaming computer from another device. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Parsec
A low-latency remote desktop app for reaching a work or gaming computer from another device.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Parsec.
Moonlight
Streams games from a gaming PC to another device on your network, with hardware decoding and a gamepad.
Moonlight is a free GPL-3.0 streaming client with hardware decoding, HDR and gamepad support, but it needs a Sunshine host on the other machine.
AnyDesk
Fast remote desktop tool with low latency and simple session codes.
AnyDesk is a low-latency remote desktop with simple session codes and clients for Linux and mobile, though commercial use requires a paid licence.
NoMachine
High-performance remote desktop with audio, video and file transfer.
NoMachine is a paid closed-source remote desktop with smooth audio and video, adding Linux and mobile clients, printing and file transfer.
Splashtop
Commercial remote access and remote support software for controlling computers from other devices.
Splashtop is a paid commercial remote access service for Windows and macOS, with attended and unattended support and no free plan beyond the trial.
TeamViewer
Remote access and remote support across desktop and mobile platforms.
TeamViewer covers desktop and mobile platforms and connects through firewalls without configuration, but it is aimed at remote support rather than low-latency gaming.
RustDesk
An open-source remote desktop tool you can point at your own relay server instead of somebody else’s cloud.
RustDesk is open source and lets you run your own relay server, with clients for Windows, macOS, Linux and Android.
ToDesk
Remote desktop software for remote control, file transfer, gaming and support across desktop and mobile.
ToDesk is closed-source freemium software with gaming modes and gamepad and drawing tablet mapping on all major platforms, but its website and support are in Chinese.
Sunshine
The open source host that replaced NVIDIA GameStream, so Moonlight can stream from any PC.
Sunshine is a free open-source stream host for Windows, macOS and Linux that works with AMD, Intel and NVIDIA encoders, paired with a Moonlight client.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Parsec as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
Amazon DCV
A remote display protocol and server for streaming graphics-intensive desktops and applications to client devices.
Parsec offers low-latency streaming at up to 4K and 60 fps for work and gaming on Windows and macOS, with advanced features in paid plans.
Apollo
A Sunshine fork for self-hosted game and desktop streaming at the client device's native resolution.
Parsec is a proprietary freemium app for Windows and macOS with its own client and 4K 60 fps streaming, instead of a self-hosted host without a vendor account.
GeForce NOW
NVIDIA's cloud gaming service that streams your existing game library to weaker hardware.
Parsec streams from your own gaming computer with low latency up to 4K and 60 fps, so you need your own powerful host instead of NVIDIA's servers.
Shadow
A subscription cloud PC service that streams a full Windows computer to your own devices.
Parsec streams your own Windows or macOS computer at up to 4K and 60 fps with low latency, rather than renting a cloud PC by subscription.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
chiaki-ng
An open-source PlayStation Remote Play client for PC, Linux and Steam Deck.
Looking Glass
A low-latency viewer that shows a GPU-passthrough Windows virtual machine inside a Linux window.
Selkies
Open-source WebRTC platform for streaming a Linux desktop to a web browser with low latency.
