TightVNC vs RustDesk: catalog facts
TightVNC | RustDesk |
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Free Free and open source under the GPL. A commercial licence is sold for redistribution. |
Freemium The clients and the open-source server are free. A paid RustDesk Server Pro adds extra… |
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Windows, Linux |
Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, Self-hosted |
- Very light on resources, with a Java viewer that runs from any browser host
- Simple, dependable remote control on a local network
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- Self-hosted relay and rendezvous servers, so sessions never touch a third-party SaaS
- Windows, macOS, Linux and Android clients, plus a web client you can host yourself
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- No relay service; you must reach the machine yourself over the network
- VNC authentication is weak and needs to be tunnelled over SSH or a VPN
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- Run without your own server and you are relying on the project’s public infrastructure
- Unattended access and Wayland support have been moving targets on Linux
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Downloadable app |
Downloadable app, Self-hosted |
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Open source |
Open source |
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License: GPL-2.0 |
License: AGPL-3.0 |
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Not stated if an account is needed |
No account needed |
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Not stated if it works offline |
Needs internet |
Checked September 22, 2026 | Checked September 20, 2026 |
Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.
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