Switch to RustDesk https://rustdesk.com/
this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2025
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Been using them for years.
It's ~~completely~~ free, open source and has:
- Unsupervised (for headless servers) or supervised (helping out relatives) access
- Easily file transfers
- Cross-copy paste
- Identification server (what gives out connection IDs) can be self-hosted or you can use theirs for free
- Can control PCs from mobile app (~~though not vice versa~~ apparently they support this now!)
- Experimental web browser client.
EDIT: I forgot, but it's also much better at compressing video effectively than realVNC, which is what I used to use. Performance and latency remains fairly good even at low bitrate.
For a little while, I even used to play point and click games remotely with my brother over it. Probably too much latency for an action game though.
Sorry, just trying to understand. On their site the 'self-hosting' solutions have pricing. Is there something different that is free?
I think it's if you want to have user management. There's some sort of admin console you have to pay for, but I don't use it.
To be honest I had kind of forgotten it was a thing. If you're using this for a business then you might want to link it to your OIDC (Microsoft account etc.) and therefore pay for those extra features.
However if you use it to connect to your own devices or those of your friends like you would with TeamViewer (via device IDs and per-device passwords) as I do, you won't have to pay for it.
Give it a go and see how you get on!
Right on, thanks for the info!
Damn, I respect the banner at the top warning people about scams. Fair play.
Yeah, that's got my attention too. Definitely going to try them out now since I need an alternative for remote support for family.
I switched when team viewer had me sign up for fixing my aunts laptop. After that wasn’t working properly I found rustdesk and threw teamviewer straight from both systems.
Anyone know how I can get remote access with my monitors off while using Wayland ? Everytime I log in if I have my monitors off I just get a black screen. I bought one of those dummy HDMI plugs no dice. Works fine with x11 but I don't want to have to relog every time I get to my computer.
I think when screen recording software (like OBS) request screen recording access, it is an option to create a new virtual screen, in the system dialog when you need to select which window or screen to share. maybe this would help? it could be wasteful with resources, though
Do you know how wasteful? Is there like an actual overhead when running obs, or is it more like Nvidia shadow play or steams recording? Are you actually recording when you have that active or is it just actually creating a virtual screen?
Technically it is recording for the preview in OBS, which I think goes on even when OBS is not visible, and I assume involves constant copying and downscaling with whatever FPS, but it shouldn't be encoding until you hit record. but if you check the CPU usage of OBS, maybe also GPU with nvtop, you can see how much it affects your hardware.
I would imagine it's not too bad, but still it would be better if it would let the machine idle as it should.
I switched from nomachine to RustDesk, and I couldn’t be happier. It’s very lightweight, very fast, and has all the features I need. And it’s great that it’s cross platform.
Do you (or anyone else) have suggestion for software than can control an android phone from pc?
Rust desk also does it. But Google makes you jump through a bunch of hoops to get it working because of scams.
Teamviewer is such a scummy company.
- If you sign up for a TeamViewer license, you have 7 days to cancel and get a refund. This does not apply to renewals.
- Licenses are only available in annual installments.
- TeamViewer's license recommendation tool may suggest a license that is greater than your actual need. In my case, the cheaper license that best fit my business use case (one session at a time) was not presented during onboarding.
- TeamViewer does not offer mid-term downgrades, but does allow mid-term upgrades.
- You will get a renewal notice 30 days before renewal. TeamViewer requires written notice of cancellation 28 or more days before renewal.
- TeamViewer does not offer the option for mid-term cancellations and will not grant a prorated refund for the remainder of your unused license time. When you cancel, you are only cancelling the next renewal.
We got totally boned when our renewal notice went out just before a three day weekend. PayPal and our bank sided with TeamViewer. Apparently, someone tried to sue over this shady practice in California and the court also sided with TeamViewer. Probably would have dodged this bullet if I had thought to scroll through the TeamViewer subreddit, I went with them because I had positive experiences using the free version for personal use.
Been using RustDesk for years with great success. I especially appreciate the responsible disclosure banners on the main site and GitHub warning users that they might be on the phone with a scam artist.
IMO, all the proprietary remote access software (Teamviewer, Ultraviewer, Anydesk, Etc) companies are profiting from and therefore complicit in the use of their software to scam people.
I never understand the renewal cancellation issue. The company will get the renewal once. If that happens to me I’ll cancel going forward and never work with them again. But if they let me cancel easily I may go back in future.
I think the CEOs are playing a game of pass the buck. They only need the current quarter or year to match their predicted profits (line goes up). So they do more and more damage each quarter until the scheme collapses. Then they golden parachute out and a new CEO starts their game (often by firing as many people as possible).
I recall Linus from LTT had issues with his licenses too, some time ago:
https://youtu.be/SCRzaGUKEFA