This page is a comparison of remote desktop software available for various platforms.
Contents |
Comparison chart
| Software | Protocol | License | Client/server | Built-in encryption
|
File transfer
|
Audio support
|
Multiple sessions
|
Seamless window | FreeBSD client | Linux client
|
Mac OS X client
|
Microsoft Windows client
|
Blackberry client | Windows Mobile client | Java client
|
iPhone client | Android client |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AnywhereTS | RDP, ICA | Proprietary | Client Only | SSL, TLS |  |
|
|
X | X | X | X | |
X | X | X | ? | ? |
| Apple Remote Desktop | RFB(VNC) | Proprietary | Client & Server | AES-128 | |
X | |
X | X | X | |
X | X | X | X | ? | ? |
| Apple Screen Sharing (iChat) | Proprietary, RFB(VNC) | Proprietary | Client & Server | AES-256 | X | X | |
X | X | X | |
X | X | X | X | ? | ? |
| Bomgar | Proprietary, X11 | Proprietary | Client & Server | SSL,AES-256 | |
X | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
X | ? | ? |
| Cendio ThinLinc | RFB(VNC) | Proprietary | Client & Server | SSH | |
|
|
|
X | |
|
|
X | X | |
? | ? |
| Chicken of the VNC | RFB(VNC) | GPL | Client Only | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
X | X | X | X | ? | ? |
| Citrix XenApp | RDP, ICA | Proprietary | Client & Server | SSL, TLS | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
? | ? |
| Crossloop | RFB(VNC) | GPL | Client & Server | |
|
X | X | X | X | X | |
|
X | X | X | ? | ? |
| DameWare Mini Remote Control | RDP, Proprietary | Proprietary | Client & Server | SSL, AES-256 | |
|
|
X | X | X | X | |
X | X | X | ? | ? |
| EchoVNC | RFB(VNC) | GPL | Client & Server | |
|
X | |
X | X | |
X | |
X | X | X | ? | ? |
| Ericom PowerTerm WebConnect | RDP, RFB(VNC) | Proprietary | Client & Server | |
|
|
|
|
X | |
|
|
X | X | X | ? | ? |
| Fog Creek Copilot | RFB(VNC) | Proprietary | Client & Server | SSL | |
X | X | X | X | X | |
|
X | X | X | ? | ? |
| GO-Global | Proprietary | Proprietary | Client & Server | SSL, DES-56, DES-168, AES-256 | |
X | |
|
X | |
|
|
X | |
|
? | ? |
| FreeNX | NX, RDP, RFB(VNC) | GPL | Client & Server | AES | |
|
|
X | |
|
X | X | X | X | X | ? | ? |
| GoToMyPC | Proprietary | Proprietary | Client & Server | AES-256 | |
|
|
X | X | |
|
|
X | X | |
? | ? |
| HOB HOBLink JWT | RDP | Proprietary | Client Only | SSL, TLS | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
X | X | |
? | ? |
| HOB HOBLink UWT | RDP | Proprietary | Client Only | SSL, TLS | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
X | X | X | X | ? | ? |
| I'm InTouch | Proprietary | Proprietary | Client & Server | SSL, AES-256 | |
|
|
X | X | |
|
|
X | X | |
? | ? |
| ISL Light | Proprietary,RFB(VNC) | Proprietary | Client & Server | SSL, AES-256 | |
|
|
X | X | |
|
|
X | X | X | ? | ? |
| iTALC | RFB(VNC) | GPL | Client & Server | SSH | X | X | |
X | X | |
X | |
X | X | X | ? | ? |
| IBM Director Remote Control | Proprietary | Proprietary | Client & Server | AES, 3DES, DES | |
X | |
X | X | X | X | |
X | X | |
? | ? |
| KRDC | RFB(VNC), RDP | GPL | Client Only | X | X | X | |
X | |
|
X | X | X | X | X | ? | ? |
| LogMeIn Free | Proprietary | Proprietary | Client & Server | SSL | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
|
X | X | |
|
? |
| LogMeIn Pro | Proprietary | Proprietary | Client & Server | SSL | |
|
|
X | X | X | X | |
X | X | |
|
? |
| Mac HelpMate | RFB(VNC) | Proprietary | Client & Server | AES-128 | X | X | |
X | X | X | |
|
X | X | |
? | ? |
| Mikogo | Proprietary | Freeware [1] | Client & Server [2] | AES-256 | |
X | [3] |
X | X | X | [4] |
|
X | X | X | X | X |
| Netman | Proprietary | Proprietary | Client & Server | DES | |
|
|
|
X | X | X | |
X | X | X | ? | ? |
| Netsupport Manager | Proprietary | Proprietary | Client & Server | |
|
X | |
X | |
|
|
|
X | |
|
? | ? |
| Netviewer | Proprietary | Proprietary | Client & Server | AES-128 | |
|
|
X | X | X | X | |
X | X | X | ? | ? |
| rdesktop | RDP | GPL | Client Only | |
|
|
|
[5] |
|
|
|
[6] |
X | X | |
? | ? |
| RealVNC Free | RFB(VNC) | GPL | Client & Server | X | X | X | |
X | |
|
X | [7] |
X | X | |
? | ? |
| RealVNC Personal | RFB(VNC) | Proprietary | Client & Server | AES-128 | |
X | |
X | X | X | X | |
X | X | |
? | ? |
| RealVNC Enterprise | RFB(VNC) | Proprietary | Client & Server | AES-128 | |
X | |
X | |
|
|
|
X | X | |
? | ? |
| Remote Administrator | Proprietary | Proprietary | Client & Server | AES-256 | |
X | |
X | X | [8] |
X | [9] |
X | X | X | ? | ? |
| Remote Desktop Connection/Terminal Services | RDP | Proprietary | Client & Server | |
|
|
|
[10] |
X | [11] |
|
|
X | [12] |
|
|
? |
| Remote Graphics Software | Proprietary | Proprietary | Client & Server | |
|
|
|
X | X | |
X | |
|
|
|
? | ? |
| RemoteVNC | RFB(VNC) | GPL | Client & Server | SSL,TLS[13] | |
X | |
X | X | X | X | |
X | X | X | ? | ? |
| SimpleHelp | Proprietary | Proprietary | Client & Server | 448-bit | |
X | |
X | |
|
|
|
X | X | |
? | ? |
| SSH with X forwarding | X11 | BSD | Client & Server | |
X | X | [14] |
|
|
|
[15] |
[15] |
X | X | X | ? | ? |
| SoftRay | ALP | GPL | Client only | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
? | ? |
| Sub7 | Proprietary | GPL | Client & Server | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
? | ? |
| Sun Secure Global Desktop Software | AIP | Proprietary | Client & Server | SSL, TLS (AES-256) | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
X | X | |
? | ? |
| Symantec pcAnywhere | Proprietary | Proprietary | Client & Server | AES-256 | |
X | |
X | X | |
|
|
|
|
|
? | ? |
| TeamViewer | Proprietary | Proprietary | Client & Server | AES-256 | |
X | |
X | X | X | |
|
X | X | |
? | ? |
| TightVNC | RFB(VNC) | GPL | Client & Server | X | |
X | |
X | |
|
[16] |
|
X | X | |
? | |
| Timbuktu | Proprietary | Proprietary | Client & Server | |
|
X | |
X | X | X | |
|
X | X | X | ? | ? |
| UltraVNC | RFB(VNC) | GPL | Client & Server | With plugin | |
X | |
Partial[17] | X | X | X | [18] |
X | X | |
? | ? |
| Webex | Proprietary | Proprietary | Client & Server | |
|
|
|
X | X | |
|
|
X | X | |
? | ? |
| WebTrain | Proprietary | Proprietary | Client & Server | SSL, TLS | |
|
|
X | X | X | X | |
X | X | N/A | ? | ? |
| XDMCP | X11 | MIT | Client & Server | X | X | |
|
X | |
|
|
X | X | X | X | ? | ? |
| xpra | Bencode-based | GPL | Client & Server | SSH | X | X | |
[19] |
|
|
X | X | X | X | X | ? | ? |
| xrdp | RDP | GPL | Server Only | |
X | X | |
X | |
|
X | X | X | X | N/A | ? | ? |
| X11vnc | RFB(VNC) | GPL | Server Only | SSL | |
X | |
X | |
|
|
X | X | X | |
? | ? |
| x2vnc | X11 | BSD | Client Only | X | X | X | |
N/A | |
|
|
[20] |
X | X | X | ? | ? |
| x2x | X11 | BSD | Client Only | X[21] | X | X | |
N/A | |
|
|
[22] |
X | X | X | ? | ? |
| Software | Protocol | License | Client/Server | Built-in Encryption
|
File Transfer
|
Audio Support
|
Multiple Sessions
|
Seamless Window | FreeBSD Client | Linux Client
|
Mac OS X Client
|
Microsoft Windows Client
|
Blackberry Client | Windows Mobile Client | Java Client
|
iPhone Client | Android Client |
Terminology
In the table above, the following terminology is intended to be used to describe some important features:
- Audio Support: the remote control software transfers audio signals across the network and plays the audio through the speakers attached to the local computer. For example, music playback software normally sends audio signals to the locally-attached speakers, via some sound controller hardware. If the remote control software package supports audio transfer, the playback software can run on the remote computer, while the music can be heard from the local computer, as though the software were running locally.
- Built-in Encryption: the software has at least one method of encrypting the data between the local and remote computers, and the encryption mechanism is built into the remote control software.
- File Transfer: the software allows the user to transfer files between the local and remote computers, from within the client software's user interface.
- Seamless Window: the software allows an application to be run on the server, and just the application window to be shown on the clients desktop. Normally the remote user interface chrome is also removed, giving the impression that the application is running on the client machines.
Notes
- ^ Free for personal use, not free software (See: Gratis versus Libre)
- ^ Connections are centrally negotiated via Mikogo server
- ^ Up to ten participants
- ^ Some features are Windows-only
- ^ With the addition of SeamlessRDP
- ^ http://40in.spb.ru/rdesktop_win32/
- ^ RealVNC Free has no Windows Vista or Server 2008 support (See:RealVNC Download)
- ^ Runs under Wine.
- ^ Since version 3.2 (released 2008-04-25) supports Windows Vista(SP1)/2008/XP/2003/2000 (32-bit and 64-bit editions).
- ^ Provided the server is running Windows 2008 or later.
- ^ See the "xrdp" entry below in this table, an open source remote desktop protocol(rdp)server for Linux http://xrdp.sourceforge.net/
- ^ Windows Mobile Remote Desktop is an optional part of WM 6.1 (See: Mobile Views Blog and PdaPhoneHome)
- ^ for connection initiation only. Screen data is sent in the clear.
- ^ No sessions at all, just individual windows. However you can use Xnest if you want.
- ^ a b To use Windows or Mac OS X as a client, an X server needs to be installed and running. Windows or Mac OS X can be used as a server, if they have an SSH server running; but only X11 applications (not native GUI applications) can display their GUI on the client; such apps probably have to be run within Cygwin for Windows. only for X apps
- ^ as X application, server only serve X applications "MacPorts tightvnc Portfile". http://trac.macports.org/browser/trunk/dports/x11/tightvnc/Portfile. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
- ^ UltraVNC allows a single Window to be shown, however it is still doing full screen polling and not capturing the application details. This can cause other windows to overlap and popup windows to "disappear".
- ^ UltraVNC v1.0.4 RC4 (BETA) claims "Greatly improved Vista support" as of October 1, 2007 (See UltraVnc Vista Support.)
- ^ Only for X sessions
- ^ Third-party software required; Microsoft Windows does not include support for the X Window System.
- ^ x2x documentation indicates that session may be encrypted through an SSH tunnel.
- ^ Third-party software required; Microsoft Windows does not include support for the X Window System.
See also
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
