The best Remote Desktop Software Tools

Working from home and remote working solutions are quickly gaining in pop­u­lar­i­ty. Employees are no longer re­strict­ed to work from the office but, at the same time, can continue to access data and programs stored on office servers. This is made possible in various ways. One option involves moving every­thing to the cloud or accessing a company network via a VPN con­nec­tion. Another option involves remote desktop tools, which let users access the office or server center network from their home PCs or laptops.

There are plenty of software options available for this purpose – free and paid-for. Find out what the best tools are for Windows, Mac, Linux, and more.

In essence, a remote desktop connects two different computers with one another. One is being remote-con­trolled by the other. It’s a great way to make con­fig­u­ra­tion changes to servers without hardware devices such as monitors, keyboards, or even a mouse. Ad­min­is­tra­tors can use their own PC to access settings on a server.

Remote desktop software is also a great option for customer support: users no longer have to describe their problems to support workers. Instead, the expert can im­me­di­ate­ly view the problem on another computer and make changes to correct the settings.

Remote desktop software is a great option for standard office tasks. Employees can use their home laptop to connect to and ad­min­is­ter their office PC using a remote desktop tool. In this way, they have access to all the data and programs they would normally only be able to access at the office. This merges the home-working en­vi­ron­ment even more ef­fec­tive­ly with the office. What’s more, many programs have been designed for col­lab­o­ra­tive working because they include white­board and chat functions.

A wide variety of remote desktop software is available. Some do not require special platform-support, while others have been developed to work with specific operating systems only. Some software is open-source and free to download and use, while other tools are paid-for only. Below is an overview of the top seven tools including their ad­van­tages and dis­ad­van­tages.

The remote desktop software X2Go is an extensive open-source solution that boasts many in­ter­est­ing features. It’s suitable for the home office as well as small server man­age­ment. The latter makes the software par­tic­u­lar­ly useful because when installed on a Linux server, multiple users are able to access it via X2Go. The lim­i­ta­tion to user numbers is entirely down to a company’s resources and their servers’ technical abilities. The client software is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, but can also be operated using a browser.

One special feature of the server operation is the Published Ap­pli­ca­tion function: Instead of providing users with a full desktop en­vi­ron­ment, the mode enables select ap­pli­ca­tions. The client starts the ap­pli­ca­tion not from his or her PC but runs the software via the server. In this way, X2Go blends with cloud computing.

X2Go is available free of charge. In­stal­la­tion on the client server is rel­a­tive­ly simple. But the developer provides pro­fes­sion­al (paid-for) support for the set-up, con­fig­u­ra­tion, and main­te­nance of the software.

TeamView­er is among the best-known remote desktop tools worldwide and has been available since 2005. Complete beginners can use the software to quickly connect to another computer – whether a server or another desktop PC or laptop. The software plays an important role in remote support (whereby an expert repairs a user’s computer from afar) and in screen-sharing. That’s why the tool is more commonly seen as a col­lab­o­ra­tion tool than a software man­age­ment tool.

TeamView­er supports many different operating systems. Besides Windows, Mac, and Linux, it can be installed on mobile operating systems like iOS and Android, and even Raspberry Pi. The TeamView­er Pilot is a fairly new addition which enables remote main­te­nance via an augmented reality app.

For private users, the software is free to install. However, companies will have to pay for a license.

After working for TeamView­er, three de­vel­op­ers created their own remote desktop software. The result was AnyDesk – an easy-to-use remote desktop tool similar in scope and func­tion­al­i­ty to TeamView­er and other al­ter­na­tives.

Primarily, AnyDesk is useful for users in need of remote support, but can also be used by those who want to access their office PC from their home office. In case of the latter, the creators developed a special package that includes the main features at a special price. Generally, AnyDesk is free for private users. Companies can choose from a range of different licensing models.

AnyDesk is available for many different operating systems – hence the name. Besides Windows, Mac, and Linux as well as Android and iOS, the tool can be used with FreeBSD, Raspberry Pi, and Chrome OS.

RemotePC was developed to connect a home PC to an office computer. The remote desktop software promises ease of use. In­stal­la­tion is quick and simple, and beginners will enjoy the easy drag-and-drop func­tion­al­i­ty. Ad­di­tion­al features such as a chat, file transfer func­tion­al­i­ty, or a white­board are suitable for col­lab­o­ra­tive working with co-workers. Work can also be recorded on video.

The software is available for various operating systems: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and Chrome OS. One of the special features of RemotePC is that it also runs on Fire OS and can even be operated using a Kindle. The developer provides different sub­scrip­tion models which change according to the size of a team.

Zoho offers a whole range of different programs to ease office work. Besides CRM, re­cruit­ment, and office ap­pli­ca­tions, the developer also launched a remote desktop tool called Zoho Assist. Much like other Zoho ap­pli­ca­tions, the tool is meant for everyday use by providing support for internal IT services and external clients. A special customer widget is available for the latter, which can be in­cor­po­rat­ed on a website to provide users with remote access without any software in­stal­la­tion. All that’s required is a session ID which is shared via email.

A free version with limited functions is available. In addition, various premium versions are available which can be used to connect to multiple end devices and include an option for multi monitor nav­i­ga­tion. The feature can be used to remote control multiple desktop monitors.

Windows users will already be able to access the free Microsoft tool, because the software comes pre­in­stalled with Windows. The process is simple: a user confirms the system settings on the host system (which is only possible with the Pro version of the operating system). You can then launch the software on a client, enter the address of another computer, and remote-control it. Apart from Windows, the client software is available for macOS and various mobile operating systems.

In com­par­i­son to other remote desktop tools, the Microsoft software doesn’t mirror the other PC. While you can continue to work on the host-side with other programs or at least see what’s going on, the current user of a host PC is logged off in Microsoft Remote Desktop. The program is therefore only partially suitable for support.

NoMachine boasts quick con­nec­tiv­i­ty to a remote desktop. This can be achieved with your own NX protocol, which transfers the content of one PC to another one without much delay. The con­nec­tion is quick and the fa­mil­iar­iza­tion process is simple thanks to a no-frills graphical user interface. The software can be installed on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and Raspberry Pi. For private users, NoMachine is available free of charge. Companies with more demands must acquire a license. At the en­ter­prise level, a special ap­pli­ca­tion for server main­te­nance is also available.

In addition to mirroring another desktop PC, NoMachine offers several features: col­lab­o­ra­tors can work together on a white­board, they can record entire sessions, and access chat functions. This makes NoMachine an excellent tool for col­lab­o­ra­tion, for remote main­te­nance, and remote support.

At first glance, the different remote desktop tools appear similar. Our table below provides a more com­pre­hen­sive com­par­i­son of the tools.