Best Open-Source Remote Desktop Software 2026: 6 Options Compared

Open-source remote desktop tools fall into three jobs: helping someone else, reaching your own machine, and managing a fleet. RustDesk fits the first, working like TeamViewer with a self-hostable relay so connection data stays on your server. Apache Guacamole and MeshCentral fit the third: Guacamole turns RDP, VNC and SSH into a browser page behind one login, and MeshCentral adds agents, file transfer and out-of-band management for many computers. TigerVNC, Remmina and xrdp cover the second job, where you already run a Linux box and want a desktop session on it; xrdp is the server side that accepts Microsoft RDP clients, Remmina is a Linux client for RDP, VNC and SSH, and TigerVNC provides both a viewer and a server. The trade-off to weigh is convenience against control. Commercial tools punch through firewalls automatically; with these you open ports, run a relay or put a VPN in front, and you own patching. VNC traffic is not encrypted by default, so tunnel it through SSH or a VPN. Pick the tool by the job above, then test over your slowest real connection, because latency matters more than feature lists.

RustDesk

AGPL-3.0 TeamViewer-style tool with a self-hostable server. The open server is free; the web console, 2FA and LDAP sit in paid plans starting at $11.88 per month billed annually.

Price: Free (open source and free; web console, 2FA and LDAP are in paid plans); paid from $11.88 per month, billed annually (Individual) (RustDesk pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Self-hosted server. AGPL-3.0 (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 127.3k GitHub stars · latest release 1.5.0 (Sep 30, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026

Best for: Support and ad-hoc access without sending traffic to a vendor.

Worth knowing: Free plan has no numeric caps listed.

Apache Guacamole

Apache-2.0 gateway that serves RDP, VNC and SSH sessions in a web browser with no client install. It needs a server and some setup, and is a gateway rather than a screen-sharing app.

Price: Free (Apache Guacamole pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Self-hosted, Web browser client. Apache-2.0 (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 1.7k GitHub stars · last commit Oct 14, 2026

Best for: One browser login to many servers.

Worth knowing: Clientless gateway to VNC, RDP and SSH; needs those services already running on the target.

MeshCentral

Apache-2.0 platform with agents for Windows, Linux and macOS plus remote desktop, terminal and file transfer. You run the server, which suits managing a fleet more than one-off help.

Price: Free (MeshCentral pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Windows, Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, Self-hosted server. Apache-2.0 (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 7.5k GitHub stars · latest release 1.3.1 (Oct 23, 2026) · last commit Oct 24, 2026

Best for: Managing many machines for a small IT team.

Worth knowing: You run the server; agents install on managed machines. Supports Intel AMT.

Remmina

GPL-2.0-or-later Linux client that handles RDP, VNC and SSH in one tabbed window. It is a client only and does not run on Windows or macOS.

Price: Free (Remmina pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Linux. GPL-2.0-or-later (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 2.6k GitHub stars · latest release v1.2.30 (May 20, 2018) · last commit Feb 8, 2026

Best for: Linux desktops connecting to mixed servers.

Worth knowing: A client for RDP, VNC and SSH, not a hosted relay service.

TigerVNC

GPL-2.0 viewer and server for VNC. The Windows server is unmaintained, so use Linux for the server side; the protocol is unencrypted unless tunnelled.

Price: Free (TigerVNC pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Windows (viewer, unmaintained server), Linux, macOS (viewer). GPL-2.0 (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 7.7k GitHub stars · latest release v1.16.2 (Mar 26, 2026) · last commit Oct 23, 2026

Best for: Plain VNC access to Linux desktops.

Worth knowing: Server components are Unix/Linux; the Windows server is unmaintained per the README.

xrdp

Apache-2.0 server that gives Linux machines a graphical login over Microsoft RDP, so built-in Windows and Mac RDP clients work. It handles the server side only.

Price: Free (Free: open-source under Apache-2.0; no paid plan on the license page) (xrdp pricing, checked 2026-10-24).

Platforms and license: Linux. Apache-2.0 (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 6.8k GitHub stars · latest release v0.10.6.1 (Jul 7, 2026) · last commit Oct 22, 2026

Best for: Letting Windows users RDP into Linux.

Which one to pick

• You support relatives or customers and want to host the relay yourself: RustDesk
• You want every internal server reachable from a browser: Apache Guacamole
• You manage 20 or more machines: MeshCentral
• You want to RDP into a Linux desktop from Windows: xrdp