boringproxy vs RustDesk
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted remote access & vpn options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
boringproxy
Simple self-hosted reverse proxy and tunnel manager
VS
RustDesk
Open-source remote desktop alternative to TeamViewer
| Feature | boringproxy | RustDesk |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,381 | ★ 119,867 |
| First released | 2020 | 2021 |
| Replaces | ngrok | TeamViewer, AnyDesk |
Why pick each one
Choose boringproxy if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.4k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is boringproxy or RustDesk better?
Neither is universally better. RustDesk has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are boringproxy and RustDesk free and open-source?
Yes. boringproxy is licensed under MIT and RustDesk under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run boringproxy and RustDesk with Docker?
boringproxy: yes. RustDesk: yes.