FreeRDP vs GoTTY
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?
FreeRDP
Free implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol
VS
GoTTY
Share your terminal as a web application
| Feature | FreeRDP | GoTTY |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | C | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | binary, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,527 | ★ 19,537 |
| First released | 2009 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Microsoft RDP | PuTTY |
Why pick each one
Choose GoTTY if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 19.5k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is FreeRDP or GoTTY better?
GoTTY is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider FreeRDP if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are FreeRDP and GoTTY free and open-source?
Yes. FreeRDP is licensed under Apache-2.0 and GoTTY under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run FreeRDP and GoTTY with Docker?
FreeRDP: check the project docs for container support. GoTTY: yes.