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Apache Guacamole Lite vs Remotely

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?
AP Apache Guacamole Lite Clientless remote desktop gateway library VS RE Remotely Remote control and support tool built with .NET
FeatureApache Guacamole LiteRemotely
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score47 · Fair21 · At risk
CategoryRemote Access & VPNRemote Access & VPN
LicenseMITGPL-3.0
LanguageJavaScriptC#
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, sourcedocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 333★ 5,080
First released20162019
ReplacesTeamViewer, CitrixTeamViewer

What are Apache Guacamole Lite and Remotely?

Apache Guacamole Lite

guacamole-lite is a lightweight Node.js implementation of the Guacamole protocol server, enabling clientless RDP, VNC, and SSH access through the browser. Developers embed it to build custom remote-access portals.

  • Clientless RDP and VNC
  • Browser-based access
  • Embeddable library
  • WebSocket transport

Remotely

Remotely is an open-source remote support and remote scripting solution built with ASP.NET Core and SignalR. It offers attended and unattended remote access through the browser.

  • Attended and unattended access
  • Remote scripting
  • Browser-based control
  • Cross-platform agent

Apache Guacamole Lite vs Remotely: key differences

Apache Guacamole Lite is written in JavaScript, while Remotely is built with C#. Licensing differs — MIT for Apache Guacamole Lite versus GPL-3.0 for Remotely. Apache Guacamole Lite is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Remotely. Apache Guacamole Lite is the more established project (first released 2016), while Remotely arrived in 2019. Remotely has the considerably larger community, at 5,080 GitHub stars versus 333.

Why pick each one

Choose Apache Guacamole Lite if…

  • Lightweight alternative
  • Easy to integrate

Watch out for

  • Not a full product
  • Requires custom UI
Apache Guacamole Lite details

Choose Remotely if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 5.1k GitHub stars
  • Written in C#
Remotely details

Frequently asked questions

Is Apache Guacamole Lite or Remotely better?

Neither is universally better. Remotely has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Apache Guacamole Lite and Remotely free and open-source?

Yes. Apache Guacamole Lite is licensed under MIT and Remotely under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Apache Guacamole Lite and Remotely with Docker?

Apache Guacamole Lite: yes. Remotely: yes.

Which is lighter on resources, Apache Guacamole Lite or Remotely?

Apache Guacamole Lite has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Remotely. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.

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