SHSelfHostIndex

JumpServer vs KasmVNC

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted remote access & vpn options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

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JU JumpServer Open-source bastion host and PAM platform VS KA KasmVNC Modern VNC server with a browser-based client
FeatureJumpServerKasmVNC
CategoryRemote Access & VPNRemote Access & VPN
LicenseGPL-3.0GPL-2.0
LanguagePythonC++
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM4,096 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetesdocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 31,230★ 5,167
First released20142020
ReplacesCyberArk, TeleportTightVNC, RealVNC

Why pick each one

Choose JumpServer if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
  • Mature project with 31.2k GitHub stars
JumpServer details

Choose KasmVNC if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 5.2k GitHub stars
  • Written in C++
KasmVNC details

Frequently asked questions

Is JumpServer or KasmVNC better?

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

Are JumpServer and KasmVNC free and open-source?

Yes. JumpServer is licensed under GPL-3.0 and KasmVNC under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run JumpServer and KasmVNC with Docker?

JumpServer: yes. KasmVNC: yes.

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