SHSelfHostIndex

noVNC 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?
NO noVNC VNC client that runs entirely in the browser VS RU RustDesk Open-source remote desktop alternative to TeamViewer
FeaturenoVNCRustDesk
CategoryRemote Access & VPNRemote Access & VPN
LicenseMPL-2.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageJavaScriptRust
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM64 MB256 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, docker, sourcedocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 13,911★ 119,867
First released20102021
ReplacesRealVNCTeamViewer, AnyDesk

Why pick each one

Choose noVNC if…

  • Released under the MPL-2.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 13.9k GitHub stars
noVNC details

Choose RustDesk if…

  • Easy self-hosted server
  • Works everywhere
RustDesk details

Frequently asked questions

Is noVNC 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 noVNC and RustDesk free and open-source?

Yes. noVNC is licensed under MPL-2.0 and RustDesk under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run noVNC and RustDesk with Docker?

noVNC: yes. RustDesk: yes.

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