tunnelmole 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?
tunnelmole
Open-source tunnel to expose local servers to the internet
VS
RustDesk
Open-source remote desktop alternative to TeamViewer
| Feature | tunnelmole | RustDesk |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker, source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,885 | ★ 119,867 |
| First released | 2021 | 2021 |
| Replaces | ngrok, localtunnel | TeamViewer, AnyDesk |
Why pick each one
Choose tunnelmole if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.9k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is tunnelmole 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 tunnelmole and RustDesk free and open-source?
Yes. tunnelmole is licensed under MIT and RustDesk under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run tunnelmole and RustDesk with Docker?
tunnelmole: yes. RustDesk: yes.