Remotely 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.
RustDesk
Open-source remote desktop alternative to TeamViewer
| Feature | Remotely | RustDesk |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 21 · At risk | 100 · Excellent |
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | C# | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,080 | ★ 124,391 |
| First released | 2019 | 2021 |
| Replaces | TeamViewer | TeamViewer, AnyDesk |
What are Remotely and RustDesk?
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
RustDesk
RustDesk is an open-source remote desktop application that works out of the box with optional self-hosted relay and rendezvous servers. It runs on all major platforms.
- Self-hosted relay servers
- Cross-platform clients
- End-to-end encryption
- No configuration required
Remotely vs RustDesk: key differences
Remotely is written in C#, while RustDesk is built with Rust. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Remotely versus AGPL-3.0 for RustDesk. RustDesk is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Remotely. Remotely is the more established project (first released 2019), while RustDesk arrived in 2021. RustDesk has the considerably larger community, at 124,391 GitHub stars versus 5,080.
Why pick each one
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#
Choose RustDesk if…
- Easy self-hosted server
- Works everywhere
Watch out for
- Relay can be bandwidth heavy
Frequently asked questions
Is Remotely or RustDesk better?
RustDesk is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Remotely if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Remotely and RustDesk free and open-source?
Yes. Remotely is licensed under GPL-3.0 and RustDesk under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Remotely and RustDesk with Docker?
Remotely: yes. RustDesk: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Remotely or RustDesk?
RustDesk 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.