SHSelfHostIndex

RustDesk vs Shell In A Box

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?
RU RustDesk Open-source remote desktop alternative to TeamViewer VS SH Shell In A Box Web-based terminal emulator for remote shell access
FeatureRustDeskShell In A Box
CategoryRemote Access & VPNRemote Access & VPN
LicenseAGPL-3.0GPL-2.0
LanguageRustC
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM256 MB64 MB
Deploymentdocker, binarybare-metal, binary
GitHub stars★ 119,867★ 3,088
First released20212009
ReplacesTeamViewer, AnyDeskPuTTY

Why pick each one

Choose RustDesk if…

  • Easy self-hosted server
  • Works everywhere
RustDesk details

Choose Shell In A Box if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Active community (3.1k GitHub stars)
  • Written in C
Shell In A Box details

Frequently asked questions

Is RustDesk or Shell In A Box 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 RustDesk and Shell In A Box free and open-source?

Yes. RustDesk is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Shell In A Box under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run RustDesk and Shell In A Box with Docker?

RustDesk: yes. Shell In A Box: check the project docs for container support.

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