RustDesk vs Webmin
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?
RustDesk
Open-source remote desktop alternative to TeamViewer
VS
Webmin
Web-based system administration for Unix-like servers
| Feature | RustDesk | Webmin |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | Rust | HTML |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 119,867 | ★ 5,996 |
| First released | 2021 | 1997 |
| Replaces | TeamViewer, AnyDesk | cPanel |
Why pick each one
Choose Webmin if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 6k GitHub stars
- Written in HTML
Frequently asked questions
Is RustDesk or Webmin 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 Webmin free and open-source?
Yes. RustDesk is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Webmin under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run RustDesk and Webmin with Docker?
RustDesk: yes. Webmin: check the project docs for container support.