RustDesk vs wstunnel
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
wstunnel
Tunnel TCP and UDP traffic over WebSocket or HTTP2
| Feature | RustDesk | wstunnel |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | Rust | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | binary, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 119,867 | ★ 6,948 |
| First released | 2021 | 2015 |
| Replaces | TeamViewer, AnyDesk | Chisel |
Why pick each one
Choose wstunnel if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 6.9k GitHub stars
- Written in Rust
Frequently asked questions
Is RustDesk or wstunnel better?
RustDesk is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider wstunnel if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are RustDesk and wstunnel free and open-source?
Yes. RustDesk is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and wstunnel under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run RustDesk and wstunnel with Docker?
RustDesk: yes. wstunnel: yes.