23 Best Remote Desktop Software & Parsec Alternatives in 2026

AirDroid Remote Support offers a free plan for basic Windows connect-and-control needs, plus a free trial for teams testing paid tiers. The Basic plan runs $199 per license per year, while Premium, which adds bulk device management and mass deployment, is quoted directly through AirDroid’s sales team.

Built for both mobile and desktop support, AirDroid stands out for its AR camera and tutorial-gesture features, letting technicians visually guide non-technical users through fixes on Android and iOS devices. It also supports unattended Windows access and black-screen privacy mode, making it a strong pick for frontline and field-device support.

Anydesk offers a free plan strictly for personal, non-commercial use, plus a trial period for business tiers. Paid plans are billed annually: Solo starts around $14.90/month, Standard around $49.90/month, and Advanced around $111.90/month, with Ultimate priced through a custom sales quote for larger deployments.

Known for its proprietary low-latency codec, AnyDesk delivers smooth remote sessions even on modest connections, making it popular with IT professionals and MSPs. It supports unattended access, file transfer, and session recording, but reviewers note prices have climbed noticeably over the past couple of years across nearly every paid tier.

AnyViewer gives users a fully functional free plan alongside a 7-day free trial of its Professional tier before billing kicks in. The Professional plan runs about $42.96 per year, while Team and Enterprise plans use steep multi-year discounts, sometimes cutting the effective rate by more than half for longer commitments.

AnyViewer is a Windows-focused remote access tool that also supports iOS and Android connections, using 256-bit ECC encryption for security. It’s popular for its generous free tier and privacy-mode screen blackout feature, though heavier users report the free tier can feel slow during peak connection times.

Apache Guacamole is entirely free and open source under the Apache License 2.0, so there’s no trial to speak of, since anyone can download, self-host, and use it without limits. The only real costs are your own server, storage, and admin time, which makes it attractive for technical teams wanting full control without licensing fees.

As a clientless, browser-based gateway, Guacamole connects to remote machines over RDP, VNC, or SSH without installing any software on the endpoint. It supports 2FA, SAML SSO, and multi-user sessions, but as a community-maintained project it lacks official vendor support, so troubleshooting relies on documentation and community forums.

BeyondTrust Remote Support offers a 14-day free trial that unlocks core Remote Support features, but the company does not publish set pricing tiers. Instead, it uses concurrent-seat licensing and quotes costs individually per organization, meaning you’ll need to contact sales directly for a number tailored to your team size and security requirements.

Formerly known as Bomgar, BeyondTrust Remote Support is built for large service desks needing VPN-less, audited access across Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. It offers FIPS 140-2 validation and deep ITSM integrations, making it a strong fit for regulated industries, though smaller teams may find its concurrent-license pricing steep.

Chrome Remote Desktop is entirely free with no paid tiers, trial periods, or subscriptions of any kind, since Google offers it as a browser extension tied to your Google account. There’s nothing to buy or upgrade, which makes it the simplest possible entry point for casual remote access.

Running directly inside the Chrome browser, it lets you access your own computer remotely or offer one-off support to someone else with a shared access code. It’s reliable and easy to set up, but it skips advanced features like file transfer within the session, chat, or multi-monitor support found in dedicated tools.

ConnectWise ScreenConnect provides a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. Support plans start at $28/month for One, $43/month for Standard, and $53/month for Premium, all per concurrent technician on annual billing, while the separate Access line for unattended device management starts near $31/month for up to 25 devices.

ScreenConnect is a favorite among MSPs for its fast, reliable connections and deep customization through its self-hosted or cloud deployment options. It bundles remote support, unattended access, and meetings into one product, though its per-technician pricing has drawn criticism after recent steep increases on some tiers.

Distant Desktop is completely free for both business and personal use, with no trial period necessary because there’s nothing to upgrade to. It’s also portable, meaning it can run without a formal installation, which makes it convenient for quick, one-off support sessions on shared or restricted machines.

Distant Desktop focuses on fast connections and straightforward remote access for freelancers and small businesses that don’t need enterprise features. It lacks the polish, integrations, and support infrastructure of paid competitors, but its zero-cost, no-frills approach appeals to users who just need basic screen access without commitment.

GoToMyPC offers a free trial for new users before committing to a subscription. Entry-level pricing starts around $35 per computer per month, with Pro and Corporate tiers scaling up for teams needing centralized management, additional users, or higher device counts, all billed under the GoTo brand.

GoToMyPC focuses on simple, reliable access to your own desktop from anywhere, with a straightforward interface that non-technical users find easy to pick up. It’s a solid option for individuals and small teams, though many reviewers flag it as expensive compared to newer entrants like Splashtop for similar functionality.

HelpWire is currently free to use without limits while it’s in early access, and there’s no separate trial because every feature, including unattended access, is unlocked from the start. The company has said paid tiers may arrive later, but promises no nag screens or session cutoffs before then, making it a low-risk pick for testing today.

Built by Electronic Team, HelpWire focuses on fast, ad-hoc remote sessions across Windows, macOS, and Linux, with clients joining through a simple link instead of typing IDs or passwords. It supports file transfer, session grouping, and unattended access, positioning itself as a lightweight, no-cost stand-in for pricier incumbents like TeamViewer or LogMeIn.

ISL Online provides a fully-featured 15-day free trial, extendable on request, though it has no permanent free plan. Paid tiers run from Starter at $16.90/month, Standard at $34.90/month, and Premium at $54.90/month, up to Self-Hosted at $44.90/month and custom-quoted Enterprise plans that can reach into five figures annually.

ISL Online stands out for offering unlimited users and devices on every cloud plan, charging instead by concurrent sessions, plus a self-hosted deployment option for organizations with strict data-residency needs. It includes live chat, session recording, and two-factor authentication, and is frequently chosen by teams migrating away from costlier legacy tools.

LogMeIn offers a free trial with no credit card required to test its remote access tools before subscribing. LogMeIn Pro pricing typically starts around $300–$350 per user annually, while Central and Rescue now use a modular base-plan-plus-add-ons structure, with Security, Automation, and Insight modules priced separately through a custom quote.

Now under the GoTo brand alongside products like LogMeIn Resolve, LogMeIn bundles remote access, file storage, and a free LastPass license into its plans. It’s a mature, dependable option for enterprises already in the GoTo ecosystem, though many reviewers flag steep renewal price increases as a recurring frustration.

Microsoft Remote Desktop is free and built directly into Windows Pro and Enterprise editions, so there’s no separate purchase or trial, only your existing Windows license. It uses the native Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to connect, making it a no-added-cost option for organizations already standardized on Windows.

It offers solid Active Directory integration and native Windows authentication, which appeals to IT teams inside fully Windows-based environments. However, it’s Windows-only on the server side, requires VPN or network tunneling to work outside a local network, and lacks MSP features like audit trails or multi-client dashboards.

NinjaOne offers a 14-day free trial with full platform access, though trials typically exclude add-on modules like Backup or MDM by default. Pricing is entirely custom and per-endpoint, publicly cited as roughly $1.50 per device monthly at 10,000+ endpoints, rising toward $3.75 per device for deployments of 50 or fewer.

NinjaOne is a unified RMM platform combining monitoring, patching, scripting, and remote access, typically delivered through Splashtop or ScreenConnect under the hood. It appeals to MSPs and internal IT teams wanting one console for everything, but its per-device model plus separate module fees can make total costs harder to predict upfront.

Parsec remains free for personal and gaming use, with paid tiers offering a 14-day free trial before billing starts. Warp, aimed at individual professionals, runs about $9.99/month, Teams costs around $35/month per user, and Enterprise, which adds dedicated relay servers and SLAs, is priced through a custom quote.

Parsec built its reputation on ultra-low-latency streaming tuned for gaming, creative work, and precise peripheral input like drawing tablets and controllers. It supports up to 4K at 60fps with SOC 2 Type 2 certified security, but it’s less suited to broad IT support workflows than dedicated remote support platforms.

Pulseway offers a no-credit-card-required free trial so teams can test its remote monitoring stack before buying. Pricing is usage-based rather than flat-tiered, with public figures ranging roughly from $27 to $67 per month depending on endpoint count, plus a one-time onboarding fee; larger deployments require a custom quote from sales.

Built primarily as a remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform, Pulseway adds mobile-first remote control, patch management, and ransomware detection on top of standard remote access. It’s a favorite among MSPs who want proactive alerting and scripting alongside session access, though some reviewers say costs climb quickly for larger fleets.

RemotePC offers a free trial for evaluating the service before purchase. The Consumer plan starts as low as $29.50 per year, making it one of the cheapest always-on remote access options around, with SOHO, Team, and Enterprise tiers scaling price and device counts for growing organizations.

RemotePC, from IDrive, focuses on always-on access with unlimited concurrent connections, file transfer, remote printing, and a bundled video conferencing tool. It’s a budget-friendly choice for home offices and small teams, though some reviewers note it feels less feature-rich than pricier competitors like Splashtop.

RustDesk‘s self-hosted open-source server is free with no device limits or licensing fees, giving you the option to run your own infrastructure. For centralized management, an address book, and device permissions, RustDesk Server Pro starts around $9.90–$11.88 per month, with larger Customized and Enterprise plans quoted individually.

Written in Rust with a Flutter interface, RustDesk is fast, lightweight, and open source under AGPL/GPL, appealing strongly to privacy-conscious users and self-hosting enthusiasts. It lacks SOC 2 certification or third-party audits, though, so regulated organizations may need to lean on commercial alternatives for compliance documentation.

sobrii Remote has no free plan, but offers a 14-day proof-of-concept on up to 500 devices for evaluation. Pricing is all-inclusive and per-device, quoted on request with a 50-device minimum, bundling remote control together with fleet inventory, security alerts, and hardware health monitoring rather than charging separately.

sobrii Remote is an IT fleet management platform built around a lightweight Rust agent, connecting via WebRTC peer-to-peer in about three seconds with TLS 1.3 encryption. It’s designed for IT teams and MSPs managing 200 to 50,000 Windows endpoints who want device context visible before every remote session, not a standalone consumer tool.

Splashtop provides a 7-day free trial across all its plans with no credit card required. Remote Access pricing starts at $6/month for Solo, $8.25/month for Pro, and $13/month for Performance, all billed annually, while its Remote Support (SOS) line starts near $22 per concurrent technician, with Enterprise priced by quote.

Splashtop is widely praised as a budget-friendly, enterprise-capable alternative to TeamViewer and LogMeIn, often saving businesses 50–85% versus those tools. It offers 4K streaming, multi-monitor support, file transfer, and session recording, though Remote Access plans require annual prepayment and volume discounts only kick in at four or more licenses.

TeamViewer is free for personal, non-commercial use, with a free trial available on business plans before you subscribe. The Remote Access plan starts at $24.90/month for one user and three managed devices, Business runs $50.90/month with 200 managed devices, and enterprise-scale Tensor pricing is quoted individually.

As one of the longest-standing names in remote access, TeamViewer offers broad platform support, robust file transfer, and deep enterprise integrations. However, it faced a significant 2024 security breach and terminated older perpetual licenses at the end of 2025, pushing many longtime users to evaluate cheaper, newer alternatives.

UltraViewer is free to download and use with no paid tiers or trial period required, making it an accessible option for individuals and small businesses on a tight budget. There’s no subscription to manage, just a straightforward download-and-connect workflow for remote access sessions.

UltraViewer offers straightforward remote control, file transfer, and chat features aimed at everyday support scenarios rather than large-scale enterprise deployment. It’s a favorite among smaller shops and individual technicians who want a no-cost tool, though it lacks the polish, integrations, and audit features of commercial platforms.

Zoho Assist gives you both a permanently free plan for basic needs and a 15-day free trial with no credit card needed for testing paid tiers. Paid plans start around $10 per technician per month for Standard Unattended Access, scaling up through Professional and Enterprise, with Remote Support priced separately from Unattended Access.

Zoho Assist splits its offering into Unattended Access and Remote Support lines, letting you pay only for the capability you actually need, unlike bundled competitors. It integrates smoothly with Zoho Desk and Zoho CRM, though add-ons like extra storage, VoIP credits, and web conferencing cost extra on top of the base plan.