Two-factor authentication to protect access to the management console, address book, and endpoint devices.
Server-side two-factor authentication is supported in RustDesk Pro.
2FA can be set up for free on a specific workstation, but global policies require payment.
Two-factor authentication is available for free on any personal account.
Supports full, uncompressed 4:4:4 chroma sampling, avoiding distortion of text and colors.
Supports True Color (4:4:4) mode via the VP9 codec, free of charge as part of the open-source client.
Only available on the paid Warp or Teams subscriptions. The free version is hard-locked to 4:2:0.
Dynamically adjusts the video stream's bitrate and quality based on current network conditions and available bandwidth.
The DeskRT codec aggressively crushes quality and color depth, so when the network dips, on-screen text turns into unreadable pixel mush.
Very aggressive and effective bitrate adaptation to minimize latency.
Centralized address book with sync, device grouping, and team sharing.
A centralized address book with groups and access permissions is available in the Pro version.
The ability to create shared team address books is strictly tied to the license tier.
Managing teams, groups, and company computers requires a Teams subscription.
Streams high-quality, low-latency stereo audio from the remote system.
Centralized logging of all connections, authentication attempts, and settings changes for security audits and compliance.
Connection auditing and the web admin console are Pro-only.
REST API access and detailed session logs are only available on the more expensive subscriptions.
Connection logging via the Guest Access API or the admin panel is only available in Teams.
Supports the modern, royalty-free AV1 codec for maximum compression efficiency.
Hardware-accelerated on modern GPUs.
Not used. AnyDesk relies on its proprietary DeskRT codec, purpose-built for transmitting GUIs (windows, text) rather than general video.
Passes through input from graphics tablets (Wacom, Huion), including pen pressure sensitivity and tilt.
The cursor works in mouse mode (absolute positioning). There is no native pen pressure passthrough; third-party software is needed for USB passthrough.
Basic input works, but accurate pressure and tilt passthrough can behave incorrectly.
Pen pressure/tilt passthrough only works with a Warp/Teams subscription.
A dedicated two-pane file manager interface for background file transfers, independent of the graphical session (in addition to standard drag & drop).
A separate file manager window is available for convenient file transfers.
A separate file transfer mode is available.
There is no dedicated file management interface. File transfer (paid version only) works via plain Drag & Drop.
Supports high frame rates (60/120/144+ FPS) for maximum smoothness with dynamic content.
Supports up to 120 FPS via the Moonlight protocol (limited only by the underlying hardware).
Thanks to the proprietary DeskRT codec, it reliably holds a true 60 FPS in normal scenarios and gracefully drops frames when the network dips, but is architecturally capped at 60 FPS.
A base 60 FPS is available for free, while higher frame rates (up to 240 FPS) require a paid Warp subscription.
Passes through and emulates game controllers (Xbox, PlayStation, Switch Pro), including rumble/force feedback.
Basic passthrough is supported, but not at the level of a low-level XInput driver.
One of the best XInput gamepad emulation implementations on the market, ideal for gaming.
End-to-end passthrough of any USB device over the network (license dongles, flash drives, 3D mice like SpaceMouse, non-standard hardware) — not limited to gamepads and tablets.
Driver-level passthrough of arbitrary USB devices is not supported.
Limited support (mainly smart card and simple USB dongle passthrough via TCP tunneling).
Advanced passthrough of arbitrary USB devices is implemented via VirtualHere integration and only available on Teams plans.
Supports the widely compatible H.264/AVC video compression codec.
Replaced by the proprietary DeskRT algorithm.
Supports the H.265/HEVC codec, reducing transmitted data volume while maintaining high quality.
Supports transmitting and displaying High Dynamic Range (HDR) video, preserving accurate color, high contrast, and detail in the remote session.
Remotely mounts ISO images and virtual drives on the target machine.
Integrates with hardware capture/control boards (KVM over IP) for low-level administration at the BIOS level.
Automatically discovers available machines on the same local network via broadcast/multicast, without manually entering IP addresses or device IDs.
Supports discovering devices on the local network and connecting via Direct IP.
Silent, automated installation (via MSI, scripts, or MDM) with preconfigured server-binding keys.
Custom client builds and scripts for silent, automated installation are provided with a Pro subscription.
Generating a custom client (AnyDesk Custom Client) with policies for silent deployment is a paid feature.
Scripted deployment using a service token is available for enterprise customers.
Streams audio from the client's microphone to the remote host (e.g. for calls or voice input).
Microphone passthrough from client to host is behind a paywall (Warp/Teams).
Displays multiple monitors from the remote computer at once, or allows quickly switching between them.
The free version only lets you switch between screens. Simultaneous output to multiple monitors (Virtual Displays) is a Teams feature.
Supports multiple simultaneous, independent user sessions on a single host (isolated sessions, RDP-style).
The base software works with a single active session, while full administration and session isolation require deploying the closed-source RustDesk Pro Server.
Supported in Enterprise configurations for terminal servers (Windows Server), but requires a specialized license.
The engine is fundamentally designed to capture a single specific graphical session (display). Terminal-server-style operation is not supported at all.
Direct connections work without a mandatory account registration with the provider's cloud service.
Using Tailscale requires authenticating with the Tailscale service itself
Using the public servers and IDs requires mandatory authentication via email or OAuth.
Like TeamViewer, the service has become aggressive about blocking connections without an account, citing suspected 'commercial use.'
Annotation tools for drawing over the screen with a marker, to show the remote user where to click.
No screen annotation tools are available.
A built-in Whiteboard drawing tool is available over the streamed screen.
No drawing or annotation tools are available.
Source code is fully open, allowing independent security audits and self-built clients.
Open Core model. The base client and agent are fully open for community auditing, but the Pro version of the agent with enterprise features ships as closed-source.
Open Core model. The client itself and the base relay are open source, but the advanced RustDesk Pro Server (API, web admin console, OIDC) is closed-source.
Automatic over-the-air (wireless) updates for software/firmware.
Direct peer-to-peer connection between client and host, with support for tunneling over secure overlay networks (e.g. Tailscale) for NAT traversal without configuring public IPs.
Connects to the remote machine before user authentication (at the OS lock or login screen), e.g. right after a reboot.
Windows and Linux
Implemented via a default background system application and available for free in the open-source build.
The service starts before login, but the reliability of unattended access on the free version depends on the detection algorithms.
Available if Parsec is installed in Shared Mode (as a system service).
Blanks the remote computer's physical monitor and locks its local mouse/keyboard, so no one nearby can see what the remote user is doing.
A basic implementation of privacy mode (turning off the remote PC's screen) is supported.
Screen Privacy mode requires installing a display driver and holding a paid license.
Blanking the host's physical display is only available with a Warp or Teams subscription.
Native support for connecting through corporate HTTP/SOCKS5 proxy servers to bypass strict firewalls.
Natively supports connecting via a SOCKS5 proxy in the network settings.
Native support for HTTP, SOCKS5, and NTLM proxies.
The client uses a proprietary UDP protocol (BUD) and does not natively support routing through standard SOCKS5/HTTP proxies.
Role-Based Access Control for granular permission management across admins and users.
Granular role-based access control is only available in Pro.
Advanced role management in the my.anydesk console is only available to enterprise customers.
Role assignment (Admin, Member, Guest) is managed through the Teams console.
Routes encrypted traffic through an intermediary relay server when a direct P2P connection is blocked by firewalls or strict NAT.
Implemented on top of Tailscale's built-in relay mechanism (DERP), providing automatic fallback when a direct P2P connection is blocked.
Implemented via the open hbbr component (RustDesk Relay Server). Public free relay servers work out of the box, but for full traffic control and to avoid the limitations of the public infrastructure, you need to self-host your own relay server.
Built on the vendor's own global distributed infrastructure. Available out of the box on cloud plans, but full traffic isolation and self-hosting your own relay inside a closed corporate network requires the top-tier Ultimate license with an On-Premises deployment.
Uses STUN servers for initialization and NAT traversal to establish a direct P2P connection. The High Performance Relay (HPR) mechanism for forced traffic proxying and self-hosting your own relay is only available on the Enterprise plan.
Print redirection — prints a document open on the remote computer to the client's local printer.
There is no built-in virtual driver for remote printing.
Works via the virtual AnyDesk Printer driver; the feature is locked on the free version.
The tool is focused on graphics work; there is no virtual printer driver.
Records remote sessions to a video file for security audits and access control.
Built into the open-source client and available for free out of the box.
Session recording is blocked for free users and requires a commercial subscription.
There is no built-in screen recording feature even on the paid tiers; third-party software (OBS, ShadowPlay) is required.
Allows multiple users to connect to the same active desktop or session simultaneously.
Multiple clients can freely connect to a single host using the same ID, with no licensing restrictions.
On the free version, parallel connections are quickly flagged as commercial activity and blocked.
Native support for multi-user connections for collaborative work or gaming is available for free.
Bidirectional clipboard sync — copied text, images, or files are available on both machines.
Text and files
Works with text and files.
Text synchronization works.
Integrates with enterprise identity providers (Azure AD, Okta, Google Workspace) for centralized single sign-on.
Integration with corporate identity providers is only available in RustDesk Pro.
Corporate Single Sign-On integration is only available on the Advanced and Enterprise plans.
SAML/SSO integration is only available on the most expensive Parsec for Teams Enterprise plan.
Built-in or straightforward support for connecting over the Tailscale mesh VPN, enabling secure access without configuring a public IP.
Native integration built into the client itself
No native integration. Only works if the Tailscale system service is installed separately on both machines and you connect via Direct IP.
No native integration. It can automatically route UDP traffic over the Tailscale interface, but only if the VPN client is already installed on the OS.
Built-in text messenger overlaying the remote screen, for communication between a support agent and the end user.
A basic text chat is available for communicating with the support agent.
A built-in basic text chat is available through the in-session overlay during an active connection.
Allows remote interaction with Windows User Account Control (UAC) prompts — viewing, clicking, and approving elevated-privilege requests without losing session control or hitting a black screen.
Only works correctly if the client is installed as a service.
Requires the app to be pre-installed as a system service. In portable (non-installed) mode, SYSTEM privileges are not used.
For full interaction and input delivery to the Windows secure desktop, the host app needs to be installed as a system service — otherwise UAC prompts may render as a black screen or block input.
Vertical frame synchronization to eliminate screen tearing and ensure smooth rendering.
Supports client-side frame synchronization to eliminate screen tearing.
Has a built-in V-Sync toggle and flexible FPS capping matched to the client monitor's refresh rate.
Creates software-based virtual monitors on the remote host, useful for headless servers or cloud VMs without a physical display.
There is no native built-in virtual display driver; users working with headless servers have to resort to third-party workarounds.
Creating up to three virtual displays is implemented via a proprietary VDD driver, but locked behind the paid Warp or Teams subscriptions.
Remotely powers on or wakes a shut-down computer by sending a magic packet over the local network.
Allows unattended remote connections to Wayland-based Linux sessions without requiring physical confirmation on the host.
Works out of the box
Uses PipeWire + the XDG Portal, which forces a system confirmation dialog.
Relies on PipeWire. Screen capture will not start without a manual confirmation from the user.
Hosting on Wayland graphical sessions is not supported architecturally.