Best Remote Desktop Software

The best remote access software currently available is TeamViewer. Prices start at $24.90 per month, and for that money, you'll be able to manage up to three devices from one licensed user's PC.

In the post-pandemic world, millions of workers are now in hybrid and remote roles. That means companies need software that lets them stay in touch with a fully distributed workforce, securing their laptops and rapidly addressing IT concerns. This is where remote desktop software (also known as remote access software) comes in.

We've taken a closer look at the core features and pricing plans made available by the best remote desktop software options on the market today. While we'd recommend TeamViewer due to its range of features and ease of use, all the services below are worth considering.

In this guide:

• Best Remote Desktop Software Reviewed
• What Is Remote Desktop Software?
• Verdict: What Is the Best Remote Desktop Software?
• Remote Desktop Software FAQs

Remote desktop software programs vary significantly when it comes to costs – and if pricing is the most important thing to you, check out the deals offered by the providers listed below:

Best Remote Desktop Software Reviewed

In this article, we cover everything you need to know about each top remote desktop solution's pricing and features. Here's a quick summary of the providers:

• TeamViewer: Best remote desktop software overall
• LogMeIn: Best for unlimited users
• Zoho Assist: Best for Zoho integrations
• Anydesk: Best for small businesses
• GoToMyPC: Best for performance
• RemotePC: Best for affordability
• ConnectWise: Best for custom branding
• Splashtop: Best for enterprises
• Iperius Remote: Best for Windows users
• Parallels: Best for mobile devices

TeamViewer

Best Overall
Pricing from: $24.90 per month

TeamViewer supports a large number of remotely managed devices (including PC, Mac, Linux, and mobile), with plans starting at 200 devices and going as high as 500. Overall, it's the best remote desktop software we've used.

The constraints that a business is likely to run up against are TeamViewer's more limited number of licensed users, as well as the cap on the number of participants per meeting.

TeamViewer meets reasonable security standards, with its 2048-bit RSA key exchange and 256-bit AES session encoding. The interface is intuitive, and thanks to the service's mass remote deployment feature, it's easy to quickly set up across multiple devices. Features include desktop sharing, online conferencing, and remote file transfers.

Support channels include email, phone, and live chat during business hours, alongside online resources such as FAQs and video tutorials. The pricing is average for the industry, and the relatively large number of devices supported makes TeamViewer particularly attractive for large or medium-sized businesses in need of a way to remotely support hundreds of employees.

Teamviewer pricing

TeamViewer has a free plan for personal use, whereas paid plans start at $24.90 per month for the Remote Access Plan. All of TeamViewer's paid pricing plans are included in the table below:

Pro by GoTo

Best for unlimited users
Pricing from: $30 per month

Pro is a flexible solution from GoTo, formerly known as LogMeIn. We think it's great for any small business or startup with a team that frequently travels.

With it, users can easily access their work computer remotely from just a mobile device. However, the number of managed devices is small, with just two, five, or ten computers made remotely accessible through LogMeIn Pro's three plans.

All plans include remote access, remote printing, 1TB file storage, and a multi-monitor display ability. LogMeIn Pro offers plenty of support across email, phone, tickets, live chat, and online resources, including a database and community forum. It comes with a unique perk, too: All LogMeIn Pro plans offer at least one free license to LastPass Premium, the company's password management service.

Pro by GoTo Pricing

Pro by GoTo has 3 pricing plans, and none of them have a user limit. There's the Individuals plan ($30 per month), the Power Users plan ($70 per month), and the Small Business plan ($129 per month).

If you purchase each plan, you'll get one, three, or five free LastPass accounts too, as well as GoTo's LogMeIn antivirus software. You'll also be able to print documents saved on remote computers on local computers, whatever plan you choose.

Zoho Assist

Best for Zoho integrations
Pricing from: $10 per technician (user) per month

Zoho Assist is a feature-rich remote access solution. It's a good option for larger businesses and an even better option for businesses that already use Zoho software, given the many straightforward integrations it offers.

Features include the typical core abilities: File transfers, multiple monitors, remote reboots, and voice, video, or instant chat. Remote support sessions can be scheduled ahead of time through the software as well, a plus for large companies that need the infrastructure to pack in plenty of remote IT sessions.

A bulk deployment ability makes Zoho Assist easy to get up and running. It's entirely web-based – which helps keep it secure, since no installs or downloads are required – and idle sessions can be set to timeout once they've been inactive for a specific period of time. The end-to-end SSL and AES 256-bit encryption help with security as well.

Zoho Assist pricing

Zoho Assist is available in five pricing plans, but there's also a limited free plan. The Standard plan costs $10 per user, per month, the Professional plan costs $15 per user, per month, and the Enterprise plan costs $24 per user, per month. That being said, you'll only get a handful of particularly useful features with the Professional and Enterprise plans, including session scheduling, screen sharing, and the mobile app, available on iOS and Android.

There are also two plans for businesses that primarily need to access unattended computers, so IT teams can fix issues even when there isn't anyone at the desk manning the device. The Unattended Access Standard plan costs $10 for 25 unattended computers per month, whereas the Professional plan is $15 per month for the same number of computers. It has significantly more features, however, like advanced reporting and webhooks.

Anydesk

Best for small businesses
Pricing from: $14.90 per month

Anydesk is one of the better remote desktop software solutions for small businesses and freelancers, both because of its low $14.90 per month starting cost, and because it includes a free plan. However, this plan is only for individuals and private use rather than a work environment.

All plans offer the core remote access functionality, as well as remote printing, file transfers, and an on-screen whiteboard feature. A 14-day free trial can help users figure out if it's for their team, as well.

One drawback to this software is the limits on the number of devices and sessions, which are capped at just one of each for the most inexpensive plan. That said, the Advanced plan offers unlimited accessible devices while remaining competitively priced relative to similar services' highest-priced plans. It supports all major devices and offers email and phone support as well.

Anydesk pricing

Anydesk offers 3 pricing plans in total, all of which are billed annually and come with mobile device support.

On the Solo plan, it's possible to access up to 100 devices for $14.90 per month. The Standard plan will let you have 20 users and access 500 devices for $29.90 per month, while the Advanced plan ($79.90 per month) can be used by up to 50 people and 1,000 devices can be accessed.

GoToMyPC

Best for performance
Pricing from: $28.60 per computer, per month

GoToMyPC remotely connects computers with no visible lag time, allowing mouse movements and keystrokes to feel fluid. It offers a range of bandwidth settings as well, though you're unlikely to need them as long as your connection isn't terrible.

Features include handy file transferring, syncing abilities and multiple monitors, and the software installs quickly and easily. Costs increase quickly as users increase, so larger companies may want to think twice, but GoToMyPC is a high-performing service great for small and medium remote businesses.

GoToMyPC pricing

The service's pricing plans vary in what they offer: The $28.60 per computer, per month starting price is specifically for one user, letting them access unlimited devices, while the $26.98 per computer, per month Pro plan starts with two computers per month.

The Corporate plan is designed for ten or more users and starts at $18.20 per computer, per month, but you'll need at least 5 computers to sign up for this plan, so the least you'll be paying is $90 per month.

RemotePC

Best for affordability
Pricing from: $1.53 per month

Value for money is the name of the game with RemotePC. It's a very competent service despite its low price tag, and the provider offers solid security and customer support options.

All of RemotePC's plans come with core features including file transfer, remote reboot, remote printing, video conferencing, and a whiteboard feature. Audio files can be remotely played as well. 24/7 support is available for email and chat, with more limited phone support – and, for the Team and Enterprise plans, a Helpdesk offers on-demand remote support, too.

Security comes through a TLS v 1.2/AES-256 encryption for transferring authentication data, as well as “Personal Key,” a feature that gives each device a unique password set for extra protection. Single sign-on is available, but only for the Team and Enterprise plans.

RemotePC pricing

RemotePC offers four plans. There's the Consumer plan, which costs just $18.50 per year ($1.53 per month) for one user and access to two computers, or $37.12 per year if you want to access two computers. The SOHO plan costs $59.62 per year and includes unlimited users and access to ten computers.

The Team plan costs then $224.50 per year, with unlimited users and 50 computers, while the Enterprise plan costs $449.62 per year for unlimited users and 100 computers.

ConnectWise

Best for custom branding
Pricing from: $27 per month

ConnectWise Control is a simple, straightforward remote desktop access service, with a flat price rate that'll be welcomed by larger businesses that would otherwise be paying by the user/computer.

Features available across all plans include remote meetings, file transfer, remote printing, and remote support. There's also mobile device technician support included on all plans, meaning you'll be able to control Mac and Windows computers from an Android or iOS device.

Custom branding is also available on all plans, a perk that helps a business keep its professional brand front and center. This level of customizability is rarely included on all plans of any software, making ConnectWise's otherwise fairly stripped-down service a cost-effective way to stay professional.

ConnectWise Control pricing

ConnectWise Control's three plans start with One, which gives a single user access to ten devices remotely (one at a time) for $27 per month. The Standard plan lets one user access unlimited devices, with a cap of three concurrent ones, for $42 per month. Lastly, the Premium plan lets one user access unlimited devices with a cap of ten concurrently and costs $52 per month.

Splashtop

Best for enterprises
Pricing from: $5 per month

Splashtop is extremely easy to use, and compared to some of the more complex competitors included on this list, will be a lot quicker to deploy and set up.

As well as remote access, all Splashtop plans offer file transfer, remote printing, and remote audio, but you'll need to spring for Pro to get multiple monitors, remote waking and rebooting, and instant chat.

There's one nice perk on the Pro plan that not all remote desktop software offers: two users can remotely access the same computer simultaneously. That said, Splashtop doesn't offer some moderately common bells-and-whistles features like video conferencing.

Splashtop pricing

The web-based Splashtop Business Access has two plans, with tiered pricing for the second. The first plan, Solo, costs $5 per month for a single user accessing a maximum of two computers.

Most businesses will prefer the second plan, Pro, which starts at $8.25 per user, per month, and lets each user access ten computers. This drops 20% to $6.60 per user, per month if the business has between 4 and 9 users. If the business is paying for 10 or more users, the cost for these users drops 25% to its lowest price, $6.19 per user, per month.

Iperius Remote

Best for Windows users
Pricing from: $9.15 per month

Iperius remote was historically only installable as a Windows service. That meant that only computers running on Windows can be automatically accessed remotely – but now, you can connect to both Windows and Mac computers, as well as Android and iOS devices.

Features include file transfer, instant chat, screen sharing, historical data, multiple monitors, and multiple connections allowed to the same computer.

Support is limited to email and online documentation, which includes an FAQ and tutorials. The software is fully portable, with no installation or firewall configuration needed. Security measures include integrated encryption and HTTPS, and custom passwords can be set on each remotely accessed device.

Iperius Remote pricing

Iperius Remote is available in three plans, all of which offer the same features and unlimited remote devices. They are differentiated entirely by how many concurrent connections are allowed in each: The Small plan costs €8.39 per month (about $9.15) for two connections, while the Medium plan costs €19,99 per month (about $24.23) for five connections.

Then there's the Professional plan, which starts at €49.99 per month (about $54.49) for 15 connections, but which can be modified to support even more connections at a greater price. The number of connections goes as high as 200, for €583.99 per month (about $635.03).

Parallels

Best for mobile devices
Pricing from: $1.67 per month

Although it's one of the more basic providers on this list and it won't let you do much beyond remotely accessing other computer devices, Parallels is also one of the cheapest, undercut only by RemotePC.

However, while this is the second-most affordable service on our list, the fact that it only supports five remote computers makes it limited enough that we didn't list it as our affordable pick. It's best for small businesses or startups with tiny teams, and it offers a great set of features for mobile devices. If you're a larger team, you'll probably need a provider with more advanced features, like TeamViewer.

Parallels is available for both iOS and Android, although some abilities (opening desktop applications while on mobile, support for Samsung S Pen) are specific to Android devices. Adding it to mobile is a quick process, too, using an installation link or QR code rather than an app download.

Parallels pricing

Parallels Access has a personal plan and a business plan. The one-user personal plan offers five remote computers plus unlimited mobile devices and is available in a one-year subscription for $19.99 ($1.67 per month) or for a two-year $34.99 subscription ($2.92 per month).

The Business plan is $49.99 per year ($4.08 per month), and includes unlimited users, but still caps remote computers at just five, although mobile devices are unlimited. You can also get a 2-year Business plan, which will set you back $89.99. Additional five-computer packs will cost another $49 per year each.

What Is Remote Desktop Software?

Remote desktop software – also called Remote access software – applications allow a business's IT team to remotely view and interact with files and programs across all work computers used by their distributed workforce. This allows them to monitor and assist their entire team, no matter where they are in the world.

Remote Desktop Software Benefits

Remote access software helps a business meet its employees wherever they are, reducing stress in a variety of ways while saving on their bottom line as well. Here are the core benefits you can expect:

• Increased flexibility is a top reason to adopt remote access software. With it, teams can work entirely or partially from home, setting the hours that work best for them rather than shoehorning themselves into a strict nine-to-five job.
• Reduced distractions can improve workers' focus, as their meetings can be turned into emails and their home environment won't include chatty coworkers.
• Reduced travel costs can help a company save funds while letting employees avoid the rush hour commute.
• Minimized office space overhead, as the physical office is another big budget item that can be reduced or cut out entirely thanks to a distributed workforce.

And, thanks to the mass deployment functionality available through many remote access services, IT departments will be able to automate some of their workloads as well.

Who Needs Remote Desktop Software?

You won't be surprised to hear that any business which is making remote work a part-time or full-time option for their employees should adopt remote desktop software as a way to assist them. And furthermore, any business should consider a flexible work schedule policy: indeed, 100% remote work was the most popular flexible work option in one 2019 survey.

But the software remains a useful tool for businesses that aren't remote: It helps IT teams resolve software issues from their desks, streamlining the entire process. In short, remote desktop software can help any modern business.

Remote Desktop Software FAQs