RustDesk

rustdesk/rustdeskReviewed by AI

What it does

RustDesk shows you the screen of another computer and lets you use its mouse and keyboard from where you are, plus copy files both ways. You install it on both machines, read the ID and one-time password from the one you want to reach, and connect. It is used for helping family with their computer and for reaching your own machine from elsewhere. Out of the box the connection is arranged through RustDesk's own servers; you can point it at a server you run yourself instead. Ready downloads exist for Windows, macOS and Linux, and there are Android and iPhone versions too.

How easy it is to install

A · download and open · Windows

Windows A
macOS A
Linux A

Release 1.5.1 has a ready file for every system: Windows .exe and .msi (about 25 MB), macOS .dmg for Apple and Intel chips, and for Linux .deb, .rpm, .flatpak and an AppImage, plus listings on Flathub and F-Droid. Nothing has to be set up afterwards — the README says it "works out of the box with no configuration required" — though you do have to install it on both computers.

Numbers on GitHub

Stars: 127,733on Oct 31, 2026
Downloads: 79,924,011899,093 this week
Growth: +561stars in 5 days

Stars over time

Facts

Runs on: Windows, macOS, Linux
You need to install: Nothing extra
To build from source: Docker, Rust
Disk space: 25 MB–76 MB · from the installer
Accounts or keys: None
Cost: Free · The program in this repository is free (AGPL-3.0) and the public connection servers cost nothing to use. The same company sells a separate paid product, RustDesk Server Pro, for people who want to run their own server with extra features.
License: AGPL-3.0 (Copyleft)
Can replace: TeamViewer, AnyDesk, Parsec
Last update: Oct 31, 2026

Risk signals (6)

AttentionInstall command runs a script from the internet
Install command pipes a remote script into a shell: curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
automatic check
Attentionremote control can be abused
The README opens with a Caution box: "Misuse Disclaimer: The developers of RustDesk do not condone or support any unethical or illegal use of this software. Misuse, such as unauthorized access, control or invasion of privacy, is strictly against our guidelines." Remote-control programs of this kind are also the tool of choice in support-call scams, and connecting to a computer without its owner's agreement is illegal in most countries. Some companies and some networks forbid installing one at all.
AI review
Attentioninstalls deep system components
To let someone control a machine that nobody is sitting at, it installs a background service and low-level pieces: Cargo.toml lists `virtual_display`, `remote_printer`, `windows-service` and `impersonate_system = { git = "https://github.com/rustdesk-org/impersonate-system" }` for Windows, and the release includes a `rustdesk-unattended-wayland` package for Linux. It can also read and write the clipboard and send keystrokes (`enigo`, `clipboard-master`).
AI review
Infoconnections go through the project servers by default
README: "You can use our rendezvous/relay server, set up your own, or write your own rendezvous/relay server." Until you change it, the server that introduces the two computers — and relays the session when a direct connection fails — is one run by RustDesk.
AI review
Infomany dependencies from private forks
Cargo.toml pulls more than a dozen building blocks from the maintainers' own GitHub forks instead of the Rust package registry (`rdev`, `arboard`, `clipboard-master`, `cpal`, `evdev`, `kcp-sys`, `magnum-opus`, `parity-tokio-ipc`, `tao`, `wallpaper.rs` and others, all under github.com/rustdesk-org), and the build steps tell you to download a `libsciter` library straight from a third-party repository.
AI review
Infonightly release mixes versions
The release tagged "nightly" is dated 2026-07-10 but contains files named 1.4.9, 1.5.0 and 1.5.1. If you download from that tag you may not get what the name suggests; the normal download is the 1.5.1 release.
AI review

Evidence is shown in its original language.

What Radar could not check

Whether a session is really encrypted end to end, and what the project's relay servers can see or keep
How well it performs on your connection, which decides whether the remote screen feels usable
Whether the Windows and macOS downloads are signed, and whether your system shows a warning
Whether the Linux package for your distribution installs and captures the screen on Wayland
Whether the Android and iPhone apps behave like the desktop ones, which Radar did not check