{"slug": "rustdesk", "name": "RustDesk", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 11, "warners": 4, "score": 0.577, "rising": 1.35, "first": "2026-01-04", "latest": "2026-08-15", "why": "rustdesk[0] works pretty well for casual use despite wayland support being labelled experimental", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 2, "compare": 1, "warn": 4}, "spark": [0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 2, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "rustdesk[0] works pretty well for casual use despite wayland support being labelled experimental", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": "github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk", "official_url": "https://rustdesk.com", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["RustDesk"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 788937776, "item_id": 49308611, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49308611", "by": "maxlin", "date": "2026-08-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Rustdesk has been a nice alternative/replacement for Anydesk", "excerpt": "Rustdesk has been a nice alternative/replacement for Anydesk, I use both 10+ times a day. Was having issues getting any remote desktop working yesterday with my Orange Pi 5, so good to see this very issue being solved. It does sound like Wayland has some design issues in how difficult this has been though. If a piece of software needs to do this, it shouldn't be so obnoxiously difficult, as I've heard this is a major", "context": "", "use_case": "remote desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "RustDesk now supports true unattended remote access on Wayland"}, {"id": 788899728, "item_id": 49306233, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49306233", "by": "j_aime", "date": "2026-08-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Rustdesk all the time.", "excerpt": "Unfortunately, no, it's not working. I use Rustdesk all the time. I've found a way, but it's really stupid. I have a GL.iNet Comet to manage my headless machine. That unit supports microphone passthrough. I send my mac's mic through that to ubuntu. It's an awful solution hah, but it works. I'm able to use dictation through that on Ubuntu. I didn't buy the comet specifically for mic use. I found out after the fact tha", "context": "", "use_case": "remote access", "switched_from": "", "story": "RustDesk now supports true unattended remote access on Wayland"}, {"id": 788899088, "item_id": 49306193, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49306193", "by": "j_aime", "date": "2026-08-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using rustdesk for years. I love it.", "excerpt": "I've been using rustdesk for years. I love it.", "context": "", "use_case": "remote access", "switched_from": "", "story": "RustDesk now supports true unattended remote access on Wayland"}, {"id": 776321504, "item_id": 48520094, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48520094", "by": "sgt", "date": "2026-06-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Ah, I love rustdesk.", "excerpt": "Ah, I love rustdesk. I didn't know it was Flutter based. Only minor complaint about Rustdesk is that when you send the official link to people, they are frightened by a big scary \"Scammer\" alert[1]. To you and me, we immediately understand its actual purpose, but to non technical folks they hesitate to click it. I've seen this too many times. [1] https://github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk/releases", "context": "", "use_case": "remote desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "The state of building user interfaces in Rust"}, {"id": 743794016, "item_id": 46487126, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46487126", "by": "yosamino", "date": "2026-01-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "rustdesk[0] works pretty well for casual use despite wayland support being labelled experimental", "excerpt": "I've had a similar issue recently and I found that rustdesk[0] works pretty well for casual use despite wayland support being labelled experimental. I use it for pair programming with someone on multiple monitors while I'm on a laptop and all the switching and zooming required worked. [0] https://rustdesk.com/", "context": "", "use_case": "remote desktop pair programming", "switched_from": "", "story": "Can I start using Wayland in 2026?"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 788970865, "item_id": 49310679, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49310679", "by": "diego_moita", "date": "2026-08-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "So I used both applications and TightVNC is just a lot better, particularly in constrained remote VMs.", "excerpt": "> I have three words for you: read the docs. No, thanks. As they say: \"the proof of the pudding is in the eating\". So I used both applications and TightVNC is just a lot better, particularly in constrained remote VMs. Docs are cheap, performance is what matters.", "context": "", "use_case": "remote desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "RustDesk now supports true unattended remote access on Wayland"}, {"id": 788834160, "item_id": 49302135, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49302135", "by": "inktype", "date": "2026-08-14", "stance": "warn", "quote": "RustDesk still does not support encrypted connections when self hosting", "excerpt": "RustDesk still does not support encrypted connections when self hosting: https://github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk/issues/3714", "context": "", "use_case": "self-hosted remote access", "switched_from": "", "story": "RustDesk now supports true unattended remote access on Wayland"}, {"id": 788821136, "item_id": 49301321, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49301321", "by": "LoganDark", "date": "2026-08-14", "stance": "warn", "quote": "RustDesk should fix their password requirements", "excerpt": "RustDesk should fix their password requirements: https://github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk/discussions/2888", "context": "", "use_case": "remote access", "switched_from": "", "story": "RustDesk now supports true unattended remote access on Wayland"}, {"id": 776578352, "item_id": 48536147, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48536147", "by": "keithnz", "date": "2026-06-14", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I used RustDesk a lot in windows.  But it doesn't really work well in linux with wayland.", "excerpt": "a lot of the compatibility stuff on Linux runs windows software, so that's usually not a huge blocker. Having recently switched to Linux as my main (used to run it in a VM) the real issues are all these things that don't quite work out of the box (different distros might get different results). For instance my audio when playing dota2 would randomly cut out and not return when using discord. It took a bunch of fiddli", "context": "recently switched to Linux", "use_case": "remote desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything"}]}], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["remote desktop", "remote access", "self-hosted remote access", "remote desktop from phone", "remote desktop pair programming"], "compared": [{"slug": "vnc", "name": "VNC", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49300759", "title": "RustDesk now supports true unattended remote access on Wayland", "mentions": 7}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48533101", "title": "Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48479008", "title": "The state of building user interfaces in Rust", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47686549", "title": "Veracrypt Project Update", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46517458", "title": "Stop Doom Scrolling, Start Doom Coding: Build via the terminal from your phone", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46485989", "title": "Can I start using Wayland in 2026?", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 1, "warn": 1}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"warn": 3, "compare": 1, "recommend": 2}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 788970865, "item_id": 49310679, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49310679", "by": "diego_moita", "date": "2026-08-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "So I used both applications and TightVNC is just a lot better, particularly in constrained remote VMs.", "excerpt": "> I have three words for you: read the docs. No, thanks. As they say: \"the proof of the pudding is in the eating\". So I used both applications and TightVNC is just a lot better, particularly in constrained remote VMs. Docs are cheap, performance is what matters.", "context": "", "use_case": "remote desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "RustDesk now supports true unattended remote access on Wayland"}, {"id": 788937776, "item_id": 49308611, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49308611", "by": "maxlin", "date": "2026-08-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Rustdesk has been a nice alternative/replacement for Anydesk", "excerpt": "Rustdesk has been a nice alternative/replacement for Anydesk, I use both 10+ times a day. Was having issues getting any remote desktop working yesterday with my Orange Pi 5, so good to see this very issue being solved. It does sound like Wayland has some design issues in how difficult this has been though. If a piece of software needs to do this, it shouldn't be so obnoxiously difficult, as I've heard this is a major", "context": "", "use_case": "remote desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "RustDesk now supports true unattended remote access on Wayland"}, {"id": 788899728, "item_id": 49306233, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49306233", "by": "j_aime", "date": "2026-08-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Rustdesk all the time.", "excerpt": "Unfortunately, no, it's not working. I use Rustdesk all the time. I've found a way, but it's really stupid. I have a GL.iNet Comet to manage my headless machine. That unit supports microphone passthrough. I send my mac's mic through that to ubuntu. It's an awful solution hah, but it works. I'm able to use dictation through that on Ubuntu. I didn't buy the comet specifically for mic use. I found out after the fact tha", "context": "", "use_case": "remote access", "switched_from": "", "story": "RustDesk now supports true unattended remote access on Wayland"}, {"id": 788899088, "item_id": 49306193, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49306193", "by": "j_aime", "date": "2026-08-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using rustdesk for years. I love it.", "excerpt": "I've been using rustdesk for years. I love it.", "context": "", "use_case": "remote access", "switched_from": "", "story": "RustDesk now supports true unattended remote access on Wayland"}, {"id": 788843218, "item_id": 49302701, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49302701", "by": "SubiculumCode", "date": "2026-08-14", "stance": "compare", "quote": "So, RustDesk..what do you need to wrap it in? ssh?", "excerpt": "I think you bring up a fine point. Most applications have encryption built in and transparent to the user. While technical IT people in charge of infrastructure will not make this assumption, it is not unreasonable, at the same time, for small business / individual users, to not understand or know of this limitation. VNC does not, for example, and you need to set up port forwarding through ssh. X2Go does....but I don", "context": "uses hardware accelerated apps with VGL", "use_case": "remote desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "RustDesk now supports true unattended remote access on Wayland"}, {"id": 788834160, "item_id": 49302135, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49302135", "by": "inktype", "date": "2026-08-14", "stance": "warn", "quote": "RustDesk still does not support encrypted connections when self hosting", "excerpt": "RustDesk still does not support encrypted connections when self hosting: https://github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk/issues/3714", "context": "", "use_case": "self-hosted remote access", "switched_from": "", "story": "RustDesk now supports true unattended remote access on Wayland"}, {"id": 788821136, "item_id": 49301321, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49301321", "by": "LoganDark", "date": "2026-08-14", "stance": "warn", "quote": "RustDesk should fix their password requirements", "excerpt": "RustDesk should fix their password requirements: https://github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk/discussions/2888", "context": "", "use_case": "remote access", "switched_from": "", "story": "RustDesk now supports true unattended remote access on Wayland"}, {"id": 776578352, "item_id": 48536147, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48536147", "by": "keithnz", "date": "2026-06-14", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I used RustDesk a lot in windows.  But it doesn't really work well in linux with wayland.", "excerpt": "a lot of the compatibility stuff on Linux runs windows software, so that's usually not a huge blocker. Having recently switched to Linux as my main (used to run it in a VM) the real issues are all these things that don't quite work out of the box (different distros might get different results). For instance my audio when playing dota2 would randomly cut out and not return when using discord. It took a bunch of fiddli", "context": "recently switched to Linux", "use_case": "remote desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything"}, {"id": 776321504, "item_id": 48520094, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48520094", "by": "sgt", "date": "2026-06-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Ah, I love rustdesk.", "excerpt": "Ah, I love rustdesk. I didn't know it was Flutter based. Only minor complaint about Rustdesk is that when you send the official link to people, they are frightened by a big scary \"Scammer\" alert[1]. To you and me, we immediately understand its actual purpose, but to non technical folks they hesitate to click it. I've seen this too many times. [1] https://github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk/releases", "context": "", "use_case": "remote desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "The state of building user interfaces in Rust"}, {"id": 763139152, "item_id": 47696197, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47696197", "by": "wolrah", "date": "2026-04-08", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "RustDesk has recently been removed from the official WinGet community repository because their automated scans have been blocking updates", "excerpt": "Not exactly the same situation, but RustDesk has recently been removed from the official WinGet community repository because their automated scans have been blocking updates since v1.4.2 in September 2025. https://github.com/rustdesk/rustdesk/discussions/13025 https://github.com/microsoft/winget-pkgs/pull/345601 tl;dr: ESET Antivirus flags RustDesk as a \"Potentially Unsafe Application\" because it is a remote administ", "context": "", "use_case": "remote desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "Veracrypt Project Update"}, {"id": 744362993, "item_id": 46522687, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46522687", "by": "mintflow", "date": "2026-01-06", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Sometimes I use tailscale and RustDesk on my phone to check Claude code", "excerpt": "Tailscale is quite handy in remote agent coding, Sometimes I use tailscale and RustDesk on my phone to check Claude code, I also built an app called NovaAccess which bake tailscale into the app which does not confict of VPN I used.", "context": "", "use_case": "remote desktop from phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stop Doom Scrolling, Start Doom Coding: Build via the terminal from your phone"}, {"id": 743794016, "item_id": 46487126, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46487126", "by": "yosamino", "date": "2026-01-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "rustdesk[0] works pretty well for casual use despite wayland support being labelled experimental", "excerpt": "I've had a similar issue recently and I found that rustdesk[0] works pretty well for casual use despite wayland support being labelled experimental. I use it for pair programming with someone on multiple monitors while I'm on a laptop and all the switching and zooming required worked. [0] https://rustdesk.com/", "context": "", "use_case": "remote desktop pair programming", "switched_from": "", "story": "Can I start using Wayland in 2026?"}]}