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Best open source remote desktop tools (AnyDesk and TeamViewer alternatives)

To reach your computers remotely, the best self-hosted picks are MeshCentral for remote desktop and support, Termix for SSH from the browser and Warpgate for secure access to servers. Each pick was chosen by hand for its job from apps whose own description or topics match it, and is shown with GitHub data from October 2026.

Two apps in the catalog are full remote desktop tools: MeshCentral manages and controls computers through your own web server, and Guacamole is a clientless gateway for VNC and RDP in the browser. The other sections cover browser SSH terminals and secure access gateways for servers.

Updated · data from GitHub, refreshed nightly

Top picks

  1. Rank 1:

    MeshCentral

    Ylianst/MeshCentral

    Run your own web server to remotely manage and control computers on a local network or anywhere on the internet.

    Remote AccessHTML

    MeshCentral has 7,345 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license and had 455 commits in the last year; it replaces TeamViewer and AnyDesk.

  2. Rank 2:

    Guacamole

    apache/guacamole-server

    Clientless remote desktop gateway supporting standard protocols like VNC and RDP.

    Remote AccessC

    Guacamole has 3,998 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license and had 222 commits in the last year; it replaces TeamViewer and AnyDesk.

1 of 3 · 2 picks

Remote desktop and remote support

  1. 1

    MeshCentral

    Run your own web server to remotely manage and control computers on a local network or anywhere on the internet.

    MeshCentral has 7,345 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license and had 455 commits in the last year; it replaces TeamViewer and AnyDesk.

  2. 2

    Guacamole

    Clientless remote desktop gateway supporting standard protocols like VNC and RDP.

    Guacamole has 3,998 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license and had 222 commits in the last year; it replaces TeamViewer and AnyDesk.

2 of 3 · 3 picks

Browser-based SSH and terminals

  1. 1

    Termix

    Clientless web-based server management platform with SSH terminal, tunneling, and file editing capabilities.

    Termix has 15,340 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 186 commits in the last year.

  2. 2

    Sshwifty

    Sshwifty is a SSH and Telnet connector made for the Web.

    Sshwifty has 3,129 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 49 commits in the last year.

  3. 3

    ShellHub

    Modern SSH server for remotely accessing linux devices via command line (using any SSH client) or web-based user interface (alternative to sshd).

    ShellHub has 2,066 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 2,625 commits in the last year.

3 of 3 · 3 picks

Secure access gateways

  1. 1

    Warpgate

    Fully transparent SSH, HTTPS, Kubernetes, MySQL and Postgres bastion/PAM that doesn't need additional client-side software.

    Warpgate has 8,013 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 884 commits in the last year; it replaces TeamViewer and AnyDesk.

  2. 2

    Firezone

    Secure remote access gateway that supports the WireGuard protocol. It offers a Web GUI, 1-line install script, multi-factor auth (MFA), and SSO.

    Firezone has 9,108 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 3,510 commits in the last year; it replaces Tailscale.

  3. 3

    Pangolin

    Identity-aware tunneled reverse proxy with dashboard UI, access control, and WireGuard-based tunnels (alternative to Cloudflare Tunnel, Tailscale).

    Pangolin has 23,015 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 5,364 commits in the last year; it replaces ngrok and Tailscale.

FAQ

Questions and answers

Still curious? Email info@appsgit.com.

What is the best open source alternative to AnyDesk and TeamViewer?

To reach your computers remotely, the best self-hosted picks are MeshCentral for remote desktop and support, Termix for SSH from the browser and Warpgate for secure access to servers. Each pick was chosen by hand for its job from apps whose own description or topics match it, and is shown with GitHub data from October 2026.

Is there a self-hosted TeamViewer or AnyDesk alternative?

MeshCentral describes itself as running your own web server to remotely manage and control computers, and Guacamole is a clientless remote desktop gateway for VNC and RDP. Both run on your own server, so sessions do not go through a vendor's relay.

Is it safe to expose remote desktop to the internet?

Only behind strong authentication and current patches. Put the gateway behind HTTPS with multi-factor login, or reach it through a VPN or access gateway such as Firezone or Pangolin rather than opening RDP or VNC ports directly.

Is MeshCentral free?

Yes. MeshCentral is open-source software released under the Apache-2.0 license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.

Can I run this stack with Docker?

6 of the 8 apps here publish Docker images, including Termix, Sshwifty and ShellHub, so most of the stack can run side by side with Docker Compose on one server. Size the server for the heaviest app and add off-site backups.

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