AnyDesk: when to install it, and when not to
AnyDesk is a free-for-personal-use remote desktop client known for low latency and a small footprint, good for helping family or accessing your own…
The short version
AnyDesk: The one to install when you are talking a relative through a problem on their machine and cannot be there. Fast, works through most home routers without configuration, and free for personal use. Commercial use needs a licence.
| Licence / price | Free for personal use |
|---|---|
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS |
| Category | Network & Remote — 6 programs |
| Official download | https://anydesk.com/en/downloads ↗ |
What it is for
AnyDesk is a free-for-personal-use remote desktop client known for low latency and a small footprint, good for helping family or accessing your own machine from elsewhere. It works through most networks without fiddly router setup.
When to pick something else
The free tier is personal use only, so business support needs a licence, and exposing a machine to remote access demands a strong password and two-factor where offered. It is a remote window, not a file-sync or VPN, despite overlapping uses.
How it compares in Network & Remote
These are the alternatives we would consider for the same job. The notes are the same ones used on the main list, so there is no separate ranking hiding on this page.
| Program | Licence / price | Platforms | Why it is on the list |
|---|---|---|---|
| RustDesk Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Open source | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS | Remote desktop support that you can point at your own relay server instead of someone else's cloud, so the session never leaves infrastructure you control. The honest free alternative to the commercial tools in this section. |
| Tailscale Publisher's site ↗ | Free + paid tiers | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS | Builds a private network between your own devices in about two minutes, with no ports to forward and no firewall rules to write. The free tier covers personal use. Use it to reach your home server from anywhere as if you were sitting next to it. |
| FileZilla Client Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Open source | Windows, macOS, Linux | The long-standing FTP and SFTP client, with a two-pane queue, saved sites and resume support. Download it directly from the project page and decline any offer to install bundled extras on the way through. |
| qBittorrent Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Open source | Windows, macOS, Linux | A BitTorrent client with no advertising, no bundled software and no cryptocurrency miner, which is more than can be said for the better-known alternatives. Use it for legal distributions: Linux images, public-domain media, game patches. |
| Wireshark Publisher's site ↗ | Free · Open source | Windows, macOS, Linux | Captures and decodes network traffic so you can see what a program actually sends. The tool you reach for when something is phoning home and you want proof rather than suspicion. Deep, and worth reading the manual before you point it at a real network. |
Practical notes
- Set a strong unattended password; do not leave easy access open.
- End sessions you are not using.
- Prefer it over dubious clones; use the official client only.
Questions people ask
Is AnyDesk free?
Free for personal use; commercial use requires a licence.
Is it safe?
As safe as your password and settings; treat remote access like a key to the machine.
Do I need to open ports?
Usually no; it negotiates through the relay, which is the convenience.
Where it appears in our guides
See the full Network & Remote explainer for the other 5 programs in this category.
How to read this page. How to read this page. Platform, licence and publisher details come from our directory data. Where an independent review, audit or survey is mentioned, it is summarised in our own words with the source named and linked; our /sources page sets out that policy. The recommendation, the trade-offs and every 'skip it if' line are our editorial judgement. We do not run benchmarks, publish measured performance figures or host installers, and every download link goes to the publisher's own site. If a detail is out of date, our About page explains how to tell us.