There are several remote desktop tools available on the market today, which can make it difficult to choose the one best suited to your company’s individual needs. Although Splashtop is a very popular remote access tool with a global customer base, it isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution and you may find another tool is better able to satisfy your unique requirements.
To help you choose between the plethora of solutions providing remote support capabilities, this guide reviews some of the best remote computer solutions available on the market. This review will compare key features, user-friendliness, suitability for business use, scalability, and affordability, with a focus on helping you identify a suitable alternative to Splashtop.
If you don’t have time to read the full guide, here is a brief overview of our conclusions. SolarWinds® Dameware® Remote Support (DRS) ranks highest as an alternative to Splashtop because we believe it delivers a remote access solution designed to be highly secure as well as versatile, dependable, and user-friendly. We feel SolarWinds is well-known among administrators and IT professionals for being reliable, consistent, and for providing ample customer support routes. We found DRS to be a suitable Splashtop alternative for Linux, Windows, and macOS X devices. For companies that prefer cloud-based remote control, we think SolarWinds Dameware Remote Everywhere (DRE) delivers high performance and offers a similar scope of features.
Best Alternative to Splashtop
With so many remote desktop tools to choose from, finding the right alternative to Splashtop for your company can be time-consuming and frustrating. To help you make the right decision, here’s our list of the best Splashtop remote support alternatives, with the pros and cons of each.
1. SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)
SolarWinds DRS offers a more specialized alternative to Splashtop, with a greater range of capabilities. Like Splashtop, this real-time solution delivers support for many major platforms, including macOS X, Windows, and Linux. This means DRS can support a wide range of business hardware, allowing you to connect with computers, laptops, and servers from within a centralized and easy-to-use console. With DRS, you can launch remote sessions across the internet, enabling access to LAN devices from anywhere with an internet connection, and at any time.
Although Splashtop provides a mobile app for users to access and control unattended machines from most devices, we feel it doesn’t offer the same range of functionality as the DRS mobile application. DRS’s advanced mobile capabilities let you connect with network machines from your Android or iOS devices entirely remotely, which is ideal for administrators and IT professionals who regularly travel off-site. With the user-friendly Dameware mobile application, you can deliver remote support services anytime, from anywhere in the world.
Both Splashtop and DRS provide enterprise-grade security, with support for multi-factor authentication, 256-bit AES encryption, and TLS to protect data and file transfer activities. These security features can be extended by Splashtop and DRS’s range of integrations. For example, Splashtop cloud services are hosted by Amazon Web Services, which is secured by encryption, firewalls, and DDoS protection.
Similarly, DRS can be integrated with Dameware Mini Remote Control (MRC), which provides extensive encryption and security capabilities. This includes the option to restrict access using IP filtering, group membership, a shared secret key, and the ability to force encryption for connections. We feel the impressive range of security features provided by this integration helps set DRS apart.
Additionally, we think one of this tool’s most useful utilities lets you connect remotely with out-of-band and unresponsive machines, with Wake-on-LAN, KVM support, and Intel vPro with AMT. Although Splashtop supports Wake-on-LAN, it doesn’t offer the same range of options when it comes to connecting with unresponsive computers.
We found the DRS console to be intuitive and easy-to-use. This centralized interface lets you manage the whole of your Dameware environment and infrastructure, in addition to permissions and accounts, all from one location. However, DRS was made for enterprise-grade use, so it may not be suitable for non-business, personal purposes, such as fixing IT issues for family members and friends. Moreover, this on-premises tool might not be the best fit if you want to migrate your business tools to the cloud.
Since both DRS and Splashtop are designed for high-level, advanced business use, we found they share many similarities. However, a key difference between these solutions that we found is DRS offers a greater range of specialist features, such as multiple options for accessing out-of-band and unresponsive devices. Overall, we think SolarWinds DRS is the best alternative to Splashtop available on the market. You can access a 14-day free trial here.
Pros:
- Intuitive mobile application with full functionality
- Multiple options for connecting with out-of-band and unresponsive devices
- Multi-factor authentication and 256-bit AES encryption
Cons:
- Not best-suited to non-business, personal use
- Only on-premises
2. SolarWinds Dameware Remote Everywhere (DRE)
Splashtop offers both cloud and on-premises deployment options. Although DRS serves as an effective on-premises alternative to Splashtop, we believe SolarWinds DRE provides a more suitable cloud-based alternative to Splashtop. DRE is a lightweight, cloud-based remote desktop solution users can access from anywhere they have steady connection to the internet. This tool typically allows you to connect to workstations in less than eight seconds, enabling you to launch remote control sessions efficiently and rapidly.
Although cloud-based solutions often raise security concerns for IT professionals, we found DRE’s range of advanced security features help ensure this won’t be a source of worry for users. As in Splashtop, DRE uses advanced 256-bit AES encryption and support for multi-factor authentication to help ensure optimal security levels without negatively impacting performance or productivity. DRE also includes a “Secret Vaults” feature, which you can locate by visiting the “Management” tab. Here, you can add sensitive data and change and recover passwords in just a few clicks.
We believe DRE can also save administrators and IT professionals time and improve productivity by displaying key information at the start of each remote support session. Key information includes updates, event logs, BIOS, device details, and pertinent system info. With this information at your disposal, you can solve problems without delay.
Like Splashtop, DRE lets you record active sessions, which can provide you with invaluable, long-term insight that’s likely to prove useful in future sessions. While Splashtop saves your recordings to your local computer, DRE automatically saves recordings to your cloud platform. This minimizes the chance of your recordings getting deleted or lost. DRE also lets you take screenshots of sessions.
Having access to suitable reporting capabilities plays a crucial part in delivering successful and efficient remote monitoring support. We found the reporting features in Splashtop to be more limited than DRE’s, which give you insight into performance metrics for support technicians, customer survey overviews, and detailed session info. DRE displays data visually in the form of graphs and charts, where appropriate, for ease of interpretation.
We believe a key difference between Splashtop and DRE is DRE can also incorporate a help desk utility into its offering, enabling users to submit support requests via the dedicated agent. This lightweight help desk can help reduce business costs by eliminating the need for investment in an external help desk solution. With this utility, support tickets can be assigned in just a few clicks, and the support technician can add comments as appropriate.
Both Splashtop and DRE provide a range of features designed to enable instant correspondence between the end user and support technicians during active remote control sessions. For instance, Splashtop and DRE both support live chat, allowing technicians and customers to correspond directly either in-session or pre-session. DRE also lets you conduct video calls and VoIP calls, letting you communicate without needing to disrupt remote sessions. Chats are automatically saved to cloud-based session logs, so they can be referred to in future.
With its support for session recording and screenshots, quick connection speeds, versatile reporting engine, and lightweight help desk ticketing system, we feel SolarWinds DRE provides an all-in-one solution for remote access that makes it among the best alternatives to Splashtop. However, if your company already has a ticketing tool and you are only wanting to implement a standard remote access solution, DRE may not be right for your company. A 14-day free trial of DRE is available for download here.
Pros:
- VoIP call and video call options
- Recordings of session saved to the cloud automatically
- Ability to take screenshots of sessions
- Live chat options, both in-session and pre-session
- Built-in ticketing system
Cons:
- May not be suited to companies that already have a help desk solution
3. TeamViewer
TeamViewer is another popular Splashtop alternative, Android and iOS compatible, often used for non-business, personal use. This affordable tool might be used, for example, to help family or friends resolve personal IT issues. To set up TeamViewer, you just need to download the program from the TeamViewer website and complete the installation process. TeamViewer can also be set up without any installation. We found Splashtop, on the other hand, has a longer setup process. Once setup is complete, you will have to download the program on both devices you want to connect. This is similar to the Splashtop process, which requires you to install the Splashtop application on both devices. During the TeamViewer installation, you have the option of setting the tool up to support unattended remote support sessions.
With TeamViewer, we found it easy to establish secure and rapid remote connections to numerous devices. If TeamViewer is being used ad hoc, simply run the app and use the controlling machine to log in and establish the connection, enabling you to control the other machine and screen share. TeamViewer is implemented as a server and a client, so it can be used to gain control or authorize control of a machine.
Other key TeamViewer features include support for launching several remote sessions simultaneously as browser tabs. You are also able to copy and paste, using your clipboard, to move information from one machine to another, for added convenience. Transferring files is equally simple, with the TeamViewer drag-and-drop utility. We think TeamViewer is very easy to use, requiring no experience or training, and is especially suited to non-business, personal use but can also be leveraged in corporate environments. TeamViewer is cost-effective, scalable, and offers support for all popular operating systems, across mobile devices and desktop. Like Splashtop, TeamViewer features also include support for video and audio calls, live chat, and file sharing.
However, we believe a fallback of this program is its enterprise edition might be considered expensive. We found another disadvantage is some TeamViewer users complain of low image quality. If you would like to try TeamViewer for yourself, a 14-day free trial is available.
Pros:
- Suited to business and personal use
- Supports the launch of simultaneous sessions in different browser tabs
- Support for file transfers
- Live chat functionality
Cons:
- High price
- Image quality is reportedly low
4. VNC Connect
VNC Connect, a free and open-source alternative to Splashtop, is frequently updated to accommodate the changing needs and expectations of users. VNC Connect even introduced support for HD audio, which creates a significantly more immersive remote access experience, because users requested it. We found the influence VNC’s community of loyal users has had over the VNC Connect solution is a notable advantage.
This tool is highly flexible, offering an array of options and customizations, so you can leverage the solution in the way best suited to your requirements and preferences. VNC Connect is a versatile tool with support for attended and unattended remote access, cloud and direct connectivity, pre-installation, and on-demand connections. We believe one of the most notable strengths of VNC Connect is the impressive number of options it provides, which allow you to make this solution your own. Like Splashtop, VNC Connect features live chat and file transfer capabilities.
VNC Connect and Splashtop offer a similar level of security, with VNC Connect providing support for granular access options and controls, as well as AES 256-bit encryption. We found this tool to be easy to use and deploy, making it well-suited to people who don’t have former experience with remote control and access activities. We think another notable benefit of this tool is its affordability—the price plan is subscription-based, allowing you to establish connections across your ecosystem with minimal cost. We believe VNC Connect does not, however, offer as many features as some of its competitors, including Splashtop. You can access a 30-day free trial here.
Pros:
- Suitable for beginners
- Support for file transfers
- Live chat capabilities
Cons:
- Limited range of capabilities
5. Zoho Assist
Zoho Assist, a Splashtop alternative for Linux, macOS X, and Windows, lets you provide remote assistance to end users on-demand. When we think of Zoho as a software provider, we feel it’s most well-known for its ticketing tools, and its specialization in this particular area has made a clear contribution to its remote access software.
Zoho Assist delivers a powerful range of capabilities, such as integration with a sophisticated help desk solution, comprehensive session reports, multi-monitor support, file transfer, live chat, screen sharing, support for simultaneous sessions, and more. We feel Zoho Assist is an especially versatile solution that centralizes remote control and access, increasing the productivity of support technicians and improving the efficiency of remote support activities. With its web-based console, Zoho Assist enables technicians to deliver remote assistance from anywhere in the world, while AES 256-bit encryption and multi-factor authentication helps ensure your remote sessions are secure.
We believe one of the best features in Zoho Assist is its impressive file transfer utility, which lets you send large files (maximum 2GB) between remote machines across distinct networks. As in Splashtop, Zoho Assist includes support for workstations with multiple monitors, enabling you to view different monitors in one or two clicks.
With Zoho Assist, you can benefit from ample support, which is available 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. While we found Splashtop users report wait time for support can be lengthy, Zoho Assist is well-known for providing prompt support. You can access this support via phone, instant chat, or email. However, since Zoho Assist includes help desk features, we believe it may not be best suited to companies that already have an established help desk. You can access a free trial of Zoho Assist here.
Pros:
- Multiple support options
- Transfer files up to a maximum of 2GB in size
- Support for multiple monitor workstations
Cons:
- Ticketing capabilities may not be useful to some users
6. LogMeIn Central
LogMeIn Central is a powerful remote monitoring and management tool wit enterprise-grade remote access capabilities. We found this tool to be a highly reliable remote monitoring and management solution that provides users with fast and secure remote access, detailed actionable reports, critical path management utilities, and IT automation to improve productivity and reduce costs.
We think LogMeIn Central is a unique solution offering several add-ons, which users can leverage to extend the capabilities of the solution. Users can start with a LogMeIn Central Base Plan, which includes essential features like user and device management, file sharing, deployment, and much more. They can then add custom LogMeIn modules—such as the Security model—to extend the solution’s scope of functionality. We found this ability to customize the tool to suit your business’ individual needs is not something Splashtop offers, although it can be expensive if you choose to extend beyond the base plan.
LogMeIn Central includes core add-on modules, including the Security module, Automation module, and Insight module. We believe each of these brings impressive new functionalities to the table. The Security module, for example, includes critical patch management utilities for Windows and third-party application updates, antivirus software powered by Bitdefender, and antivirus management. The Automation module is especially useful, allowing you to automate routine tasks to save your team time and labor, customize real-time self-healing and proactive alerts on endpoint and system status, and manage alerts by assigning them to certain machines.
Lastly, the Insight module allows you to easily share account and usage activity, including virus threats, operating system type, remote control sessions, alerts, Windows updates, disk space status, and much more. You can even use this module to conduct inventory and computer audits, enabling you to monitor system inventory and endpoint inventory over time.
There are some key differences between LogMeIn Central and Splashtop worth noting. We found while Splashtop is best suited to use across a handful of computers, LogMeIn can scale efficiently and easily across many more devices. However, we think Splashtop is generally less expensive per install than LogMeIn Central. A 14-day free trial is available.
Pros:
- Highly customizable
- Advanced security features
- Advanced alerts system
Cons:
- Expensive
- Not especially scalable
7. Goverlan Reach
Lastly, we have Goverlan Reach, a remote desktop solution we feel can help you complete an array of tasks and activities with minimal intervention required. With this tool, you can unlock accounts, add printers, install drivers and devices, reset passwords, run and end processes, reset passwords, monitor performance, and more.
Goverlan Reach enables you to provide remote support without needing to disturb user activity. This tool operates in a behind-the-scenes manner, allowing technicians to control, query, and manage workstations without taking control over the device unless it is completely necessary. In this sense, we found Goverlan Reach to be different from Splashtop, because it approaches remote control activities as a final option, should other attempts to rectify the issue be unsuccessful.
When remote connections are necessary and unavoidable, this tool lets you simultaneously view several systems from within one console. You can also proactively monitor metrics—such as CPU, disk, memory, and network activity—to pinpoint the cause of performance problems.
With Goverlan Reach, you can deliver support on-demand across the internet, at any time and from anywhere. Although reasonably advanced, we think this tool could be more user-friendly, as it comes with a steep learning curve. You can try a 15-day free trial here.
Pros:
- Proactively monitors a range of metrics
- Allows you to view multiple systems
Cons:
- Could be more user-friendly
Choosing a Splashtop Alternative
As this comparison has demonstrated, many Splashtop alternatives are available, each with pros and cons. If your business is hoping to implement a solution that’s enterprise-grade, safe, well-supported, and dependable, we recommend choosing SolarWinds DRS or the cloud-based alternative SolarWinds DRE. You can download your DRS free trial here and your DRE free trial here.
* As of December 18, 2020