OSI-licensed open source
Virtual desktop software delivers a full desktop session to a user's device over the network or browser. Open-source options replace commercial VDI products with building blocks such as VNC and RDP servers, HTML5 gateways and containerised desktops.
This page covers eight projects: gateways (Guacamole, noVNC), servers (TigerVNC, xrdp, KasmVNC), containerised desktops (Webtop) and remote access and management tools (MeshCentral, RustDesk). It is a toolkit rather than a single product, so we note where assembly is needed.
Tools, licences and pricing checked against vendor and repository pages on November 7, 2026.
| Tool | Best for | Pricing | Licence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apache Guacamole | Browser gateway to RDP, VNC and SSH | Free, open source (self-hosted) | Apache-2.0 |
| KasmVNC | Web-based Linux desktops | Free, open source (self-hosted) | GPL-2.0-only |
| noVNC | Embedding a VNC client in web apps | Free, open source (self-hosted) | MPL-2.0 |
| TigerVNC | Classic VNC server and client | Free, open source (self-hosted) | GPL-2.0-only |
| xrdp | RDP access to Linux desktops | Free, open source (self-hosted) | Apache-2.0 |
| Webtop | Quick containerised browser desktops | Free, open source (self-hosted) | GPL-3.0 |
| MeshCentral | Managing and reaching many devices | Free, open source (self-hosted) | Apache-2.0 |
| RustDesk | Self-hosted remote support | Free, open source (self-hosted) | AGPL-3.0 |
Best for: Browser gateway to RDP, VNC and SSH · Free, open source (self-hosted)
Apache Guacamole is a clientless remote desktop gateway; the guacamole-server repository contains the guacd proxy daemon, libguac and protocol support.
Best for: Web-based Linux desktops · Free, open source (self-hosted)
KasmVNC is a modern VNC server and client that is web based and secure.
Best for: Embedding a VNC client in web apps · Free, open source (self-hosted)
noVNC is a VNC client web application and HTML JavaScript library, licensed mainly under MPL 2.0.
Best for: Classic VNC server and client · Free, open source (self-hosted)
TigerVNC is a high-performance, multi-platform VNC client and server.
Best for: RDP access to Linux desktops · Free, open source (self-hosted)
xrdp is an open-source RDP server that provides a graphical login to remote machines.
Best for: Quick containerised browser desktops · Free, open source (self-hosted)
Webtop provides Ubuntu, Alpine, Arch and Fedora based desktop images, delivering Linux in a web browser with popular desktop environments.
Best for: Managing and reaching many devices · Free, open source (self-hosted)
MeshCentral is a web-based remote monitoring and management site that installs agents and starts remote desktop sessions over LAN or internet.
Best for: Self-hosted remote support · Free, open source (self-hosted)
RustDesk is an open-source remote desktop application designed for self-hosting, as an alternative to TeamViewer.
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| If you need… | Start with |
|---|---|
| Browser access to many desktops | Apache Guacamole |
| Quick containerised desktop | Webtop, KasmVNC |
| RDP on Linux | xrdp |
| Remote support and device management | MeshCentral, RustDesk |
| VNC server | TigerVNC |
Quick answers to common questions
There is no single drop-in, but projects like Guacamole, KasmVNC, xrdp and Webtop can be assembled.
They are different remote display protocols. xrdp provides RDP, TigerVNC and KasmVNC provide VNC.
Yes: Guacamole, KasmVNC, noVNC and Webtop support browser access.
It is a remote desktop tool for controlling machines, not a multi-user virtual desktop service.
List it on TechLogHub and we'll review it for this guide.
