Remote Desktop Software

[DalekSec]

Morning All,

 

Looking software for removing around our end user devices, we currently use Quick assist but we now have a growing Mac user base along with it being very temperamental.

 

We have 350 users and around 200 devices.

 

Remote Help works out at a few grand, Teamviewer is slightly cheaper but still quite a lot!

Fully cloud based so SCCM is out the question also... What does everyone else use?

 

 

[NegativeKillDeath]

Would AnyDesk fit the bill?  

[DalekSec]

Just looked into it and does seem more reasonably priced! Never used it before

[Olliedawg]

Action1? Free for 200 devices

[TheHyperTechie]

Action1 offer a remote desktop feature as part of their RMM.

 

Might not include all the features you require though... however if you are under 200 endpoints, it would be free.

[network41]

Chrome Remote Desktop

[Jaan]

https://www.helpwire.app/remote-control/

 

i've got my eye on this. just waiting for some of the stuff to become available on their road map

[MatthewL]

Do you have a MDM solution for your devices? Manage Engine Desktop central/endpoint central has remote access as part of this plus many other things such as patch management.

[Fazza]

Action1 is free for the first 200 endpoints if that's any use to you?  It does a whole lot more than just Remote Desktop you can even ensure that any outstanding Windows Updates are installed from their central console.

[TechMonkey]

We use Screen Connect from ConnectWise, you pay per concurrent connection so you could buy one per tech or share one if you know they are unlikely to be on a support call at the same time.

Well worth it and served us very well over COVID supporting teachers (and parents) at home using personal devices.

[GeneMoody-Action1]

Thanks all to those mentioning Action1, I patrol around online forums, helping where I can with Action1 and with things not Action1.

I am not sales, I am the Field CTO, so I do not entertain pricing related discussions, but I can say we do have educational pricing models. 
And of course as mentioned, our first 200 endpoints are free, zero monetization, zero data scraping free patch management , so you really can just be up and using it in 5 minutes deciding for yourself if it is what you need.

If there is anything I can assist with, reach out to me any time.

[DalekSec]

Cheers all, testing out Action1 now Just having to wait the 1-3 days to confirm my email before i can test the remote desktop!

[jmak]

RustDesk could be another free option if you can self-host

[drutt]

We used AnyDesk during Covid but I got tired of the constant dropouts, tested RustDesk which was not bad, just a little tedious to setup at the time. 

 

We currently use Supremo https://www.supremocontrol.com/ and it's pretty much been perfect, it'll kick you off if you do anything with elevated permissions for a minute or so but otherwise it has made remoting into clients very easy.

Edited April 8, 2025 by cnewstead

[thimon]

We use PDQ Connect’s remote tool. Mac support is coming soon, so hopefully remote access will work with them too. 

[GeneMoody-Action1]

15 hours ago, DalekSec said:

Cheers all, testing out Action1 now Just having to wait the 1-3 days to confirm my email before i can test the remote desktop!

 

Here if you need me, ask me anything. 
I am the same one that mans reddit, and a bunch of other outlets.

[calapso]

On 08/04/2025 at 00:39, GeneMoody-Action1 said:

Thanks all to those mentioning Action1, I patrol around online forums, helping where I can with Action1 and with things not Action1.

I am not sales, I am the Field CTO, so I do not entertain pricing related discussions, but I can say we do have educational pricing models. 
And of course as mentioned, our first 200 endpoints are free, zero monetization, zero data scraping free patch management , so you really can just be up and using it in 5 minutes deciding for yourself if it is what you need.

If there is anything I can assist with, reach out to me any time.

Hi, I signed up for the free version and recently I was asked to verify myself. This entailed goint ti Linkedin etc and get verified and also asked for an ID like passport etc. Really?  Linked in is not an option and I don't particu;lary trust them with my data.  Is there an better way or should i just ditch Action1 and move onto another provider? 

Thank you.

[PotNoodleTech]

Theres absoloutly no way I would ever send my passport to any software provider on behalf of my school.  That's the most rediculous request I've heared.

[calapso]

16 minutes ago, PotNoodleTech said:

Theres absoloutly no way I would ever send my passport to any software provider on behalf of my school.  That's the most rediculous request I've heared.

 Too right!

 

I will look at an alternative.  Any cheap/free suggestions would be welcome.  Just came across ZoHo free version. Not tried it yet. 

[calapso]

On 09/04/2025 at 00:11, GeneMoody-Action1 said:

 

Here if you need me, ask me anything. 
I am the same one that mans reddit, and a bunch of other outlets.

Any war round this verifying and also having verified linked in account etc. I don'y like nor use Linked in. Just want to use your software. 

[altecsole]

Some of our senior staff use Splashtop to connect to their office PCs. Primarily because it handles the connection to multiple monitors, which is hand for staff who may have a multi-monitor setup at home. 

[GeneMoody-Action1]

To everyone frustrated with the LinkedIn-based validation process:
 

That was a temporary measure, put in place urgently. We had credible reports from authorities that multiple instances of our free platform was being misused as command-and-control infrastructure for malicious campaigns, with single threat actors leveraging multiple free accounts created under our older, more relaxed sign-up process.
 

We had no real choice. If we had not acted, endpoint security tools (AV, EDR, XDR, etc.) could have begun flagging our agent as malicious. That would have meant locking millions of legitimate, paying customers out of the systems they rely on. So while the change wasn’t ideal, it was the most effective and immediate way to root out abusers. It was also non-negotiable, we had to stop it, root out the offenders, and hold them back until the situation could be remedied.

A few important clarifications:

• Action1 never requested anyone's personal ID beyond a validated LinkedIn profile. If your experience was different please contact me. LinkedIn was selected solely because it leverages CLEAR, an identity verification provider trusted by TSA and others. Action1 does not receive your personal information from CLEAR or LinkedIn, only a verification token, much like a certificate chain of trust. We consider you validated because we trust the person that validated you.

• We did/do not store your LinkedIn data. It was simply a method to validate authenticity of a person.

We could have taken the easy route, offering the platform freely with no verification. But free users receive the exact same platform as paid customers: same agent, features, codebase, and capabilities. If a free user acts maliciously, it can jeopardize the reputation of the platform for everyone. And with tens of millions of managed endpoints, including those that provide the only remote access to critical infrastructure, we cannot risk paid customer operations for the sake of anonymity in the free tier. That is mildly inconvenient for free users, but we simply cannot.
 

The only cost of the free tier is that it cannot be anonymous. That is a small price to pay to maintain the security and continuity our customers demand. Ask any IT admin who has had an agent flagged because of someone else’s misuse, you’ll find they agree: “We’re paying you; our systems should work regardless of what free users do.” That’s a reasonable expectation, that the only real alternative if no more free. We have NO intention of going that route, in fact as our free offer just doubled again 100Ep->200Ep as of Feb. 4 '25, we expect it to grow, not go away.
 

So What’s next?

We knew LinkedIn would not be our long-term solution. It was a stopgap, one that gave us time to build something better. That’s why we’re currently transitioning to OnFido for identity verification (pending final testing). Like CLEAR, OnFido verifies identity independently, and Action1 never sees or stores the information you provide to them.
 

If LinkedIn isn’t your preferred method, for example, if you keep LinkedIn for personal use, do not or refuse to have one, or any other reason, we’re happy to work with you. All current signs point to OnFido becoming our primary method, LinkedIn will serve as a fallback, and beyond that, our team is ready to help you find another reasonable path if those two are not acceptable, but they will have to verify identity by a real tangible and accurate method.
 

Some users were mistakenly told that LinkedIn was the only way. That was incorrect, and we’ve addressed it internally as well as everywhere we could find it was misrepresented online. Our only goal is to verify that you’re a real person, with real intent to use the platform responsibly. Strong identity verification significantly reduces abuse. And if someone still manages to get through that will malicious intent, we can confidently explain that we upheld rigorous standards.
 

We're a business. We give away a powerful platform for free, and we employ real people to support it, and those peoples jobs/paychecks depend on our company's success.. There have to be limits and guardrails. Identity verification is that guardrail.
 

If you have any questions or concerns, I’m always happy to talk. Just reach out. Here or direct, PM me, send me contact, I will even take a call if you need it. you can locate me on LinkedIn and Reddit as well, we can direct chat it out there and get you helped in a manner we both agree to find acceptable. 

And let me know, anyone, if that leaves ANYTHING unclear.

[LeMarchand]

19 hours ago, calapso said:

Just came across ZoHo free version. Not tried it yet. 

 

I use Zoho free to connect to my 3 sites. The "sure you don't want to upgrade" nag is annoying, but otherwise it seems fine.

[calapso]

Hi @LeMarchand

 

Thank you for the heads up on ZoHo.  

I will give that a try!

 

Kind regards

[Jaan]

I've also never seen ZoHo before. I see there's a education option. But can't see if the limitations such as only 3 accessible unattended PCs are allowed. @LeMarchand How many technicians and unattended PCs to you have connected to your instance?

 

Thanks