head to head · open source
RustDesk vs Mole
RustDesk has 127,925 GitHub stars, 20,252 forks, 147 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Mole has 73,641 stars, 2,611 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped yesterday. RustDesk leads on adoption by 74% (127,925 vs 73,641 stars). RustDesk is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0; Mole is written in Shell under GPL-3.0. RustDesk has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, Mole 4%. Mole was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (macos), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| RustDesk | Mole | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 128K | ★ 74K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Rust | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 20K | ⑂ 2.6K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick RustDesk if
- You weight community size — 128K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Mole if
- You want the Mole feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and Mole fits your workflow better
About RustDesk
Build • Docker • Structure • Screenshots [ Українська ] [ česky ] [ 中文 ] [ Magyar ] [ Español ] [ فارسی ] [ Français ] [ Deutsch ] [ Polski ] [ Indonesian ] [ Suomi ] [ മലയാളം ] [ 日本語 ] [ Nederlands ] [ Italiano ] [ Русский ] [ Português (Brasil) ] [ Esperanto ] [ 한국어 ] [ العربي ] [ Tiếng Việt ] [ Dansk ] [ Ελληνικά ] [ Türkçe ] [ Norsk ] [ Română ] We need your help to translate this README, RustDesk UI and RustDesk Doc to your native language [!Caution] Misuse Disclaimer: The developers of RustDesk do not condone or support any unethical or illegal use of this software. Misuse, such as unauthorized access…
read the full RustDesk overview →
About Mole
Mole 🐹 Clean, uninstall, analyze, optimize, and monitor your Mac. Free open source CLI, plus a native Mac app. 💡 Prefer a native app? Mole for Mac brings cleanup, app management, maintenance, disk maps, and live status into one lightweight, VoiceOver ready app. One license covers 2 Macs with lifetime updates and a 14 day refund. The CLI stays free and open source. Features All in one toolkit : Combines CleanMyMac, AppCleaner, DaisyDisk, and iStat Menus in a single binary Deep cleaning : Removes caches, logs, leftovers, and orphaned app data to reclaim gigabytes of space Smart uninstaller : Removes apps plus…
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Frequently asked questions
Is RustDesk or Mole more popular?
RustDesk has 127,925 GitHub stars and Mole has 73,641. RustDesk has the larger community by that measure.
Are RustDesk and Mole free?
Both are open source. RustDesk is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Mole under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between RustDesk and Mole?
RustDesk is written in Rust and Mole in Shell. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, RustDesk or Mole?
Choose RustDesk if you want the larger community (127,925 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Mole if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.