head to head · open source
RustDesk vs Pearcleaner
RustDesk has 123,854 GitHub stars, 19,128 forks, 147 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Pearcleaner has 14,653 stars, 375 forks, 84 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. RustDesk leads on adoption by 745% (123,854 vs 14,653 stars). RustDesk is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0; Pearcleaner is written in Swift under a custom or non-standard licence. RustDesk has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, Pearcleaner 3%. RustDesk was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | Pearcleaner | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 124K | ★ 15K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Rust | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-06-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 19K | ⑂ 375 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick RustDesk if
- You weight community size — 124K 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 Pearcleaner if
- You want the Pearcleaner feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and Pearcleaner fits your workflow better
About RustDesk
RustDesk is an open source remote desktop application written in Rust, designed for self hosting as a privacy focused alternative to proprietary solutions like TeamViewer. It enables remote control of machines across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS platforms using a peer to peer (P2P) architecture by default, with optional relay and rendezvous servers for NAT traversal. The project lives in the remote access and productivity ecosystem, targeting users who require full control over their infrastructure and data.
read the full RustDesk overview →
About Pearcleaner
Pearcleaner is a free, source available, fair code licensed macOS application written in Swift and listed under Productivity & Utilities / System Cleanup & Optimization. It is described as a Mac app cleaner inspired by Freemacsoft's AppCleaner and by Sun Knudsen's Privacy Guides post about an app cleaner script. The project's homepage is hosted at itsalin.com, and the repository states that this is the only legitimate website owned by the author.
read the full Pearcleaner overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is RustDesk or Pearcleaner more popular?
RustDesk has 123,854 GitHub stars and Pearcleaner has 14,653. RustDesk has the larger community by that measure.
Are RustDesk and Pearcleaner free?
Both are open source. RustDesk is licensed under AGPL-3.0, and Pearcleaner has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between RustDesk and Pearcleaner?
RustDesk is written in Rust and Pearcleaner in Swift. 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 Pearcleaner?
Choose RustDesk if you want the larger community (123,854 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Pearcleaner if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.