head to head · open source
RustDesk vs Pearcleaner
RustDesk has 127,925 GitHub stars, 20,252 forks, 147 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Pearcleaner has 15,029 stars, 401 forks, 84 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. RustDesk leads on adoption by 751% (127,925 vs 15,029 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 16% 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 | ★ 128K | ★ 15K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Rust | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-06-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 20K | ⑂ 401 |
| 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 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
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…
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About Pearcleaner
Pearcleaner Website The only legitimate website owned by me is Anything else offering Pearcleaner downloads is either a scam or not affiliated with me. More details HERE. Project Status: On Hold As you may have noticed, development on the app has basically stopped since end of 2025, so I wanted to provide some context. Between a new job, joining a friend who is building a SaaS company, and other life priorities, I no longer have the time needed to actively maintain or continue development on the project. Another major reason is that I previously relied on my work MacBook for development. After changing jobs, I…
read the full Pearcleaner overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is RustDesk or Pearcleaner more popular?
RustDesk has 127,925 GitHub stars and Pearcleaner has 15,029. 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 (127,925 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.