head to head · open source
RustDesk vs syncthing
RustDesk has 127,925 GitHub stars, 20,252 forks, 147 open issues and last shipped yesterday. syncthing has 90,019 stars, 5,584 forks, 388 open issues and last shipped yesterday. RustDesk leads on adoption by 42% (127,925 vs 90,019 stars). RustDesk is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0; syncthing is written in Go under MPL-2.0. RustDesk has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, syncthing 6%. syncthing was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (p2p), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| RustDesk | syncthing | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 128K | ★ 90K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 20K | ⑂ 5.6K |
| 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 syncthing if
- You want the syncthing feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and syncthing 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 syncthing
[![Syncthing][14]][15] Goals Syncthing is a continuous file synchronization program . It synchronizes files between two or more computers. We strive to fulfill the goals below. The goals are listed in order of importance, the most important ones first. This is the summary version of the goal list for more commentary, see the full [Goals document][13]. Syncthing should be: 1. Safe From Data Loss Protecting the user's data is paramount. We take every reasonable precaution to avoid corrupting the user's files. 2. Secure Against Attackers Again, protecting the user's data is paramount. Regardless of our other goals…
read the full syncthing overview →
More in Productivity & Utilities
Related comparisons
Frequently asked questions
Is RustDesk or syncthing more popular?
RustDesk has 127,925 GitHub stars and syncthing has 90,019. RustDesk has the larger community by that measure.
Are RustDesk and syncthing free?
Both are open source. RustDesk is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and syncthing under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between RustDesk and syncthing?
RustDesk is written in Rust and syncthing in Go. 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 syncthing?
Choose RustDesk if you want the larger community (127,925 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose syncthing if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.