head to head · open source
RustDesk vs Tailscale
RustDesk has 123,892 GitHub stars, 19,130 forks, 147 open issues and last shipped today. Tailscale has 36,599 stars, 3,219 forks, 4,569 open issues and last shipped today. RustDesk leads on adoption by 239% (123,892 vs 36,599 stars). RustDesk is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0; Tailscale is written in Go under BSD-3-Clause. RustDesk has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, Tailscale 9%. 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 | Tailscale | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 124K | ★ 37K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | Rust | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 19K | ⑂ 3.2K |
| 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 Tailscale if
- You want the Tailscale feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Tailscale 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 Tailscale
Tailscale is an open source implementation of a zero configuration VPN built on WireGuard, designed to simplify secure network connectivity across devices. It lives in the network security ecosystem and provides private, encrypted networks without manual firewall or IP management. The project delivers both a daemon ( tailscaled ) and CLI tool ( tailscale ) that enable peer to peer connectivity using WireGuard, augmented with identity based access controls and optional cloud managed features.
read the full Tailscale overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is RustDesk or Tailscale more popular?
RustDesk has 123,892 GitHub stars and Tailscale has 36,599. RustDesk has the larger community by that measure.
Are RustDesk and Tailscale free?
Both are open source. RustDesk is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Tailscale under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between RustDesk and Tailscale?
RustDesk is written in Rust and Tailscale 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 Tailscale?
Choose RustDesk if you want the larger community (123,892 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Tailscale if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.