Best Linux remote desktop clients: Top 5 RDC in 2018

SSH has been the staple remote access tool for system administrators from day one. Admins use SSH to mount remote directories, backup remote servers, spring-clean remote databases, and even forward X11 connections. The popularity of single-board computers, such as the Raspberry Pi, has introduced SSH into the parlance of everyday desktop users as well.

While SSH is useful for securely accessing one-off applications, it’s usually overkill, especially if you aren’t concerned about the network’s security. There are times when you need to remotely access the complete desktop session rather than just a single application. You may want to guide the person on the other end through installing software or want to tweak settings on a Windows machine from the comfort of your Linux desktop yourself.

This is where remote desktop software comes in handy. Using these nifty little applications you can remotely access and operate a computer over the network from all sorts of devices. There are various protocols and while the clients we’ll cover in this article support multiple ones, we’ll focus on Virtual Network Computing (VNC) which is amongst the most popular.

Specifically, we’re going to evaluate and compare five clients: RealVNC, Remmina, TigerVNC, TightVNC and Vinagre.

How we tested

A remote desktop sharing session involves a server and a client. The server component is installed on the remote machine that you want to access and the client is installed on the local machine or even on a mobile device such as a tablet. For this feature, we’ll use three servers – the RealVNC server built into a Raspberry Pi, the default Vino server in Ubuntu and TigerVNC server for accessing Windows PCs.

A good remote desktop client should be responsive, and as such we've rated responsive clients higher than those which do a wonderful job of replicating the remote desktop in true colour but take ages to register clicks and key presses. We’ll also keep an eye out for any related features that are included, such as the ability to encrypt connections. The clients and servers are also all running inside our network connected via Wi-Fi.

So, without further ado, let’s move on and compare these clients across a broad range of aspects – from available features, to the interface, multimedia capabilities and more – before we round things off with our final verdict.