Remote Desktop Services vs. Splashtop

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Remote Desktop Services
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Remote Desktop Services from Microsoft is virtual desktop and remote user session technology.N/A
Splashtop
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Splashtop is a software solution for both remote access and remote support. Boasting 30+ million customers worldwide and users among both large and small organizations across the globe, Splashtop presents their solution as secure, high-performing, and fit to specific use-cases. Splashtop is ISO certified, SOC 2 and GDPR compliant. Splashtop Remote Access provides remote desktop connections for business professionals and teams to work from anywhere, using any device.…
$8.25
per month per user, billed annually
Pricing
Remote Desktop ServicesSplashtop
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Splashtop Remote Access Pro
$8.25
per month per user, billed annually
Splashtop Remote Access Performance
$13.00
per month per user, billed annually
Splashtop Remote Support Enterprise
Contact Sales
per month per concurrent technician, billed annually
Splashtop Remote Access Enterprise
Contact Sales
per month per user, billed annually
Splashtop On-Prem
Contact Sales
Splashtop Autonomous Endpoint Management (AEM)
Contact Sales
per month per endpoint, billed annually
Splashtop Remote Support SOS
Starting at $22.00
per month per concurrent technician, billed annually
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Remote Desktop ServicesSplashtop
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Remote Desktop ServicesSplashtop
Features
Remote Desktop ServicesSplashtop
Remote Administration
Comparison of Remote Administration features of Product A and Product B
Remote Desktop Services
8.9
Ratings
9% above category average
Splashtop
7.8
Ratings
4% below category average
Screen sharing9.30 Ratings9.30 Ratings
File transfer9.30 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Secure remote access with Smart Card authentication8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Access to sleeping/powered-off computers8.00 Ratings3.00 Ratings
Over-the-Internet remote session8.60 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Initiate remote control from mobile10.00 Ratings7.60 Ratings
Remote management of servers & workstations9.00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Remote Active Directory® management9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Centralized management dashboard9.00 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Session record9.50 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Monitoring and Alerts8.00 Ratings6.00 Ratings
Instant message00 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Annotations00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Multi-platform remote control00 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Remote Desktop ServicesSplashtop
Small Businesses
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Medium-sized Companies
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Score 9.0 out of 10
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Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
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Score 9.0 out of 10
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Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Remote Desktop ServicesSplashtop
Likelihood to Recommend
9.3
(0 ratings)
9.2
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
6.0
(0 ratings)
9.4
(0 ratings)
Usability
6.6
(0 ratings)
8.3
(0 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.8
(0 ratings)
Performance
5.0
(0 ratings)
9.8
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
3.0
(0 ratings)
9.6
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.3
(0 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
5.0
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
5.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
9.8
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
5.1
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Remote Desktop ServicesSplashtop
Likelihood to Recommend
Remote Desktop Services provides access to work environments from any device. This allows us to ensure business continuity in case of disaster. It provides admins more control over access and security. Remote Desktop Services simplifies software updates and compliance management by reducing the need to act on end users devices.
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Well Suited for Remote users with PCs needing to login to specific remote PC's. It is less functional for remote users on Cell phones although Cell phone users can look on the remote PC to see if they need to logon from a desktop to conduct transactions
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Pros
  • Relative ease of setup: in comparison to some of the other solutions on the market (Citrix, etc.), Remote Desktop Services is rather easy to set up and get configured in your environment.
  • Feature set: Microsoft offers a good deal of the same features many competitors offer in the same space including a mobile app and the ability to have a "native" app feel for a remote application.
  • Inexpensive Licensing: in comparison to other solutions on the market Remote Desktop Services is inexpensive.
  • Move LOB applications closer to their server counterparts: this goes for all remote solutions, but if you have a line of business application that makes a great deal of calls across the network to your data center, your remote office users will likely benefit from the performance and stability side by moving those client side applications into the data center.
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  • Unbelievable performance! It's so fast I tested a PC game through it just for fun, and it was incredible!
  • The increase in productivity throughout our organization has been notable. The flexibility of employees to occasionally work remotely, when needed, has been hugely beneficial.
  • Enterprise IT tools like One-to-Many actions has saved us a lot of time and headache in certain situations, such as deploying a basic MSI or script. SOS has been a saving grace for some employees to receive remote IT support in emergency situations, as well.
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Cons
  • Advanced configuration is required.
  • Off-site access from a different network is very insecure unless a VPN can be used.
  • It's complicated and relatively costly for multi-user environments, as each user or device requires a CAL on top of the server licensing.
  • Incredibly complicated licensing strategy from Microsoft.
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  • Splashtop had a functionality issue with a Mac OS upgrade recently that prevented remote access for about two weeks. I had to request tickets directly and they had known about the impending issue without a collaborative solution between them and Apple.
  • Better Beta testing for version upgrades is always needed. Software is constantly changing so these types of platforms need to be at the forefront of resolving interoperability issues with Mac, Windows, Linux, etc.
  • The tech support for the issue I experience could have been more proactive. I was providing my client's IT provider and Splashtop with updates on the bug issue, where it should have been the other way around.
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Likelihood to Renew
No answers on this topic
I believe that I will renew Splashtop without any problems in the coming years as eating stable costs without increases even in critical periods such as the Covid virus, Splashtop allows access to 25 unattended stations and has continuous updates and new features. It also allows resale to users with sub-accounts
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Usability
Once set up it works well and is extremely easy for users. Getting it right can be difficult, it is easy to setup insecurely. Maintenance can be difficult with only a single broker and with manual switchover required for redundant gateways. Troubleshooting access issues can also be difficult
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It's hard to find any significant faults with Splashtop. It offers a very responsive remote access experience with clear and simple interface. There's very little learning curve as it's toolbar mimics other popular remote access solutions graphical user interface. It's gives you access to your remote computer quickly and stays out of your way
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Reliability and Availability
No answers on this topic
I've never had any issues with it, nor any connectivity issues. They always say when they'll be maintaining the system and it's always in the odd hours, so nobody uses then. But I've never had any issues.
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Performance
There are some third party tools available that allow you to manage multiple connections.
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Pages and servers load fast, normal speed. It doesn't lag or anything like that. I don't integrate it with anything else.
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Support Rating
As with any Microsoft Server product, support for Remote Desktop Services requires a paid support package. These are license-based and very costly, on top of the already costly product licensing. Microsoft's licensing is complicated to begin with, so setting up licensing alone essentially requires a licensing expert's counsel. There is community documentation and support available on Microsoft websites, as well as community websites.
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Splashtop has good customer support - they respond quickly and provide adequate solutions, but we honestly rarely find ourselves needing to reach out to them. The software is so easy to use and about as plug-and-play as it gets, so we generally don't run into an issue that does not have an immediate, obvious solution provided in the software.
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Implementation Rating
No answers on this topic
It couldn't have been any easier to setup and I have had no issues with it since it was implemented. It's a great product and makes remotely connecting to another device so simple and quick. I can't recommend it enough
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Alternatives Considered
We used RDS on-site primarily because of how easy it is for users to transition from their own desktop to a remote desktop. However, from off-site, there are VPN and other security considerations to take into account, and the process gets a little more complex. In this situation, especially if you're trying to support a user who is outside the local network, it can be easier to use something like Chrome Remote Desktop or TeamViewer. However, the Windows functionality of RDS is totally unmatched.
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Splashtop Business Enterprise is actually easier to implement and get it up and running, all users have to do is download the standard or personalize file and run it, then share the code with you and you are all set to go, i like it because you can even do it from your phone if necessary
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Scalability
No answers on this topic
It's a product that allows us to work remotely and access our servers from anywhere in the world. Our team works from different parts of the world and it's a great tool for us.
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Return on Investment
  • Remote Desktop Services has had a major positive ROI impact at our firm. There were a number of times when our staff was traveling abroad to business meetings with a laptop that had missing presentations. But once they had internet access, a Remote Desktop Services connection is established, and presentation data can now be shown directly from their laptops as if theyr'e sitting in our office.
  • Remote Desktop Services has made it possible for Mac staff users to use their computing devices to access our network system to run Windows applications and access all our network data.
  • Remote Desktop Services has made it possible for our staff to successfully work remotely from outside the office. There were many occasions when emergencies came up which prevented staff from coming into the office to work. But as long as they have a computer with an internet connection, they used Remote Desktop Services to connect to our terminal server and successfully ran the programs to modify data files on the network without losing a beat.
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  • Since we cannot utilize an enterprise-level POS system, Splashtop bridges the data gap between our store locations and our headquarters. This is what enables us to function. Without remote terminal access, our business would be unable to operate. Period. I can't overstate this.
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ScreenShots

Splashtop Screenshots

Screenshot of Splashtop Streamer: Used to connect to and remote into computers.
Splashtop Business App: Used to connect from and remotely access other computers.Screenshot of Splashtop SOS - Accessed with a 9-digit session code, it can be customized with a brand, logo and text.Screenshot of a view of computer sessions.Screenshot of where users can transfer files and folders from local and remote computers during a session.Screenshot of Splashtop Remote Support Enterprise : On-demand support with service desk capabilities.Screenshot of a dashboard - This offers key insights on endpoint status, security metrics, and scheduled tasks.