Remote Desktop Services vs. Splashtop

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Remote Desktop Services
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Remote Desktop Services from Microsoft is virtual desktop and remote user session technology.N/A
Splashtop
Score 8.7 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.…
$99
per year per user
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
Considered Both Products
Remote Desktop Services
Chose Remote Desktop Services
Because it is a built-in, free solution for a small set of managed computers. No extra licenses required. No budget. Setup and configuration is instanteneous.
Splashtop

No answer on this topic

Features
Remote Desktop ServicesSplashtop
Remote Administration
Comparison of Remote Administration features of Product A and Product B
Remote Desktop Services
8.9
3 Ratings
9% above category average
Splashtop
7.8
43 Ratings
4% below category average
Screen sharing9.33 Ratings9.337 Ratings
File transfer9.33 Ratings9.039 Ratings
Secure remote access with Smart Card authentication8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Access to sleeping/powered-off computers8.01 Ratings3.013 Ratings
Over-the-Internet remote session8.63 Ratings9.342 Ratings
Initiate remote control from mobile10.02 Ratings7.626 Ratings
Remote management of servers & workstations9.02 Ratings9.07 Ratings
Remote Active Directory® management9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Centralized management dashboard9.02 Ratings7.132 Ratings
Session record9.52 Ratings7.219 Ratings
Monitoring and Alerts8.02 Ratings6.05 Ratings
Instant message00 Ratings7.930 Ratings
Annotations00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Multi-platform remote control00 Ratings8.733 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Remote Desktop ServicesSplashtop
Small Businesses
Getscreen.me
Getscreen.me
Score 9.6 out of 10
Getscreen.me
Getscreen.me
Score 9.6 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Remote Desktop Manager
Remote Desktop Manager
Score 9.1 out of 10
Remote Desktop Manager
Remote Desktop Manager
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Remote Desktop Manager
Remote Desktop Manager
Score 9.1 out of 10
Remote Desktop Manager
Remote Desktop Manager
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Remote Desktop ServicesSplashtop
Likelihood to Recommend
9.3
(17 ratings)
9.2
(481 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
6.0
(1 ratings)
9.6
(35 ratings)
Usability
6.6
(2 ratings)
8.8
(25 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.8
(5 ratings)
Performance
5.0
(1 ratings)
9.8
(5 ratings)
Support Rating
3.0
(1 ratings)
9.6
(440 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.4
(16 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
5.0
(2 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
5.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
9.8
(5 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
5.1
(3 ratings)
User Testimonials
Remote Desktop ServicesSplashtop
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
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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Splashtop
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
Microsoft
  • When you connect with RDS, everything looks and feels (and is) exactly like you're sitting at that desktop. This is great for us and for users.
  • You can sign in with RDS and the desktop will be the same as when you left it (if you choose to set it up that way).
  • Although they take some setup, RemoteApps are a very handy way to let users access a program without requiring them to actually connect to a remote desktop on the server.
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Splashtop
  • Splashtop allows us to send a branded link to our customers for installation on their computer.
  • Splashtop provides as much security over the connection as any of our customers has required, giving them more peace of mind.
  • Splashtop has several file sharing features which makes sending or receiving files a simple process.
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Cons
Microsoft
  • Remote Desktop Services currently does not support multiple monitors on the terminal server. Unlike other applications such as Teamviewer, there's no feature to toggle between multiple screens even if they were connected to the terminal server.
  • Remote Desktop Services should provide an option to scale up or down the screen size after a connection is established. Currently you can only adjust the screen size prior to a connection is established. So you'll have to take a best guess at what display screen resolution will fit best on your screen.
  • Remote Desktop Services should offer some kind of menu to send special key strokes like Ctrl+Alt+Del to the terminal server. Currently the substitute for that particular combination is Ctrl+Alt+End. But I have yet to discover a replacement for other combination keystrokes such as Alt+PrintScrn.
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Splashtop
  • I would like to see an integration with a wider variety of antivirus XDRs. We spend a lot of money on Sophos, which is arguably the most effective product on the market. It would be nice if Splashtop and Sophos Central could work together to increase some efficiency and security.
  • It would be really great if PCs or devices could be excluded from the antivirus monitoring of Splashtop. For example, some employees use the Splashtop Streamer on home PCs (not owned by the company), so they can remote to their home machines while at the office. Occasionally, Splashtop will report threats to a home user PC that are false or breach personal privacy. Then, those get logged with the device forever. The ability to have IT Admins command Splashtop to ignore device security would be very welcomed.
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Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Splashtop
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
Microsoft
The initial setup for Remote Desktop Services is complex, and licensing is costly. Each user connects to their virtual desktop hosted by a single server or group of servers, so a change or issue with servers quickly impacts every single user at the same time. Aside from that, users appreciate seeing their same personal desktop from any device or geographical location.
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Splashtop
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
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Splashtop
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
Microsoft
There are some third party tools available that allow you to manage multiple connections.
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Splashtop
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
Microsoft
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
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
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Splashtop
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
Microsoft
We selected Remote Desktop Services based upon price alone. Other solutions on the market are significantly more expensive, but if your company can foot the bill you should seriously consider products that have been on the market for longer. The lack of an ability to easily upgrade farm servers has been a challenge for us - although it is still faster than updating an application on 2000+ machines. The lack of a centralized management console in 2008 R2 is also challenging, but you get by with the tools available to you. If you don't have the money to spend on Citrix or VMWare Horizon, Remote Desktop Services is a decent replacement.
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Splashtop
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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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Splashtop
Only use one unit.
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Scalability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Splashtop
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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Professional Services
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Splashtop
Do not use.
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Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Allowed remote users access from home
  • Shared file access for multipolar users from a centralized location
  • Cost to add additional users when maxed out
  • Purchase multiple licenses for programs to run in virtual machines. Or unable to run on a virtual machine
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Splashtop
  • 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.
Read full review
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.