AirDroid vs AnyDesk (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, AirDroid and AnyDesk share a 2.4 GPA, both have a free plan and their prices can't be set side by side, so the choice depends on whether you care more about value for money, where AirDroid grades higher, or ease of use, where AnyDesk does.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on the free plan, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
AirDroid
Control and transfer files to a phone from a computer
Free plan · from $2.50/mo
AnyDesk
Remote desktop app, free for personal use, licensed for business
Free plan
Which one is for you
Pick AirDroid if
- Fits if you move files between an Android phone and a PC without a cable
- Works for occasional access to your own phone on a low monthly price
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you are staying free, with 2 devices and 30MB per file over the internet
- Watch out: the yearly plan renews on its own unless you cancel in the account center
- Watch out: a premium account connects up to ten devices, and the monthly plan starts with 3
- Watch out: Business, Remote Support and Cast cost separately
Pick AnyDesk if
- Fits if you want to reach your own home computer from a phone or tablet without paying
- Works for firms that must keep remote access inside their own network and will talk to sales for Ultimate
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to see a price before talking to anyone, as we couldn't read one
- Not for you if your free use is really work, since the free version is for personal use only
- Tight if your free sessions run long, as they time out and need restarting
- Too light for teams on Standard, which has 20 users but one outgoing connection at a time; more cost extra
- Pricey if you need on-premises hosting, which is only on Ultimate and quoted by sales
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAAirDroidFair | 2.4GPAAnyDeskFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPremium is $2.50 a month billed annually ($29.99 a year), inside the cheapest quarter of remote access at $2.78 a month. Monthly billing is $3.99. | CNo price could be read: AnyDesk's website answered our reader with a bot check, and its help centre sends buyers to the pricing page. With no figure to set against TeamViewer or Splashtop for the same job, it gets the C we give any missing price. Personal use is free; work use needs a licence. |
| Free plan and trial | CFree covers 2 Android devices, but remote file transfers stop at 30MB a file and most features work on the local network only. | CFree for personal, non-commercial use, which covers reaching your own computers. But free sessions time out and have to be restarted, and any outgoing connection for work needs a paid licence. No trial is on record. |
| Features | CFile transfer, remote control of Android, mirroring, camera and notifications. The pages describe Android control; AirDroid Business, Remote Support and Cast are separate products. | CAttended and unattended access, remote printing, Wake-on-LAN, screen privacy, a management portal and an on-premises server with a REST API. The gaps it lists itself: Standard allows one outgoing connection at a time, and self-hosting is Ultimate only, quoted by sales. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. You install the app and sign in to link your phone and computer. | B4.49 from 28,268 App Store ratings, which is a B on a crowd that size. The person at the other end accepts your request and you're connected. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, Windows, Mac, Android and iOS, so phone and computer. | BWindows, Mac, Linux and Raspberry Pi, ChromeOS, iPhone, iPad, Android and Apple TV. That's a lot of devices, but there's no web app or integration list, and the REST API comes only with the on-premises server. |
| Best for | moving files to an Android phone from a PC | remote access on nearly any device you own |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: AirDroid and AnyDesk. How we grade
Where they differ
- AnyDesk is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- AirDroid also covers file sharing.
In commonFree planWindowsmacOSAndroidiOSRemote desktop
At a glance
| AirDroid | AnyDesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $2.50 per month, billed annually ($3.99 billed monthly) | Not published |
| Free plan | Up to 2 Android devices connected, with local-network access to most features and smaller remote file transfer limits. | Free for personal, non-commercial use. Sessions on the free version time out and have to be restarted; a paid licence removes the time limit. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Sand Studio | AnyDesk Software GmbH |
| Price read from | airdroid.com | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Worth knowing
AirDroid
- The free plan is limited to 2 Android devices and 30MB per file for transfers over the internet.
- A premium account connects up to ten devices, per the pricing FAQ.
- The pricing page says prices include VAT, and a yearly plan renews automatically unless cancelled in the account center.
- AirDroid Business, Remote Support and Cast are separate products with their own pricing pages.
AnyDesk
- AnyDesk's website answered automated readers with a bot check, so no prices could be read; its help center sends buyers to the pricing page or the my.anydesk portal for figures.
- The free version is for personal use only; any outgoing connection for commercial use needs a paid licence.
- Standard includes 20 users but only one simultaneous outgoing connection; more are add-ons.
- On-premises hosting is only on the Ultimate licence, which is quoted by sales.
Key features
AirDroid
- File transfer and management
- Move files between phone and PC, Mac or browser. On the free plan remote transfers stop at 30MB per file; paid raises that to 1GB.
- Remote control of Android
- Control an Android phone from a computer and use a remote keyboard. The paid plan extends several controls from the local network to remote access.
- Screen mirroring
- Mirror the phone screen to a computer, with screen recording and screenshots during mirroring listed as part of the comparison table.
- Remote camera
- View the phone's camera from another device with one-way audio; local network access is free and remote access is a paid feature.
- Notification and call management
- Sync phone notifications to the computer and reply from them. Find Phone and data erase appear in the paid comparison.
AnyDesk
- Interactive and unattended access
- Connect to any number of devices when the person there accepts the request, or to managed devices without anyone present using a password: up to 100 on Solo and 1,000 on Advanced.
- Wide platform coverage
- Clients for Windows and Windows Server, macOS, Linux and Raspberry Pi, Android and ChromeOS, and iOS, iPadOS and tvOS.
- Remote print and Wake-on-LAN
- Print a document from a remote Windows computer on your local printer, and wake a sleeping Windows, Intel Mac or Linux device when another AnyDesk device on its network is online.
- Screen privacy
- Black out the remote screen so people near the device cannot see what you are doing during a session.
- my.anydesk portal
- A management portal to see licence and invoice details, manage linked clients and address books, review sessions and build custom clients.
- On-premises server
- The Ultimate licence can run on your own appliance server, so only your custom clients can connect, even without internet access, with a REST API for integration.
Plans
AirDroid
Free$0
2 Android devices by default; remote transfers capped at 30MB per file; several features work on the local network only.
Premium (monthly)$3.99
per month, billed monthly
All features for one month; 3 Android devices by default, remote transfers up to 1GB per file.
Premium (yearly)$2.50
per month, billed annually ($29.99 a year)
Same features as monthly. The page marks the yearly plan as best value and shows a money-back guarantee.
AnyDesk
Pricing could not be confirmed. See anydesk.com.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, AirDroid or AnyDesk?
As of Nov 13, 2026, AirDroid starts at $2.50 per month, billed annually ($3.99 billed monthly), and AnyDesk has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, AirDroid or AnyDesk?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both AirDroid and AnyDesk have a free plan.
Which platforms do AirDroid and AnyDesk run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only AirDroid lists a web app and only AnyDesk lists a Linux app. Both list macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.