AnyDesk vs DWService (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, DWService grades higher than AnyDesk: 3.2 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
AnyDesk grades higher on ease of use. DWService grades higher on value for money, the free plan and features. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
AnyDesk
Remote desktop app, free for personal use, licensed for business
DWService
Free browser-based remote access to computers via an agent
Which one is for you
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
Pick DWService if
- Fits if you need to reach a home or office computer from a browser for free
- Works for admins who want a shell and files on Linux, Windows or Mac boxes
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you need more than 6 Mbps, since every paid tier only raises that cap
- Watch out: subscriptions are in pounds sterling and exclude tax
- Watch out: the vendor says subscriptions are donations and buy no say in the project
- Skip it if you can't install an agent on the target computer, as that is the only way in
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAAnyDeskFair | 3.2GPADWServiceVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | AFree with all applications included at 6 Mbps. Paid tiers start at £3 a month and add only bandwidth, which the vendor describes as optional support for the project. |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | AThe free plan includes every application, and its only limit is the 6 Mbps bandwidth cap. |
| Features | 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. | BScreen control, files, shell, text editor and resource monitoring, plus APIs. Nothing in the listing is missing from the core remote-access job. |
| Ease of use | 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. | CNo rating on record. The agent must be installed on every computer you want to reach. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BWeb access, with agents for Windows, Linux and Mac, plus an API. No phone app is listed. |
| Best for | remote access on nearly any device you own | free remote access from any browser |
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: AnyDesk and DWService. How we grade
Where they differ
- AnyDesk is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- DWService is open source, according to its own site.
At a glance
| AnyDesk | DWService | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | £3 per month, plus tax (£30 per year) |
| Free plan | 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 plan with a 6 Mbps maximum bandwidth; the vendor says the service is ad-free and free of charge by default. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | AnyDesk Software GmbH | DWSNET s.r.l. |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | dwservice.net |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
DWService
- The free plan caps bandwidth at 6 Mbps; every paid tier raises only the bandwidth cap and adds a name or logo on the subscription page.
- Subscription prices are listed in pounds sterling and exclude tax.
- The vendor says subscriptions are optional contributions that support the project and give no control over its development.
- The agent must be installed on each computer you want to reach; the home page lists Windows, Linux and Mac OS.
Key features
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.
DWService
- Screen control
- Shows the remote screen in the browser with cursor and keyboard control; the session can be shared with other users, optionally without mouse and keyboard use.
- Files and folders
- Browse, upload and download files on the remote system, and share folders with others with permissions from read-only to full access.
- Shell and text editor
- Open a terminal session on the remote computer, and view or edit text files and watch a log file update live.
- Resource monitoring
- See memory, processors, disks, processes and services, and start or stop services or end processes.
- Open-source agent
- The vendor publishes the agent's source code, uses TLS on port 443, and offers TOTP two-factor authentication on accounts.
Plans
AnyDesk
Pricing could not be confirmed. See anydesk.com.
DWService
Free$0
All applications included, with a 6 Mbps maximum bandwidth.
Entry (monthly)£3
per month, plus tax
8 Mbps maximum bandwidth and your name on the subscription page.
Entry (annual)£30
per year, plus tax
Same as Entry monthly: 8 Mbps and your name on the subscription page.
Lite£5
per month, plus tax
10 Mbps maximum bandwidth; yearly price is £50.
Basic£10
per month, plus tax
14 Mbps maximum bandwidth; yearly price is £100.
Premium£100
per month, plus tax
50 Mbps maximum bandwidth, plus your logo and backlink on the subscription page.
Ways to pay less
AnyDesk
No public discounts listed.
DWService
- Annual discount
Annual billing: about two months free
Annual prices are ten times the monthly ones (Entry £30 a year against £3 a month), a saving of two months, computed from the page.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, AnyDesk or DWService?
As of Nov 13, 2026, AnyDesk has no price we could confirm, and DWService starts at £3 per month, plus tax (£30 per year).
Which has a free plan, AnyDesk or DWService?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both AnyDesk and DWService have a free plan.
Which platforms do AnyDesk and DWService run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only AnyDesk lists iOS and Android apps and only DWService lists a web app. Both list macOS, Windows and Linux 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.