RemotePC Now Has a Free Plan
The popular software solution for remotely accessing computers now has a free plan, allowing for a single remote connection to a PC or Mac.
Likely feeling the heat from other software solutions that provide remote access to PCs for free, Pro Softnet Corporation has now added a "free" plan to its popular RemotePC offering. The updated software also provides improved real-world performance, and more hosts for the same price. The only feature RemotePC still lacks is a Android client for accessing PCs and Macs from an Android tablet or smartphone.
The free version of RemotePC seemingly offers everything the Basic Plan ($4.95) and Plus Plan ($9.95) provide, but only for one computer -- Basic allows up to three computers and Plus up to ten. Users can access a PC or Mac from another device and listen to audio files, edit documents, move files back and forth, print files to the attached remote printer, and more. Users can also access and view their desktop using an iOS app for the iPhone and iPad tablet.
"For IT professionals, RemotePC is a cost-effective way to remotely manage rack-mounted servers or any other machine that needs to be accessed," the company said on Monday. "Easily reboot computers without losing the remote connection, work behind firewalls without an elaborate setup and transfer files without any size or type limitations. Communication between computers is protected with an SSL connection."
Pro Softnet claims that the software will work behind most firewall/proxy servers, and that every connection is secured using 128-bit SSL. Users subscribed to multi-PC/Mac accounts can even collaborate with others using RemotePC's built-in chat client and easy file transfer.
The new Free Plan is free for life, meaning there's no trial leading into a paid subscription (although we can't guarantee there are no nag screens -- we haven't tried it out yet). The Basic Plan, which allows for up to 3 computers, is $4.95 per month or $49.50 per year. The other "consumer" Plus Plan allows for up to 10 computers and costs $9.95 per month or $99.50 per year.
On the business side, RemotePC's Small Business Plan 1 serves up 50 computers and costs $49.95 per month or $499.50 per year. Small Business Plan 2 doubles the amount of computer connections while charging $99.95 per month or $999.50 per year. Customers of all plans can add host computer(s) to their plan for just $3 per month extra.
To get started with RemotePC, head here.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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JasonAkkerman Hmm... Remote Desktop comes free with almost every version of Windows. SplashTop is a one time payment of $5 and works with both Mac and PC, and you can play video games remotely.Reply
Granted both require a bit of network knowledge to get it working behind NAT or a firewall.
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spectrewind JasonAkkermanHmm... Remote Desktop comes free with almost every version of Windows. SplashTop is a one time payment of $5 and works with both Mac and PC, and you can play video games remotely.Granted both require a bit of network knowledge to get it working behind NAT or a firewall.Reply
Well spoken. Although you would be surprised how many "IT folks" in the corporate world seem unable to grasp the concepts of how a network functions. It's all outsourced to someone else who is not kept in the loop on the company's needs.
And when they need an RDP solution, that ignorance becomes sustained income for companies like this. -
JOSHSKORN I use to pay for GoToMyPC until I learned that I can do it for free with Windows. Oops!Reply -
delazaren realvnc and teamviewer are very good too.Reply
I have found that Windows' built in remote desktop feature sometimes doesn't work as expected as it really initiates a new login session rather than providing a copy of the remote PC's desktop. It also locks the screen of the remote PC. Also, in some cases it doesn't allow you to run some types of programs. None of these problems are exhibited with other remote desktop programs. It has its benefits and I use it quite frequently but I tend to use the other two more often, especially when I want the user of the remote PC to see what I'm doing.
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WR2 Would not have considered doing a trial run of the Basic version.Reply
I think I can be tempted to test it out now. -
sewalk It never ceases to amaze me how many different vendors are out there preying on the ignorance most users have about RDP and RFB.Reply
As for data centers, why shell out hundreds of dollars per month when you can use a IP-based KVM and have complete OS independence? -
michaelahess Logmein is the way to go for individual pc's. Anyone with a rack of servers has much better free methods of doing this, or they enjoy wasting money with citrix or gotomypc, etc.Reply -
freggo What am I missing here ?Reply
Can this service do something that the Remote Access built into Windows can not do ?