# Portainer vs rustdesk

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | Portainer | rustdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 77/100 | 92/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #1 of 44 in Container Management | #1 of 22 in Remote Desktop |
| GitHub stars | 38 737 | 127 345 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +188 | +2 974 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 21 ✓ | 7 |
| Latest release | 2.45.3 · 21 Oct 2026 ✓ | 1.5.0 · 25 Sept 2026 |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Zlib | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Rust |

## Which one should you pick?

rustdesk scores 92/100 against 77/100 for Portainer, so it is the safer default.

Portainer ships more often: 21 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for rustdesk.

If you want the quickest setup, Portainer is easier to run; rustdesk needs more configuration.

rustdesk is growing faster right now (+2 974 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Portainer](https://selfhost.directory/project/portainer) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/portainer.md)
- [rustdesk](https://selfhost.directory/project/rustdesk) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/rustdesk.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/portainer-vs-rustdesk