# Pterodactyl vs rustdesk

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

| | Pterodactyl | rustdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 75/100 | 92/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #5 of 62 in Game Servers | #1 of 22 in Remote Desktop |
| GitHub stars | 9 438 | 127 369 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +184 | +2 998 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 11 ✓ | 7 |
| Latest release | v1.15.2 · 21 Oct 2026 ✓ | 1.5.0 · 25 Sept 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | PHP | Rust |

## Which one should you pick?

rustdesk scores 92/100 against 75/100 for Pterodactyl, so it is the safer default.

Pterodactyl ships more often: 11 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for rustdesk.

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

rustdesk is growing faster right now (+2 998 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Pterodactyl](https://selfhost.directory/project/pterodactyl) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/pterodactyl.md)
- [rustdesk](https://selfhost.directory/project/rustdesk) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/rustdesk.md)

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