# Pulse vs rustdesk

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

| | Pulse | rustdesk |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 71/100 | 92/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #2 of 19 in Infrastructure Monitoring | #1 of 22 in Remote Desktop |
| GitHub stars | 6 970 | 127 345 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +229 | +2 974 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 43 ✓ | 7 |
| Latest release | helm-chart-6.6.0 · 25 Oct 2026 ✓ | 1.5.0 · 25 Sept 2026 |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Go | Rust |

## Which one should you pick?

rustdesk scores 92/100 against 71/100 for Pulse, so it is the safer default.

Pulse ships more often: 43 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for rustdesk.

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

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

## Details

- [Pulse](https://selfhost.directory/project/pulse) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/pulse.md)
- [rustdesk](https://selfhost.directory/project/rustdesk) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/rustdesk.md)

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