What is Apache Guacamole used for?

Apache Guacamole: The server-side components of Apache Guacamole, a clientless remote desktop gateway that provides VNC, RDP and SSH access through a web browser. It is a good fit for remote desktop access from any browser, accessing cloud-hosted desktops and gateway to servers over SSH or RDP.

Is Apache Guacamole open source?

Yes. Apache Guacamole is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at apache/guacamole-server and is written mainly in C.

Is Apache Guacamole free?

Yes. Apache Guacamole is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host Apache Guacamole?

Yes. Apache Guacamole can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.

What is Apache Guacamole an alternative to?

Apache Guacamole is an open-source alternative to TeamViewer, AnyDesk, Splashtop and Chrome Remote Desktop. Other open-source alternatives to TeamViewer include RustDesk, MeshCentral and Remmina.

Is Apache Guacamole actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Apache Guacamole was on 14 September 2026. The project has 4k stars on GitHub.

Apache Guacamole: open-source alternative to TeamViewer

About Apache Guacamole

This repository holds the server-side parts of Apache Guacamole: the guacd proxy daemon, the libguac C API and protocol support. Guacamole itself is a clientless remote desktop gateway that supports standard protocols such as VNC, RDP and SSH.

It is called clientless because no plugins or client software are needed. Once Guacamole is installed on a server, a web browser is all that is required to reach your desktops, since the client is an HTML5 web application. That frees access from any one device or location, and the desktops can even be virtual machines hosted in the cloud.

Guacamole is built on its own documented stack of core APIs, with tutorials and conceptual overviews in the online manual. It is a project of the Apache Software Foundation, licensed under Apache-2.0, and the codebase combines C, Java and JavaScript. The project provides release archives, mailing lists, an issue tracker and commercial support options.

Key features

Clientless remote desktop gateway
VNC, RDP and SSH protocol support
HTML5 browser client
guacd proxy daemon
libguac C API
Documented core APIs

Good fit for

→Remote desktop access from any browser
→Accessing cloud-hosted desktops
→Gateway to servers over SSH or RDP

Built with: C; Java; JavaScript
Tags: remote-desktop; rdp; vnc; ssh; gateway; apache; html5; clientless

Apache Guacamole: questions and answers

What is Apache Guacamole used for?: Apache Guacamole: The server-side components of Apache Guacamole, a clientless remote desktop gateway that provides VNC, RDP and SSH access through a web browser. It is a good fit for remote desktop access from any browser, accessing cloud-hosted desktops and gateway to servers over SSH or RDP.
Is Apache Guacamole open source?: Yes. Apache Guacamole is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at apache/guacamole-server and is written mainly in C.
Is Apache Guacamole free?: Yes. Apache Guacamole is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Apache Guacamole?: Yes. Apache Guacamole can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
What is Apache Guacamole an alternative to?: Apache Guacamole is an open-source alternative to TeamViewer, AnyDesk, Splashtop and Chrome Remote Desktop. Other open-source alternatives to TeamViewer include RustDesk, MeshCentral and Remmina.
Is Apache Guacamole actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Apache Guacamole was on 14 September 2026. The project has 4k stars on GitHub.