Head to head · 8 min read
Chrome Remote Desktop vs Splashtop: how to compare them properly
Written for: IT managers, MSPs and support leads shortlisting Chrome Remote Desktop and Splashtop, or reviewing an existing subscription to one of them.
Written by the 247connect Marketing Team · Last reviewed 27 August 2026
Head to head
In short
Chrome Remote Desktop is a free browser-based remote access and Splashtop is a remote access and remote support product family, so the honest answer to which is better depends on the job you are buying for. Chrome Remote Desktop is metered on free, tied to a Google account while Splashtop is metered on per-product-line subscriptions, metered by user or by device which means headline prices are not comparable until you apply both to your own headcount and device count. Because they are different classes of product, decide what the job is first: continuous management of an estate you own, or fast access to devices you may not control.
Key takeaways
- Chrome Remote Desktop: A free, browser-based remote access tool tied to a Google account, designed mainly for reaching your own computers.
- Splashtop: A product family split across personal and business remote access to your own computers, attended remote support for other people's devices, and wider IT management bundles.
- Licensing meters differ (free, tied to a google account against per-product-line subscriptions, metered by user or by device), so compare twelve-month totals for your own numbers.
- Access models: Chrome RD is attended and unattended; Splashtop is attended and unattended.
- Test session speed on a domestic or mobile connection, never on the office network where everything feels instant.
- Read the audit log after your trial sessions and ask whether it would satisfy your own auditor.
- Run both on live tickets for a fortnight and let the technicians who used them decide.
What each product is for
These two are not the same class of product, which is the most important thing to establish before comparing them line by line. Chrome Remote Desktop is a free browser-based remote access: A free, browser-based remote access tool tied to a Google account, designed mainly for reaching your own computers. Splashtop is a remote access and remote support product family: A product family split across personal and business remote access to your own computers, attended remote support for other people's devices, and wider IT management bundles.
Comparing them is still legitimate, because plenty of teams genuinely are choosing between them, but it should be framed as a question about the job rather than the feature list. Pick the job first, then the tool that does it, and treat overlapping features as a bonus rather than the deciding factor.
- Chrome Remote Desktop: Free browser-based remote access. A free, browser-based remote access tool tied to a Google account, designed mainly for reaching your own computers.
- Splashtop: Remote access and remote support product family. A product family split across personal and business remote access to your own computers, attended remote support for other people's devices, and wider IT management bundles.
Licensing: the meters, not the headline prices
The meters are different in kind, not just in price, which is why headline figures mislead here. Chrome Remote Desktop bills on free, tied to a google account; Splashtop bills on per-product-line subscriptions, metered by user or by device. A team of four supporting nine hundred devices and a team of twelve supporting eighty devices will get opposite answers from the same two quotes, so run your own numbers rather than anybody's example.
Chrome Remote Desktop: There is no licence to buy, and no operator model either. Access is granted per Google account, which means there is no team console, no role separation and no consolidated audit trail to hand an auditor.
Splashtop: Because the range is split into distinct product lines, the meter changes depending on which line you buy: some are priced per user with a device allowance, others per managed computer. Comparing the wrong line against a rival is the most common mistake in any Splashtop evaluation.
Prices and packaging in this market change several times a year, so this page deliberately quotes none. Take the meter descriptions above, apply them to your own operator count, shift pattern and device count on each vendor's current pricing page, and compare the two twelve-month totals including renewal.
Attended and unattended access
Both tools cover attended sessions, where somebody is sitting at the far end and consents to the connection, and unattended sessions to machines nobody is standing next to. That means the access model will not decide this for you, and the decision moves to what each one costs, how quickly a session starts and what the audit trail records.
Do check that both models sit on the plan you are being quoted rather than a higher one. Unattended access is the single most common capability to find one tier above the price you were shown, and discovering that after a purchase order is signed is an avoidable problem.
Platform coverage across a real estate
Coverage only matters where your awkward devices live. Most estates have a handful: a Linux build server, a Mac in the design team, a warehouse terminal on an old Windows build, a headless machine in a comms cupboard. Those are the machines to test, not the standard laptop everything supports.
Chrome Remote Desktop covers windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS, driven from the Chrome browser.
Splashtop covers windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and ChromeOS, with browser-based access options.
Take your five most awkward devices and connect to each one during the trial. If a tool cannot reach them, no amount of feature comparison rescues it.
Security and administration questions for both
Ask both vendors the same short list, in writing, and compare the answers rather than the marketing. How is a session authenticated and can you enforce two-factor authentication on every operator? Is traffic encrypted end to end, and with what? Does the endpoint agent connect outbound, or does something have to be exposed inbound? Can you scope an operator to a subset of devices, and revoke that access in one action when somebody leaves?
Then ask what the audit log actually records, because this is where products differ most and datasheets say least. You want the named operator, the device, the start and end time, the client address and any file transferred, retained long enough to satisfy your own policy and exportable before a subscription lapses. A log you cannot export is evidence you do not really have.
- Verify on Chrome Remote Desktop: There is no operator model, so you cannot show who connected to what on behalf of the business.
- Verify on Chrome Remote Desktop: No queue, no ticket linkage and no team-wide device list.
- Verify on Splashtop: Establish which product line you are actually replacing before you compare a single number.
- Verify on Splashtop: Check whether attended, ad-hoc support for unmanaged devices is included or sold as a separate line.
Which one fits which team
The useful output of a comparison is not a winner, it is a sentence describing the team each tool suits. If neither sentence below describes yours, both are probably the wrong shortlist and the requirement needs rewriting before you look at another vendor.
- Choose Chrome Remote Desktop if: Individuals reaching their own computers, not support teams accountable to anybody.
- Choose Splashtop if: Teams whose need falls cleanly into one product line, typically unattended access to a stable estate.
- The question to settle about Chrome Remote Desktop: Can you evidence who connected to which device, and would that evidence satisfy an audit?
- The question to settle about Splashtop: Which product line covers both the attended and unattended work your team does, and what does that combination cost together?
A two-week trial that settles Chrome RD against Splashtop
1. Write the requirement down first
Five lines: the ratio of attended to unattended tickets, the platforms in the estate, the security controls you must be able to evidence, the reporting somebody asks you for, and your twelve-month budget. Compare against this, not against feature lists.
2. Enrol the same ten devices in both
Include your five most awkward machines. Same devices in both trials, or you are not comparing anything.
3. Run live tickets, not demos
Give each tool a week of real work with the technicians who will own it. A demo tests the salesperson; a ticket tests the product.
4. Time the boring things
Seconds from click to control, on a home or mobile connection. File transfer both ways. Multi-monitor. A reboot with automatic reconnection. These are the moments repeated dozens of times a day.
5. Read the audit log afterwards
Open the log for the sessions you ran and ask whether it names the operator, the device, the times and any file moved, and whether you can export it.
6. Price twelve months, including renewal
Apply both meters to your real numbers, add the second year, and ask each supplier in writing what the renewal uplift will be.
Chrome Remote Desktop and Splashtop side by side
| Free browser-based remote access | Remote access and remote support product family |
|---|---|
| Free, tied to a Google account | Per-product-line subscriptions, metered by user or by device |
| Attended and unattended | Attended and unattended |
| Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS, driven from the Chrome browser. | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and ChromeOS, with browser-based access options. |
| Individuals reaching their own computers, not support teams accountable to anybody. | Teams whose need falls cleanly into one product line, typically unattended access to a stable estate. |
| Can you evidence who connected to which device, and would that evidence satisfy an audit? | Which product line covers both the attended and unattended work your team does, and what does that combination cost together? |
Select any column heading to sort, or filter with the box above.
Common mistakes
- Comparing headline per-seat prices across two different meters, which is the single most expensive mistake in this category.
- Testing on the office network, where every tool feels fast and the difference you are paying for is invisible.
- Assuming a capability is included because the vendor sells it, rather than checking the plan on your quote.
- Letting a demo stand in for a trial, so the tool is judged on the salesperson's estate rather than yours.
- Ignoring the audit trail until an incident or an audit makes it urgent.
- Forgetting to ask about renewal, then discovering the uplift when the decision is already sunk.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Chrome Remote Desktop or Splashtop better?
- Neither is better in the abstract, and any page that says otherwise is selling something. Chrome Remote Desktop suits individuals reaching their own computers, not support teams accountable to anybody. Splashtop suits teams whose need falls cleanly into one product line, typically unattended access to a stable estate. Establish which of those descriptions matches your team, then trial the one that fits on your own tickets for two weeks.
- How do the licensing models differ?
- Chrome Remote Desktop is metered on free, tied to a Google account and Splashtop on per-product-line subscriptions, metered by user or by device Because the meters differ in kind, compare twelve-month totals for your actual headcount and device count rather than headline per-seat figures. Ask both suppliers to quote the renewal price at the same time.
- Do both handle unattended access to servers?
- Chrome Remote Desktop: yes, unattended access to machines with an agent deployed is part of what it does. Splashtop: yes, unattended access is part of what it does. In every case, confirm unattended access is on the specific plan you are quoting, and test a reboot-and-reconnect on a real server before you commit.
- What should I test during a trial?
- Time to a working session on a domestic or mobile connection, not the office LAN. A multi-monitor session. A file transfer both ways. A reboot with automatic reconnection. Then read the audit log for the sessions you just ran and decide whether it would satisfy an auditor.
- Where does 247connect fit against these two?
- 247connect is a focused remote access and support layer rather than the broadest platform on the market. It covers managed and on-demand access in one console, on fixed pricing with unlimited operators and five concurrent connections each, with zero-trust outbound connections and AES-256 encryption. If your requirement is fast, secure, predictably priced sessions rather than a wide management suite, it is worth putting in the same trial fortnight.
Why teams choose 247connect
Fixed, predictable pricing
Unlimited operators with five concurrent connections per user, so the bill does not move every time the team grows or a shift pattern changes.
Both access models in one console
Managed (unattended) access to devices you own and on-demand (attended) access to devices you do not, without buying two products.
Fast time to session
Sessions typically connect in around eight seconds, which is the number a support desk feels dozens of times a day.
Zero-trust, AES-256 encrypted
Outbound agent connections with no inbound port to forward, and every session logged against a named operator.
If the shortlist is really about fast, secure and predictably priced remote sessions rather than the broadest possible platform, add 247connect to the same trial fortnight. It covers managed and on-demand access in one console, with unlimited operators on fixed pricing, five concurrent connections per user, zero-trust outbound agent connections and AES-256 encryption. The 14-day trial includes 2 on-demand licences and 10 managed devices, with no credit card required, so you can measure it on the same ten devices you gave Chrome Remote Desktop and Splashtop.
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