Apple Remote Desktop vs Chrome Remote Desktop

Apple Remote Desktop

[It's well suited] When you need the ability to see what your end user sees, or you need to send commands to large groups of computers.

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Verified User

Technician in Information Technology

Education Management Company, 501-1000 employees

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Chrome Remote Desktop

Chrome Remote Desktop is great for accessing machines remotely which cannot be accessed via Microsoft's Remote Desktop. It's especially nice for accessing machines of varying operating systems from a machine of a single operating system. For example, if I'm on my Windows laptop, I can always use Microsoft Remote Desktop to connect to local machines (or machines via a VPN), but I can't do the same with Macs. I can do both from Chrome Remote Desktop though, and this program is very lightweight, which is nice.

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Ho'omana Nathan Horton

Graduate teaching/research assistant

Journal of Linguistic GeographyResearch, 5001-10,000 employees

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Feature Rating Comparison

Apple Remote Desktop

7.4

Chrome Remote Desktop

7.8

Screen sharing

9.2

9.4

File transfer

8.9

7.1

Instant message

8.6

—

Secure remote access with Smart Card authentication

8.0

—

Access to sleeping/powered-off computers

5.5

7.1

Over-the-Internet remote session

8.5

8.9

Initiate remote control from mobile

3.4

8.8

Remote management of servers & workstations

8.4

6.2

Remote Active Directory® management

9.5

7.4

Centralized management dashboard

8.0

7.7

Session record

7.1

5.0

Annotations

6.2

—

Monitoring and Alerts

7.0

10.0

Multi-platform remote control

5.2

8.4

Pros

Remote commands for doing things to a large number of devices
Allows us to see what the user is seeing
Allows us to repair things without leaving the office.

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Verified User

Technician in Information Technology

Education Management Company, 501-1000 employees

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Setup is simple. Install the app, log in, choose a pin. You're good to go.
Performance is fast. I can even stream games fairly well.
The connections have been pretty stable. No serious issues.

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Verified User

Employee in Information Technology

Higher Education Company, 1001-5000 employees

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Cons

Can be slow at times
Network scanners don't always pull up all devices
Agent running on client machines has to be restarted occasionally

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Verified User

Technician in Information Technology

Education Management Company, 501-1000 employees

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The session can be seen on the screen of the workstation. Could be a privacy issue. It DOESN'T work like traditional RDP, much closer to a screen sharing support session.
There is no built in File Transfer. Its not a deal breaker, but definitely an annoyance.

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Verified User

Employee in Information Technology

Higher Education Company, 1001-5000 employees

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Likelihood to Renew

Apple Remote Desktop10.0

Based on 1 answer

Great software easy to use

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Kevin B. Richardson II

Telecom Analyst

Shelby County SchoolsEducation Management, 10,001+ employees

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Chrome Remote Desktop7.2

Based on 2 answers

I like it for the most part. I'm still trying to find a way around the screen issues. It shouldn't show what I'm doing on my remote computer while I'm connected unless I specify that.

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Verified User

Employee in Information Technology

Higher Education Company, 1001-5000 employees

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Usability

Apple Remote Desktop9.0

Based on 2 answers

The user interface is amazing. You don't have to dig in to look for options. It's not overwhelming and yet a powerful utility.

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Ravinder Gupta

Senior Oracle Database Administrator

CGIInformation Technology and Services, 10,001+ employees

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Chrome Remote Desktop8.6

Based on 3 answers

I would rarely give a 10 for usability to any tool, but Chrome Remote Desktop doesn't deserves 9 either :) I find all options easy to understand. I don't have to work my brain to understand how things work when using Chrome Remote Desktop.

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Ravinder Gupta

Senior Oracle Database Administrator

CGIInformation Technology and Services, 10,001+ employees

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Support

Apple Remote Desktop10.0

Based on 1 answer

Very easy to use not very buggy

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Kevin B. Richardson II

Telecom Analyst

Shelby County SchoolsEducation Management, 10,001+ employees

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Chrome Remote Desktop10.0

Based on 1 answer

We don't use their support

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Verified User

Employee in Information Technology

Higher Education Company, 1001-5000 employees

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Implementation

Apple Remote Desktop10.0

Based on 1 answer

Very quick and easy install with no real issues

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Kevin B. Richardson II

Telecom Analyst

Shelby County SchoolsEducation Management, 10,001+ employees

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Chrome Remote Desktop10.0

Based on 1 answer

None, its quick and easy

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Verified User

Employee in Information Technology

Higher Education Company, 1001-5000 employees

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Alternatives Considered

If you are managing Apple systems, ARD is hands down the number one way to manage these systems. It beats every other product out there with its deep macOS integration. No other product has as much focus on Apple as this one. We are primarily a Mac environment so it makes total sense that we would choose this product.

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Verified User

Technician in Information Technology

Education Management Company, 201-500 employees

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Still up in the air about which solution is best. We're actually leaning towards Windows RDP via Citrix session right now. It is secure, fast, and easy.

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Verified User

Employee in Information Technology

Higher Education Company, 1001-5000 employees

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