Apple Remote Desktop vs. Splashtop

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Apple Remote Desktop
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Apple Remote Desktop (ARD), from Apple, is a remote administration tool for managing Apple computers running OS X across a network.N/A
Splashtop
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Splashtop is a software solution for both remote access and remote support. Boasting 30+ million customers worldwide and users among both large and small organizations across the globe, Splashtop states they have a secure, high-performing solution to fit specific use-cases. Splashtop is ISO certified, SOC 2 and GDPR compliant. Splashtop Business Access is a remote desktop software solution for business professionals and teams, allowing them to work from wherever, using…
$5
per month per user, billed annually
Pricing
Apple Remote DesktopSplashtop
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Splashtop Business Access Solo
$5.00
per month per user, billed annually
Splashtop Business Access Pro
$8.25
per month per user, billed annually
Splashtop Business Access Performance
$13.00
per month per user, billed annually
SOS
$17.00
per month per concurrent technician, billed annually
SOS+10
$19.00
per month per concurrent technician, billed annually
SOS Unlimited
$34.00
per month per concurrent technician, billed annually
Remote Support
$40.00
per month billed monthly or annually
Splashtop Enterprise
Contact Sales
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Apple Remote DesktopSplashtop
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Apple Remote DesktopSplashtop
Considered Both Products
Apple Remote Desktop
Chose Apple Remote Desktop
Apple Remote Desktop is a good product when you have a need to manage Apple computers on-site and don't want a cloud solution with a recurring cost. We prefer it as an alternative or secondary solution in case your primary software has issues. I wouldn't use it as my only …
Splashtop

No answer on this topic

Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Features
Apple Remote DesktopSplashtop
Remote Administration
Comparison of Remote Administration features of Product A and Product B
Apple Remote Desktop
8.0
25 Ratings
3% below category average
Splashtop
7.8
43 Ratings
6% below category average
Screen sharing8.925 Ratings9.337 Ratings
File transfer9.024 Ratings9.039 Ratings
Instant message9.320 Ratings7.930 Ratings
Secure remote access with Smart Card authentication8.53 Ratings00 Ratings
Access to sleeping/powered-off computers7.219 Ratings3.013 Ratings
Over-the-Internet remote session9.019 Ratings9.342 Ratings
Initiate remote control from mobile7.06 Ratings7.726 Ratings
Remote management of servers & workstations8.421 Ratings9.07 Ratings
Remote Active Directory® management7.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Centralized management dashboard8.516 Ratings7.132 Ratings
Session record7.39 Ratings7.219 Ratings
Annotations7.05 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Monitoring and Alerts8.312 Ratings6.05 Ratings
Multi-platform remote control6.37 Ratings8.733 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Apple Remote DesktopSplashtop
Small Businesses
Getscreen.me
Getscreen.me
Score 9.8 out of 10
Getscreen.me
Getscreen.me
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
mRemoteNG
mRemoteNG
Score 9.7 out of 10
mRemoteNG
mRemoteNG
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises
Remote Desktop Services
Remote Desktop Services
Score 9.0 out of 10
Remote Desktop Services
Remote Desktop Services
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Apple Remote DesktopSplashtop
Likelihood to Recommend
8.4
(25 ratings)
9.0
(472 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(3 ratings)
10.0
(34 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(4 ratings)
9.6
(24 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.4
(5 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
9.5
(5 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(4 ratings)
8.8
(431 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(3 ratings)
9.5
(15 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
5.0
(2 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
9.5
(5 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.8
(3 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
5.8
(3 ratings)
User Testimonials
Apple Remote DesktopSplashtop
Likelihood to Recommend
Apple
For a small deployment of macOS, I can see where Apple Remote Desktop could suffice. I can see where a company that is strapped for cash could benefit from a knowledgeable employee using it to automate some tasks. I am not comfortable giving an estimate number-wise. For a large deployment of macOS or iOS, this would be a very inappropriate tool. There are far too many obstacles for an app like Apple Remote Desktop to successfully manage a large fleet of macOS computers or really any number of iOS devices. You simply need an MDM solution in this day and age. This will become increasingly necessary, even in small numbers, but MDM providers have started to provide solutions for customers in these situations.
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Splashtop
In my position Splashtop is perfectly suited for my needs. Allows me to connect to remote workers, or those who work from home. I use it while in the office as well as if I am doing after hours support at home. If you have workers who are local but at a different address, also useful. If you are supporting users just in the office you are in, obviously, it's not going to be a tool you will need
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Pros
Apple
  • Automator Actions: This is a very cool feature and cost saving as it reduces human effort by automating the workflow of tasks.
  • Curtain Mode: This lets you block your local user's view of the desktop while performing administrative tasks.
  • Spotlight Search: It can perform lightning fast searches on machines using the spotlight search feature of OS X and thus saves a lot of time.
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Splashtop
  • Splashtop lets me see what my clients see.
  • Splashtop usually works even when my client's computer isn't in great shape. I can sometimes do things remotely that an onsite user cannot.
  • Splashtop lets me work on many computers from one location, without leaving my own desk.
  • Splashtop allows me to serve clients who are hundreds and even thousands of miles away. I can do work for people I've never met.
  • My clients can usually install Splashtop by themselves, preventing the need for a costly and time consuming site visit.
  • Splashtop lets me create installation links for remote access that have been configured specifically to my particular needs and the needs of my clients.
Read full review
Cons
Apple
  • I would like to see more included Unix scrips that can be pushed to clients.
  • Inclusion of a way to remote control or screen share with Windows machines would be useful, as I manage a handful of Windows machines. While this would be possible using VNC on the Windows machines, including the ability to connect using Windows terminal connections would be awesome, for me.
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Splashtop
  • Web Access should be available to all Splashtop Versions so support personnel do not need to have their laptop with them or Executable on USB Drive etc..
  • Remote access and scaling of screens sometimes is very difficult and have to resort to using keyboard commands to Navigate a screen because the mouse does not show where it is accurately on the remote screen no matter what changes you make on the client although I think this has been improving.
  • Intermittent loss of streamer access and showing that a system is online in the Dashboard has been flakey lately. What I mean by this is systems show offline then they come back online their own then offline again - intermittent
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Likelihood to Renew
Apple
We use it on a daily basis and works well in our environment and could see how other Apple owned organizations would benefit.
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Splashtop
I believe that I will renew Splashtop without any problems in the coming years as eating stable costs without increases even in critical periods such as the Covid virus, Splashtop allows access to 25 unattended stations and has continuous updates and new features. It also allows resale to users with sub-accounts
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Usability
Apple
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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Splashtop
It's hard to find any significant faults with Splashtop. It offers a very responsive remote access experience with clear and simple interface. There's very little learning curve as it's toolbar mimics other popular remote access solutions graphical user interface. It's gives you access to your remote computer quickly and stays out of your way
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Reliability and Availability
Apple
No answers on this topic
Splashtop
I've never had any issues with it, nor any connectivity issues. They always say when they'll be maintaining the system and it's always in the odd hours, so nobody uses then. But I've never had any issues.
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Performance
Apple
No answers on this topic
Splashtop
Pages and servers load fast, normal speed. It doesn't lag or anything like that. I don't integrate it with anything else.
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Support Rating
Apple
Apple support is great.
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Splashtop
Tickets lingered in the support queue. Our environment is complex and some solutions never work in it but inconsistency and long turn around time on seemingly simple support issues force our pursuit of alternative solutions. Our environment is atypical and should not be used as a litmus test for solutions however we found the support issues were more wide spread with other orgs voicing the same delays.
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Implementation Rating
Apple
Very quick and easy install with no real issues
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Splashtop
It couldn't have been any easier to setup and I have had no issues with it since it was implemented. It's a great product and makes remotely connecting to another device so simple and quick. I can't recommend it enough
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Alternatives Considered
Apple
I use TeamViewer with users who are having trouble connecting to the VPN. I think TeamViewer is a good alternative when ARD isn't working. However supporting the number of users we support, TeamViewer can come with a pretty hefty price tag.
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Splashtop
Splashtop Business Enterprise is actually easier to implement and get it up and running, all users have to do is download the standard or personalize file and run it, then share the code with you and you are all set to go, i like it because you can even do it from your phone if necessary
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Apple
No answers on this topic
Splashtop
Terms were simple, straightforward, and acceptable.
Read full review
Scalability
Apple
No answers on this topic
Splashtop
It's a product that allows us to work remotely and access our servers from anywhere in the world. Our team works from different parts of the world and it's a great tool for us.
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Professional Services
Apple
No answers on this topic
Splashtop
Easy to work with
Read full review
Return on Investment
Apple
  • Apple Remote Desktop has a positive return on investment because for the expense to the school, the value it brings to teachers is important. The return on improved student performance is very difficult to measure financially, but there is a definite return.
  • The overall objective of education is to increase student learning, ARD does that phenomenally. Parents see the tool used and are impressed at what the capabilities of the tool can do and how it impacts how active their students are as well as how well they can learn.
  • One negative impact is that teachers rely too much on this tool rather than on actually teaching sometimes.
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Splashtop
  • Clients are happy that we can support them almost instantly without needed to come on site
  • Clients have asked us to do more work on their computers remotely and more often which means increased billing
  • Clients rely on our rapid response with Splashtop which helps build a stronger relationship with them
Read full review
ScreenShots

Splashtop Screenshots

Screenshot of Splashtop Business Access - The solution enables users to connect with remote computersScreenshot of Splashtop Business Access - Managers can assign role-based access and define permissionsScreenshot of Splashtop SOS - Access with a 9-digit session codeScreenshot of Splashtop SOS - View current sessionsScreenshot of Splashtop Remote Support - Files can be transferred between local and remote computersScreenshot of Splashtop Remote Support -  Administrators can control remote capabilities