ISL Light vs. Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ISL Light
Score 8.8 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
ISL Light is remote support and remote access software that enables SMBs and large enterprises to offer fast and efficient support and maintenance for Windows, Mac and Linux computers as well as mobile device support for Android and iOS.
$16.90
per month (1 concurrent user)
RDCMan
Score 6.9 out of 10
N/A
RDCMan, or Remote Desktop Connection Manager from Microsoft, is a utility for managing multiple remote desktop connections. Once shut down due to a vulnerability in version 2.7, RDCMan is now updated and part of the Sysinternals family of tools. The 2.8 release fixes CVE-2020-0765, the XML parsing vulnerability. As of May, 2025, RDCMan is in version 3.1.
$0
Pricing
ISL LightMicrosoft Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan)
Editions & Modules
Starter
$16.90
per month
Standard
$34.90
per month
Self-Hosted
$44.90
per month
Premium
$54.90
per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ISL LightRDCMan
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsISL Online's pricing model considers the number of licenses purchased, which determines the maximum number of concurrent users within the organization. A concurrent user is defined as anyone running one or more sessions simultaneously from any device. There are no restrictions on the number of ISL Light users within a company or the remote devices managed. For example, with three licenses, an unlimited number of people in a company can use ISL Light and can access an unlimited number of remote devices, but only three users can use it concurrently. When one of these three users ends their session, a fourth user can begin their session, and so on.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ISL LightMicrosoft Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan)
Considered Both Products
ISL Light
Chose ISL Light
Much more intuitive when compared to remote desktop and as no changes are required on the firewall on the server side, it's a much more secure connection.
Chose ISL Light
Multi-monitor handling is super easy with ISL Light. The licensing model of ISL Light's self-hosted version is unbeatable. Great technical support, which often used before I purchased. The unbelievable price increase during and after the covid time of remote tools, has ended, …
Chose ISL Light
None of these work when trying to connect from my personal computer. Guys in our IT offered to use ISL Light and it worked without a glitch ever since.
Chose ISL Light
ISL light is a corporate tool that takes security into account first and foremost and that is something that these tools do not really take into account. The control of users, the reports and the roles that can be assigned definitely led us to make the decision.
RDCMan

No answer on this topic

Features
ISL LightMicrosoft Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan)
Remote Administration
Comparison of Remote Administration features of Product A and Product B
ISL Light
8.0
91 Ratings
1% above category average
Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan)
6.4
6 Ratings
21% below category average
Screen sharing8.585 Ratings7.04 Ratings
File transfer9.385 Ratings5.36 Ratings
Instant message7.468 Ratings1.02 Ratings
Secure remote access with Smart Card authentication8.016 Ratings5.03 Ratings
Access to sleeping/powered-off computers5.962 Ratings9.03 Ratings
Over-the-Internet remote session8.582 Ratings7.55 Ratings
Initiate remote control from mobile7.753 Ratings5.04 Ratings
Remote management of servers & workstations8.671 Ratings9.36 Ratings
Remote Active Directory® management8.623 Ratings7.34 Ratings
Centralized management dashboard8.051 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Session record8.258 Ratings5.03 Ratings
Annotations8.443 Ratings4.03 Ratings
Monitoring and Alerts7.835 Ratings7.74 Ratings
Multi-platform remote control7.865 Ratings8.04 Ratings
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User Ratings
ISL LightMicrosoft Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan)
Likelihood to Recommend
8.6
(91 ratings)
8.0
(6 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.3
(54 ratings)
7.7
(3 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.1
(3 ratings)
8.3
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.1
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
ISL LightMicrosoft Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan)
Likelihood to Recommend
ISL Online
ISL light is suitable for anyone who plans to provide remote assistance services on a medium to large scale. Due to the high entry price, it is less suitable for consultants with a smaller number of clients or remote stations that need management. Their smallest package in which minutes are rented does not seem suitable for most cases.
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Microsoft
As a IT specialist we have some servers we need acces to. I like to use Remote Desktop Connection Manager because it feel like you are on the computer. Is feel very trusted. Some colleagues use the Azure remote desktop version but I always recommend the windows integrated option. We also have our primary business application running on a server so they use a remote desktop connection too to log on to the server.
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Pros
ISL Online
  • Prikaz strani na kateri se nahaja uporabnik
  • Prikaz kontaktov uporabnikov
  • Zgodovina pogovorov s strankami
  • Možnost spreminjanja statusa dosegljivosti
  • Nalaganje datotek, zajemov slik,..
  • Klepetalnik, ki je enostaven za uporabo
  • Nas obvesti, da smo dobili sporočilo, tudi če smo izven klepetalnika
  • Display the page the user is on
  • Displaying user contacts
  • Customer conversation history
  • Ability to change availability status
  • Uploading files, capturing images, etc.
  • An easy-to-use chatbot
  • Notifies us that we have received a message, even if we are outside the chat room
Read full review
Microsoft
  • I can see previews of all the machines working at the same time.
  • Having all password in one place.
  • Organization of devices based on purpose, configuration, etc.
Read full review
Cons
ISL Online
  • Need a control toggle at least on AlwaysOn. User moves the mouse and you lose all control instantly.
  • Clipboard features are a bit wonky still, and your clipboard seems to get emptied a lot. So if you're trying to copy and paste you might lose something
  • Passwords for the systems are saved per machine, so if you work from multiple devices it can be tricky if you have complex passwords
Read full review
Microsoft
  • When trying to connect to a server/machine, and it doesn't connect, there is a "Disconnected" message that is displayed in the thumbnail. There is no information beyond this that explains why the server/machine did/could not connect. It would be helpful to the IT Administrator to know this information, even if Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan) kept a log somewhere where this information can be analyzed.
  • There doesn't seem to be an option for connecting to a server that is usually only able to be accessed from a jump server. This will not connect if the server is set up as a server/machine within RDCman. This would be a beneficial feature to have within RDCman. Maybe one of the missing options is to be able to set this in the prospects for the jump server (within the Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan) window).
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Likelihood to Renew
ISL Online
We are renew the license for 10 years now and we do not see why would change that. It just gets better with every new version.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Usability
ISL Online
Everything works well and quickly, and that's all we need. ISL Light always works, and we've never had a situation where the server was inaccessible or the website was down. It simply gives us a 100% guarantee that we can always log in to our customers' systems. We can install the ISL Light client at our customers' sites without any problems, even though security is high.
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Microsoft
As alluded to in previous responses it is a very functional tool. It allows me to do my job quickly and efficiently every single day. There are little to no issues using the connection on a day to day basis. It handles everything you need from a remote connection perspective.
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Reliability and Availability
ISL Online
During the entere time of use, I have never come across any availability issues.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Performance
ISL Online
High performance!
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
ISL Online
We had issues with mouse skipping on mobile devices. Support is immediatly availabe, they examined our case and in one of the new versions of the app this problem was gone.
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Microsoft
Plenty of information and support online, and with many things it's pretty straight forward for the average tech to navigate and work with. But with most things online you're not the only person that's had the issue before, and using a search engine you should be able to figure it out.
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Implementation Rating
ISL Online
It was so easy!
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
ISL Online
Multi-monitor handling is super easy with ISL Light. The licensing model of ISL Light's self-hosted version is unbeatable. Great technical support, which often used before I purchased. The unbelievable price increase during and after the covid time of remote tools, has ended, when I found ISL Light. ISL Light is really a underdog in the remote utility market. I'm glad that I found it.
Read full review
Microsoft
RDCMan outshines TeamViewer in every possible way. It’s fast, more reliable, and easier to use. I have had frequent crashes and issues when using TeamViewer, while none with RDCMan. Screen responsiveness also seems much better with RDCMan versus TeamViewer. I would often experience lag issues when using TeamViewer.
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Scalability
ISL Online
Easy to deploy onto new devices. Ability to group devices so they can managed remotely efficiently.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Professional Services
ISL Online
No professional services used
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
ISL Online
  • Saves time: able to help our customers right-away. No need to visit them physically
  • Fastest aid in problem-solving: customer happy and more likely to return
  • Negative: not much negativity about ISL Light, although I get even less in-person contact with clients :-)
Read full review
Microsoft
  • its less time consuming for IT engineers because they have everything on one please
  • less FTE for the tasks
  • Lack of MFA option
Read full review
ScreenShots

ISL Light Screenshots

Screenshot of remote access control in ISL Light.Screenshot of unattended access setup. Access can be allowed to as many computers as desired.Screenshot of a connection with a remote client, which can be set up by sending an email or sharing a link.Screenshot of interactions with the Windows UAC on a remote device.Screenshot of the dual panel File Manager, used to transfer files.Screenshot of the web console where remote desktop sessions can be managed from a web browser.

RDCMan Screenshots

Screenshot of a view of RDCMan 2.22Screenshot of a view of RDCMan 2.22Screenshot of a view of RDCMan 2.81