Free while in beta
Reach your computer without handing it to anyone. You can run the whole thing yourself, and no server in between holds a key.
It shows an ID and a one-time password.
A computer, a phone or a tablet. Scanning the code on screen does the same thing.
They are told, and they can end it at any moment.
Use it for
They open DeskPair and read you two things. You do the rest.
Leave it signed in with DeskPair open, and it is there when you need it.
It is reachable only while somebody is signed in and DeskPair is open. There is no unattended mode.
The Android and iOS apps control a computer from wherever you are.
Features
On Windows, macOS and Linux the same program controls another computer and lets this one be controlled. The Android and iOS apps control a computer; a phone is never the one being controlled.
The same program controls another computer and lets yours be controlled. Opening it is what makes this machine reachable; closing it is what stops that.
Two computers on the same network talk to each other. Across the internet they try to reach each other directly first, and fall back to a relay only when the networks between them refuse.
Send and fetch files during a session, over the same encrypted channel as the picture.
The Android and iOS apps control a computer by touch or as a trackpad, switch between its displays, play its sound and send the clipboard across.
Hear the remote computer. Copy on one and paste on the other: text, formatted text and images. And type to the person at the far end.
Save the computers you use, organise them into folders, and find the same list on every device you sign in from. The account is optional; the app works without one.
Security
No advertising, and nothing that follows you anywhere: not in the apps, and not on this site.
AES-256-GCM between the two computers, with keys they agree between themselves and identities they check with ECDSA P-256. No server holds a key.
Every computer has an identity key of its own, and the signalling server signs which key belongs to which ID. Connecting directly with no server, the key is remembered the first time and you are warned if it ever changes.
The one-time password can be set to change after every session, or after a few wrong guesses. Wrong guesses are slowed down, and then blocked.
There is no unattended mode and no service to install. Somebody has to be signed in and have DeskPair open, and whoever is at the keyboard sees every connection and can end it. That is a limit, and it is also the point.
Self-hosted
The signalling server, the relay and this portal are all part of the project. Point DeskPair at your own and nothing of yours ever reaches us: not an account, not an address, not a connection. That is not a paid tier; it is how it is built.
Pricing
No paid tier exists. If that ever changes it will be announced first, and running your own servers will never cost anything.
FAQ
Open DeskPair on the computer you want to reach. It shows an ID and a one-time password. Type both into DeskPair on the device you are using. No account is needed for this.
It is meant to. The one-time password is replaced after a run of wrong guesses, and in Settings you can have it replaced after every session as well, so a password somebody saw once does not let them back in later.
No. DeskPair has no unattended mode and installs no service. Somebody has to be signed in with DeskPair open. Turning on start-at-sign-in means it is running again after a restart, but the sign-in screen itself can never be reached.
To introduce two computers that do not know each other's address. The signalling server hands each one the other's address and gets out of the way; it never sees what you do. When the networks refuse a direct connection, a relay forwards the encrypted stream without a key to it.
Yes, and it is a first-class path rather than an afterthought. Point DeskPair's settings at your own signalling server, relay and portal, and nothing of yours reaches us at all.
It has to, before anything can be captured. Grant it in System Settings, Privacy and Security, Screen Recording, then start DeskPair again. macOS ties that consent to the exact application it was granted to, so replacing DeskPair with a build signed differently asks again.
Write to [email protected]. Saying which version you are on and what the other computer is running saves a round trip; the version is in Settings, under About.
Get started
One ID and one one-time password, then one encrypted line between two computers.