The Best Chrome Remote Desktop Alternative for Mac
Chrome Remote Desktop is free, but every connection to your Mac goes through Chrome, your Google Account, and Google's service, and Curtain mode doesn't work on current macOS. Here's why a standard RDP server is a simpler way in, and how ProRDP compares.
Chrome Remote Desktop is one of the easiest ways to get into another computer. It’s free, it runs in a browser, and if you already use Chrome and a Google Account, setting it up takes a few minutes. Plenty of people use it to reach their own Mac, and if you’re here, you’re probably wondering whether there’s a way in that doesn’t depend on Chrome and Google.
This page covers how Chrome Remote Desktop reaches a Mac, what it depends on according to Google’s own help pages, and why a standard RDP server on the Mac is a better fit if all you want is your own desktop.
How does Chrome Remote Desktop connect to a Mac?
Chrome Remote Desktop has two halves. On the Mac you want to reach, you open Chrome, go to the Chrome Remote Desktop website, and “follow the onscreen directions to download and install Chrome Remote Desktop.”1 That installs a host app on the Mac. Google’s uninstall steps call it the “Chrome Remote Desktop Host Uninstaller,” which is the easiest way to tell it’s there.1 Google adds that “you may have to enter your computer password to give Chrome Remote Desktop access” and that “you may also be prompted to change security settings in Preferences.” On current macOS, that means granting the host Accessibility and Screen Recording in System Settings › Privacy & Security.
To connect, you open Chrome on the other computer, go back to the same website, pick the Mac from your list, and “enter the PIN required to access another computer.”1 The Android and iOS apps work the same way. Underneath is a protocol Google developed itself, which Wikipedia says is “internally called Chromoting.”2
Google says “all remote desktop sessions are fully encrypted,”1 and describes the service as “built on Google’s secure infrastructure using the latest open web technologies like WebRTC.”3
It runs through Chrome and Google’s service
You don’t connect to a Chrome Remote Desktop host by its address. Your Mac is registered to your Google Account, it shows up in the list on Google’s website, and Google’s service sets up the connection. Google’s admin guide says the website and the mobile apps “all three use the same service API,” and that blocking it “prevents all Chrome Remote Desktop functionality for both outgoing connections from clients on your network and incoming connections to hosts on your network.”4
That’s what makes Chrome Remote Desktop work across the internet with no setup, but it also means:
- You need Chrome on the Mac and on the computer you connect from. Google’s steps for setting up the Mac and for connecting to it each start with “On your computer, open Chrome.”1 Wikipedia notes that another Chromium-based browser, such as Microsoft Edge, can stand in for it.2
- You need a Google Account in good standing. The Mac is tied to the account you set it up with, and you see it only when you’re signed in to that account.
- Your employer or school may turn it off. Google says “if you’re on a managed account, your administrator may control your access to Chrome Remote Desktop,”1 and admins can “turn Chrome Remote Desktop on or off for users in your Google Admin console.”4
- Google sees some of your usage. Google says it “collects and stores some anonymized data about network delays and how long your session lasted.”1
Google’s troubleshooting steps also ask you to make sure your network allows “outbound UDP traffic,” “traffic on TCP port 443 (HTTPS),” and “traffic on TCP and UDP on port 3478 (STUN),”1 which is how the two ends find their way to each other through firewalls.
Curtain mode doesn’t work on current macOS
When you’re connected to your Mac from somewhere else, you usually don’t want anyone at the Mac watching what you do on it. Chrome Remote Desktop has a setting for that, Curtain mode, which Google says can “prevent someone physically present at a host machine from seeing what a user is doing when remotely connected.”4
It’s an admin policy you set from Terminal, and it isn’t available on a modern Mac. Google’s Mac steps open with a note: “This feature is no longer supported on Mac devices running macOS Big Sur or later.”4 On every Mac that runs a current version of macOS, anyone in front of the Mac can watch your Chrome Remote Desktop session on its screen.
Why use RDP instead?
Chrome Remote Desktop was built to make remote access as easy as visiting a website, for people who already live in Chrome and a Google Account. That’s why the browser, the account, and Google’s service are part of every connection. If you’re getting into your own Mac, from your own network or over your own VPN, there’s a more direct option.
RDP is a standard protocol, not a product. It’s what Windows Remote Desktop uses, and clients for it already exist everywhere: Remote Desktop Connection is built into every copy of Windows, Microsoft’s Windows App runs on Windows and Mac, and FreeRDP runs on Linux. You don’t need a particular browser, and you don’t need software from the same company on both ends.
It connects straight to the computer. An RDP client connects to the Mac’s address and signs in with a username and password. There’s no account to sign in to first, and no outside service that has to be up, or allowed by your admin, for the connection to work.
It was built to carry a whole desktop. RDP was designed as a set of channels inside one encrypted connection: graphics, input, audio, clipboard, files, and more. Modern RDP streams the screen as H.264 video, which a Mac can encode in dedicated hardware, and the client picks the resolution. If you want the wire-level details, RDP vs. VNC walks through how RDP works.
The catch has always been that macOS doesn’t come with an RDP server, which is why remote access products bring their own software to the Mac. ProRDP fills that gap with RDP instead.
Meet ProRDP
ProRDP is a native RDP server for macOS. You install it on the Mac you want to reach, in place of the Chrome Remote Desktop host, and from then on any standard RDP client can connect to it. To the client, your Mac looks like a Windows PC.
A few things that matter if you’re coming from Chrome Remote Desktop:
- It’s free for home and personal use. There’s no account, no sign-up, no device limit, and no features held back for a higher plan. See Licensing.
- Nothing goes through the cloud. Your client connects straight to your Mac by its address, and you sign in with ProRDP’s username and password. To reach the Mac from outside your home network, connect over a VPN.
- It can black out the Mac’s own screens. In Control mode, the Mac’s displays go black while you’re connected, so nobody nearby can see what you’re doing, and they come back when you disconnect. See Display mode.
- Every connection is encrypted. ProRDP uses TLS on every connection, with Network Level Authentication on by default.
- You don’t need ProRDP, or a browser, on the other end. Connect from the RDP client that’s already on your Windows PC, or from Windows App or FreeRDP.
- It’s fast. ProRDP captures the screen with ScreenCaptureKit and encodes it on the Mac’s hardware video encoder, at up to 60 fps and up to 4K, with a bitrate you can set from 20 to 120 Mbit/s. An idle desktop sends almost nothing.
- It uses all your monitors. A client with several monitors gets up to four, each a full-screen display.
Chrome Remote Desktop vs. ProRDP on a Mac
This comparison is for using Chrome Remote Desktop to reach your own Mac, with the Chrome Remote Desktop host installed on the Mac. The Chrome Remote Desktop column uses Google’s own help pages wherever they say something, checked in October 2026.
| Chrome Remote Desktop | ProRDP | |
|---|---|---|
| Price for home use | Free | Free for home and personal use |
| Account | A Google Account, which your employer or school can stop from using Chrome Remote Desktop4 | None |
| How you connect | By picking the Mac from your list on Google’s website, through Google’s service4 | Directly, by IP address or hostname, on your network or over a VPN |
| Software on the computer you connect from | Chrome or another Chromium-based browser, or the Android or iOS app2 | Any RDP client: Remote Desktop Connection (built into Windows), Windows App, FreeRDP |
| Sign-in | The PIN set for that computer1 | ProRDP’s username and password |
| Protocol | Google’s own, called Chromoting2 | RDP, an open, documented standard |
| Encryption | “Fully encrypted,” according to Google1 | TLS on every connection, with Network Level Authentication |
| Hiding the Mac’s screen | Curtain mode isn’t supported on macOS Big Sur or later4 | Control mode blacks out the Mac’s own screens during the session |
| Usage data | Google collects anonymized data on network delays and session length1 | None. ProRDP has no telemetry or analytics. See the Privacy policy |
| Recording and audit trail | Not covered in Google’s help pages | Built in: a tamper-evident connection log and optional per-session video |
When Chrome Remote Desktop still makes sense
To be fair to Chrome Remote Desktop, it’s hard to beat for getting started. If you need to reach a Mac on a network you can’t set up a VPN for, want to connect from a phone, a tablet, or a Chromebook, or need to help a friend by sending them a one-time code, Chrome Remote Desktop handles all of that for free with nothing but a browser. ProRDP is for one thing: getting into your own Mac with a fast, encrypted, standard RDP connection.
How do you switch from Chrome Remote Desktop to ProRDP?
Switching takes a few minutes, and you can leave Chrome Remote Desktop installed until you’re happy:
- Install ProRDP on your Mac and grant it the Screen Recording and Accessibility permissions it asks for.
- Set a username and password in the Account pane. These are what your RDP client signs in with.
- Click Start in the General pane. ProRDP shows you the address to connect to.
- Connect from your RDP client. On Windows, open Remote Desktop Connection, type the Mac’s address, and sign in. On a Mac, use Windows App. On Linux, use FreeRDP.
Once it’s working, click Disable remote connections next to the Mac in your computer list on the Chrome Remote Desktop website, then run the Chrome Remote Desktop Host Uninstaller on the Mac and click Uninstall.1 Finally, revoke the permissions you gave the host in System Settings › Privacy & Security.
For a full walkthrough from each kind of client, see How to RDP into a Mac and Getting started.
Google, “Access another computer with Chrome Remote Desktop.” https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/1649523 ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Wikipedia, “Chrome Remote Desktop.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrome_Remote_Desktop ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Google, “Chrome Remote Desktop.” https://remotedesktop.google.com/ ↩︎
Google, “Control use of Chrome Remote Desktop.” https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/2799701 ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎