At some point, TeamViewer became the default solution for remotely accessing a Windows machine. It's probably because of how easy it is to use across platforms, it doesn't require any real setup, and you can get connected about one minute after installing the software. For years, its ease of use made it my go-to choice.
After a while, I started getting tired of the nag screens and session timeouts. Then, the final straw was when TeamViewer accused me of using my free account for commercial purposes, requiring me to submit an appeal in order to unlock my account. I wasn't about to plead with a company to let me use their software, especially when there are dozens of alternatives out there that can do the same thing.
Rather than go hunting for a different third-party option, I decided to try RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol), Microsoft's native remote access solution. I hadn't given it a shot before because I was using TeamViewer back when I had Windows Home, and RDP requires Windows Pro on the system you wish to connect to. Since using RDP, I find that my remote sessions are noticeably faster and more responsive. I've also been enjoying the more integrated experience that third-party apps can't match.
Should you use TeamViewer, RustDesk, HelpWire, or AnyDesk?
The ultimate showdown you have been waiting for
What RDP is, and why it feels superior
A remote desktop experience that's native to the OS
RDP allows you to access and use a remote computer as if you were sitting directly in front of it. The fundamental difference from TeamViewer is that RDP is already integrated into the operating system. Like most other in-house solutions, that automatically makes it feel more seamless than installing an extra app. There's nothing to install, no third-party background service phoning home, and no nag screens guilt-tripping you into a paid plan.
When you connect to a remote system over RDP, you'll share clipboard access, audio, and even local peripherals like printers, webcams, or USB drives, if you configure it that way. If the computer you're using and the one you're connecting to are both on the same network, there's very low latency. On TeamViewer, even local connections require a round-trip to a TeamViewer relay in a data center somewhere. Since there's no middleman with RDP connections, everything feels noticeably snappier.
Drive redirection is a particularly useful feature of RDP that I keep enabled between my client PC and NAS. Inside the RDP client, you can map local drives to the remote session before connecting. That means you can drag files between your local machine and the remote desktop as if they were on the same system. It's one of the benefits of using a built-in tool, which can integrate itself into the OS in ways that other apps like TeamViewer can't.
Getting RDP set up and configured
It takes a little more work than TeamViewer
Enabling RDP on the host machine is pretty straightforward. Head to Settings > System > Remote Desktop, toggle it on, and Windows handles the rest, including the exception in Windows Firewall. On the client machine (the one connecting to the host), just open the built-in Remote Desktop app, and connect to the host via hostname or IP address. On a local network, the whole setup only takes a few minutes, and it should work on the first try.
Accessing the host from outside the local network takes a little more prep. By default, RDP listens on port 3389, and that port isn't exposed to the internet unless you deliberately configure it to be. One thing you can do is forward port 3389 on your router, but that's not generally advisable. The protocol has a long history of being targeted by automated scanners and brute-force attacks, so it's best not to take this approach.
The safer method is to pair RDP with a VPN. If you aren't already using one, Tailscale is free and it's dead simple to create a private network between your devices. Once Tailscale is running on both the host and the connecting machine, you use the Tailscale IP address to RDP in. This way, you never need to configure port forwarding or expose anything to the public internet. Setup takes maybe ten minutes, which, admittedly, is longer than TeamViewer, but a VPN is useful for a multitude of reasons beyond RDP. Alternatively, if you already have a VPN at home, you can use that.
Why many people still reach for TeamViewer
The ease of setup is hard to beat
The biggest caveat of Microsoft's Remote Desktop is that it requires Windows Pro to use. It's fine for the client machines to run Windows Home, but the machine they're connecting to needs Windows Pro or Enterprise. TeamViewer and other third-party apps don't have this restriction. For family tech support on computers you don't control, TeamViewer is the more versatile solution, since it works everywhere.
For power users, RDP's setup is easy. But it's still not as trivial as clicking through the TeamViewer installation wizard, which is so simple that anyone can do it. For that reason, TeamViewer still appeals to a massive number of non-technical users that don't mind an occasional nagging window about upgrading to a paid license. Plus, when guiding family members through setup so you can fix their machine, TeamViewer is simple to explain.
That said, I still mainly use RDP for all my remote desktop needs. I reserve TeamViewer for the rare situations where I need to support a machine I don't control, or when I need to get remote access configured very quickly across a mixed environment.
Don't pay to access your own computer
TeamViewer has garnered a reputation for being easy to use. I think that reputation is well-earned. However, for anyone on a Windows Pro computer, TeamViewer solves a problem that Windows could solve itself all along — just with a little more upfront setup. RDP's lack of pop-ups and licensing agreements make it an easy pick, and the faster connection (and no relay server) is why it's the better choice for remote access.