AnyDesk vs TeamViewer vs DisplayDesk: An Honest Comparison for 2026

There is no universally "best" remote access tool. The right answer depends on what you are managing: if your primary workload is Windows PC support for employees, TeamViewer or AnyDesk will probably serve you better than DisplayDesk. If you manage Fire TV or Android TV sticks behind signage screens, menu boards or hotel TVs, the comparison looks very different.

This is an honest comparison written by the DevDevices team. We will tell you clearly where our competitors are stronger, not just where we are.

TeamViewer

What it is

TeamViewer is the market leader in remote desktop access, founded in 2005. It has the most mature feature set of any tool in this comparison, with strong support for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android. It is used by millions of IT professionals worldwide, has an extensive integration ecosystem and offers enterprise features including help-desk ticketing, scripted access and IoT device management.

Where it excels

• Windows PC and server remote support — this is what it was built for and it is excellent at it
• Cross-platform coverage: if your team manages a mix of Windows, Mac, Linux and mobile devices, no other tool covers as many platforms as thoroughly
• Mature enterprise integrations: ServiceNow, Salesforce, Microsoft Teams
• Brand recognition: most enterprise IT departments already have it approved and deployed

Where it falls short

• Price: TeamViewer business plans start at approximately €50/month for a single concurrent session. For device fleet management, you need the IoT or Tensor enterprise plans, which are significantly more expensive and require direct sales negotiation
• Android TV specialisation: TeamViewer was not built for Android TV. Basic remote access works, but fleet management features (bulk commands, OTA app distribution, scheduled automation) are limited or absent for Android-specific use cases
• Complexity: The breadth of TeamViewer's feature set comes with a corresponding learning curve. For organisations that only need Android device management, much of the interface is irrelevant

AnyDesk

What it is

AnyDesk was founded in 2014 by former TeamViewer engineers. It was designed to address TeamViewer's most common criticism: performance, particularly on slower connections. AnyDesk's proprietary DeskRT codec delivers genuinely impressive performance on low-bandwidth connections and its pricing is significantly lower than TeamViewer's.

Where it excels

• Performance: AnyDesk consistently outperforms TeamViewer on low-latency, high-quality remote sessions for Windows and macOS. The DeskRT codec is a genuine technical differentiator
• Price: AnyDesk's Essential plan starts at approximately €14.90/month for a single seat — significantly cheaper than TeamViewer for PC remote access
• Simplicity: The interface is cleaner and easier to learn than TeamViewer's
• Performance on mobile: AnyDesk's Android client works well for connecting from a mobile device to a desktop

Where it falls short

• Android TV fleet management: AnyDesk has no dedicated Android TV fleet management capability. You can establish a remote session to an Android device, but there is no fleet dashboard, no bulk operations, no scheduled automation
• Device monitoring: There is no persistent monitoring or alerting for device health in AnyDesk's standard plans
• Hospitality and signage use cases: AnyDesk is fundamentally a human-to-device tool. It is not designed for the machine-to-machine management workflows that device fleets require

DisplayDesk (by DevDevices)

What it is

DisplayDesk is our remote management tool for screens driven by Fire TV and Android TV sticks. It was built for what TeamViewer and AnyDesk do not address well: many unattended screens across many sites — in-store signage, menu boards, reception and waiting-room screens, hotel TVs — looked after by a small team.

Where it excels

• Made for TV sticks: a live view of each screen in the browser, and a remote control (arrows, OK, Back, Home, PIN keypad) sent the way the Fire TV's own remote sends it — so it also works on system dialogs that ignore a mouse click
• Fleet view: every device with its site, online status, agent version and whether the signage player is on screen
• Remote tasks: reboot, install an app, push a configuration or run a command on one device or several, with each result in the dashboard
• Keeps the player in front: if the signage player is no longer on screen, the device brings it back and the dashboard flags it
• Safe updates: a new agent is tested on the device first and runs on trial; if it does not stay healthy, the device returns to the previous version on its own
• No changes on site: devices connect outbound over an encrypted connection, so no ports have to be opened on the local network

Where it falls short

• No Windows or macOS: DisplayDesk manages TV sticks, not PCs. For employee computers you will need a separate tool
• Narrow on purpose: no enterprise integrations (ServiceNow, Salesforce) and no content editor — it keeps your existing signage player running rather than replacing it
• Setup needs a Windows PC: new devices are enrolled with a small Windows tool on the same network as the TV stick

The comparison at a glance

How to choose

Choose TeamViewer if: Your primary use case is Windows/macOS employee PC support, you need the broadest possible platform coverage, and price is not the determining factor.

Choose AnyDesk if: You need fast, affordable Windows/macOS remote access and your Android device management needs are minimal or ad hoc.

Choose DisplayDesk if: Fire TV or Android TV sticks driving screens are your main management target, you need to look after a fleet (not just open the occasional remote session), and you want licensing that follows the number of screens rather than concurrent sessions.

For many IT teams in retail, restaurants, offices and hospitality, the honest answer is: DisplayDesk for the screens, and AnyDesk or a basic remote desktop tool for the Windows machines you also look after. Each tool then does the job it was built for.