Chrome Remote Desktop vs. SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Chrome Remote Desktop
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Chrome Remote Desktop from Google is a cross-platform remote administration and remote desktop tool that requires the Chrome browser and an extension. It is free to use.N/A
SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)
Score 7.3 out of 10
N/A
DameWare Remote Support from Austin IT company SolarWinds is remote administration software for the remote control of desktops, laptops, and servers behind or outside the firewall, allowing registry editing, restart services, logging activity, account and password management, and more. The mobile app also provides access from a phone or tablet. DameWare Remote Support licensing is per technician, the number of end-user remote machines is irrelevant; one technician may receive a license for…
$370
one-time fee
Pricing
Chrome Remote DesktopSolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Dameware Mini Remote Control
$370
one-time fee
Dameware Remote Support
$520
one-time fee
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Chrome Remote DesktopSolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsDameWare Remote Support and Mini Remote Control are licensed based on the number of technician users that use the software for remote administration. There are no limits or restrictions for the number of end-users supported or the number of remote endpoints/computers supported. As you buy higher counts of licenses, the per-seat pricing goes down giving you a reduced total price.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Chrome Remote DesktopSolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)
Features
Chrome Remote DesktopSolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)
Remote Administration
Comparison of Remote Administration features of Product A and Product B
Chrome Remote Desktop
8.4
Ratings
3% above category average
SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)
8.6
Ratings
6% above category average
Screen sharing6.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
File transfer8.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Instant message8.00 Ratings8.30 Ratings
Secure remote access with Smart Card authentication9.00 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Access to sleeping/powered-off computers7.00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Over-the-Internet remote session10.00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Initiate remote control from mobile8.00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Remote management of servers & workstations9.00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Remote Active Directory® management9.00 Ratings7.20 Ratings
Centralized management dashboard9.00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Session record9.00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Annotations9.00 Ratings7.90 Ratings
Monitoring and Alerts9.00 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Multi-platform remote control7.00 Ratings7.10 Ratings
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Chrome Remote DesktopSolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)
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User Ratings
Chrome Remote DesktopSolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(0 ratings)
8.3
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
8.5
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
3.8
(0 ratings)
5.0
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(0 ratings)
5.0
(0 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
9.5
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
9.5
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.5
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.5
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Chrome Remote DesktopSolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)
Likelihood to Recommend
Chrome Remote Desktop is great for accessing machines remotely which cannot be accessed via Microsoft's Remote Desktop. It's especially nice for accessing machines of varying operating systems from a machine of a single operating system. For example, if I'm on my Windows laptop, I can always use Microsoft Remote Desktop to connect to local machines (or machines via a VPN), but I can't do the same with Macs. I can do both from Chrome Remote Desktop though, and this program is very lightweight, which is nice.
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I feel like this is a very robust solution that I would recommend to anyone who relies heavily on remote support. Most of the colleagues I work with already use SolarWinds products to one extent or the other. I feel the price for the solution is very fair and a good value for the product.
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Pros
  • It's very easy to connect to your computers. All you have to do is make sure you are logged in with your Google account on all of your devices.
  • It has good remote control options like print screen or power-off remotely.
  • I haven't faced any lag while remotely connecting to devices at work.
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  • DameWare Remote Support allows us to connect to the desktop of a user very easily and quickly. It can be configured to use different levels of security making it both fast and secure.
  • DameWare Remote Support can be deployed to all computers in the environment quickly using the built in capabilities of DameWare.
  • DameWare provides the ability to get system information as well using the full client not the mini remote control. This is handy in finding running services, events logs, etc and all based on our AD structure.
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Cons
  • More fluid video rendering. Does a good job, but could use a more consistent framerate at times.
  • A way to easier switch between multiple monitors.
  • Adding an ability to zoom for multi-monitor display. Sometimes on a single screen it can get difficult to read if trying to view them all.
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  • Connecting to last session is not always the last session.
  • Saving your position in the Personal Host List would be helpful. I have a folder structure 3 levels deep and when I'm going through a list of computers it is frustrating to have to browse down through the same levels each time.
  • When connecting to a host, an entry is saved in Saved Host List (even duplicates). I would be nice to have an option to save or not save like a quick connect option.
  • DameWare Mobile has separate password than desktop and cannot be linked to Active Directory password like desktop.
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Likelihood to Renew
A very easy lightweight tool that is completely scalable and deployed via google admin platform. The tool is free to use and works extremely well with the chrome devices we currently have deployed. Any organization using chrome or google suites should look into this tool as it's much easier to use then other remote software in the market
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We like DRS for remote support and have been using it for several years. It has made it easy to support our on network users when "hands on" support is required. We currently don't use DRS to its fullest simply because there are other tools that are easier to use, for instance we use AD Manager Plus to handle our AD tasks. I've not found DRS to be all that intuitive to use for anything other than remote support with the Mini Remote Control.
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Usability
Just a great product that has saved countless hours of commute to work and given the flexibility to be able to work from anywhere, whether at home or when away on holiday overseas. I love that it is a free product and is just as great as its competitors' products. It has also allowed me to prepare for work for the following day.
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It's effective and easy. It'll do what you want it to do as long as you don't expect the world. I expect it would be even better if you were a Solar Wind shop; for us this is the only thing we use from them, mainly due to price point on other components
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Reliability and Availability
No answers on this topic
Yes, always available.
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Performance
No answers on this topic
The application always seems responsive to me
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Support Rating
The only support I ever accessed were help files and web tutorials. I never tried to access personal support, mostly because I don't believe much of it is available. As a free service, my expectations for support are pretty low; that said, Chrome Remote Desktop is easy enough to configure and troubleshoot even with limited technical knowledge.
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I use a Samsung mobile device; DameWare Mobile was working and then after an Android update it started crashing. I reported the issue to DameWare and worked with the technicians and developers to gather data for them to correct the issue. They quickly published a beta release for me to test (which corrected the crashes) and then published an update to the Google Play Store.
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In-Person Training
No answers on this topic
It was excellent
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Online Training
No answers on this topic
The videos were more than sufficient to learn the product
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Implementation Rating
None, its quick and easy
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It helps greatly if you know someone already using DameWare Remote Support. I was fortunate as my tech support guys were using it at their hospital and assisted me through the purchase, download and implementation of remote support. As well as, knowing how many licenses to purchase at the time. You have to make sure that anyone assisting in IT can have access to the program with their own license.
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Alternatives Considered
Most of the other software solutions come at a cost for the licensing, and it is usually not cheap, given that you need to have commercial licensing for a business/organization. Also, with the other remote desktop solutions, there is more of a learning curve in order to use, them. With Chrome Remote Desktop that is not the case. Lastly, some of the problems that were seen in some of the paid commercial solutions, have not been seen with Chrome Remote Desktop.
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SCCM is pretty decent as a Remote Support tool, the main difference is that, as SCCM is much more, it takes long time to load and uses u lots of resources that are wasted if you only uses it to Remote. Dameware Remote Support is specialized software, so it is powerful enough for all your needs, while being light enough to barely make a dent on the system resources.
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Scalability
No answers on this topic
You get an 8 because of the constant initial freeze on most connections. Takes a reconnect to have it work.
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Return on Investment
  • Saved many hours of unnecessary community to my business - 60 to 120 hours a year.
  • Given a lot of flexibility to remote access work computers from home or when away on holiday.
  • Saved time at work the next day by preparing work the previous night by using this product to access work computers.
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  • DameWare has allowed us to maintain our non-traditional approach to IT support. It allows our administrators to work from anywhere and has extended their reach to clients domestic and abroad.
  • Return on investment was realized as soon as we purchased the licenses. We don't have to maintain a large office space or overhead costs due to the flexibility it allows our administrators.
  • First call resolution has increased drastically since implementing DameWare company-wide. The user no longer has to wait to reproduce an error. We can screen share and view it as it happens and mitigate the issues.
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ScreenShots

Chrome Remote Desktop Screenshots

Screenshot of the option to share a screen or access another computer in Chrome Remote Desktop.Screenshot of the screen to setup a remote connection.

SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS) Screenshots

Screenshot of DameWare Remote Support Management ConsoleScreenshot of Remotely Connect to Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X ComputersScreenshot of Over-the-Internet Remote Session via Secure Proxy ServerScreenshot of Connect to Remote Computers from iOS and Android Mobile Devices