ISL Light vs. Remote Desktop Services

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ISL Light
Score 9.6 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
ISL Light is remote support and remote access software that enables SMBs and large enterprises to offer fast and efficient support and maintenance for Windows, Mac and Linux computers as well as mobile device support for Android and iOS.
$34.90
per month (billed annually) per concurrent user
Remote Desktop Services
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Remote Desktop Services from Microsoft is virtual desktop and remote user session technology.N/A
Pricing
ISL LightRemote Desktop Services
Editions & Modules
Standard
$34.90
per month (billed annually) per concurrent user
Self-Hosted
$44.90
per month (billed annually) per concurrent user
Premium
$54.90
per month (billed annually) per concurrent user
Enterprise (Managed Private Cloud)
$23,976
per year 20 concurrent users
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ISL LightRemote Desktop Services
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsISL Online's pricing model considers the number of licenses purchased, which determines the maximum number of concurrent users within the organization. A concurrent user is defined as anyone running one or more sessions simultaneously from any device. There are no restrictions on the number of ISL Light users within a company or the remote devices managed. For example, with three licenses, an unlimited number of people in a company can use ISL Light and can access an unlimited number of remote devices, but only three users can use it concurrently. When one of these three users ends their session, a fourth user can begin their session, and so on.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ISL LightRemote Desktop Services
Considered Both Products
ISL Light
Chose ISL Light
Fast, quick, nonsense free, can downgrade picture quality for clients on mobile broadband

The three above mentioned softwares like CWA, Splashtop and Teamviewer can require you to lookup information on how to use the software, in-comparison to ISL where it's easy graphically.
Chose ISL Light
Much more intuitive when compared to remote desktop and as no changes are required on the firewall on the server side, it's a much more secure connection.
Chose ISL Light
Support is always quick and responsive, although I only had to contact support for license renewals over the past few years, so in essence, once a year. We made use of ISL Online at other companies too, at that time there was no real contender in the market according to my …
Chose ISL Light
TeamViewer is too expensive and I don't like the unattended management. AnyDesk doesn't have the functions that I like most about ISL Light.

TeamViewer es demasiado caro y no me gustó la gestión desatendida. AnyDesk no tiene las funciones que más me gustan de ISL Light.
Chose ISL Light
AnyDesk, TeamViewer and Splashtop
Chose ISL Light
Fairness, Support and License-Costs are quite important for us. Also the abbility to install an own ISL Light-Server onPrem, if we need it in furture.
Chose ISL Light
ISL Light is easy to use and covers all our permanant access devices but is also easy to manage our ad-hoc clients, the only negative over some is you can't automate remote tasks
Chose ISL Light
I used LogMeIn Rescue for several years, and it has more features rich but is horrifically expensive compared to ISL Light, which was the main reason I changed. Chrome Remote Desktop must be viewed as a threat in the remote desktop application sphere. The features and usability …
Chose ISL Light
Cheaper and more reliable. ISL gets the basics right.
Chose ISL Light
Functionality is similar but that where it end for us.
If you prefer value for money, no surprising price increases (or any increase!), instant support from UK based team who can resolve any product related query then I think ISL Light is product for you.
Chose ISL Light
each of these solutions mised some functionailty that was included in ISL Light, and they were all more expensive.
Chose ISL Light
Multi-monitor handling is super easy with ISL Light. The licensing model of ISL Light's self-hosted version is unbeatable. Great technical support, which often used before I purchased. The unbelievable price increase during and after the covid time of remote tools, has ended, …
Chose ISL Light
ISL Light has support. At AnyDesk, I've paid for 6 years, but after four years, they wanted more money, as they had a new license with only one concurrent session. ISL Light has support, but AnyDesk Support almost does not exist. The ISL address book works fine, but AnyDesk has …
Chose ISL Light
More user-friendly. More affordable. A Slovenian product (which means it supports the Slovene language). User support is very satisfactory and responsive. Simple installation and does not require additional knowledge from colleagues.
Chose ISL Light
Price fit our needs, and it had all the functions we needed. The others all had issues that were preventing me from using it as we do on a day to day basis. Teamviewer especially has declined to a horrible state, and they trap you in with forced renewals which is seriously …
Chose ISL Light
At first we were impressed by how easy it is to get help from a remote partner. Later we found out that ISL Light is also a local product and we are happy to support local businesses.
Chose ISL Light
While these are all good products and provide a solution in other use cases, at the time we were searching, ISL Light fit our use case best. It is a completely self-contained and privately hosted solution with a tool for each step, user contact, information gathering, remote …
Chose ISL Light
While both apps have their strengths, we found ISL Light to be a better fit for our usecase.
Chose ISL Light
Easier to use, easier to install and easier to manage. No dropping in connectivity and the GUI is much better than any other program.
Chose ISL Light
We chose ISL Light because of ease of use for our customers and end users, as it's the fastest way of getting a connection to the mentioned user or PC. A big role also plays the reliability of secure connection.
Chose ISL Light
ISL has better and simpler pricing also thie support is 10/10.
Remote Desktop Services
Chose Remote Desktop Services
Because it is a built-in, free solution for a small set of managed computers. No extra licenses required. No budget. Setup and configuration is instanteneous.
Chose Remote Desktop Services
TeamViewer and Splashtop
Chose Remote Desktop Services
Same functionality but RDP is already installed on Windows so no client to install and it's cheaper.
Chose Remote Desktop Services
All remote desktop or desktop virtualization services are quite costly and very complicated to set up. Microsoft's Remote Desktop Services has the advantage of being very available for many years, meaning practically any device can be used as a workstation. Tablets, …
Chose Remote Desktop Services
Remote Desktop is great for onsite or point-to-point connections without having to have a mediator type server.
Chose Remote Desktop Services
We used RDS on-site primarily because of how easy it is for users to transition from their own desktop to a remote desktop. However, from off-site, there are VPN and other security considerations to take into account, and the process gets a little more complex. In this …
Chose Remote Desktop Services
Solutions can be expensive and often offer more options than you need/want. Paying those extra dollars is tough when you have a budget. RDS in many cases works well and is cost effective.
Chose Remote Desktop Services
I use Remote Desktop Services only and have never used other services to replace it.
Chose Remote Desktop Services
Since Remote Desktop Services comes with the Windows OS, there's no need to install any additional software or agent for it to function. Even on the Mac, there's a client that can be installed for this to run properly. Unfortunately, unlike TeamViewer or Ultra VNC, Remote …
Chose Remote Desktop Services
Among all the reasons I've previously listed the main reason for choosing RDS is for the reliability and fast connection.
Chose Remote Desktop Services
Remote Desktop Services is an initiation from Microsoft in my view. The rest all are adapters for this and have a considerably inovated feature base.
Chose Remote Desktop Services
We have reviewed Citrix Xen Desktop and VMware's VDI solutions. For the cost, when compared to what Remote Desktop Services can provide us there was no contest. Remote Desktop Services can provide us all the features we require with little to no cost since we are an EA customer …
Chose Remote Desktop Services
I also used 2x Client and Citrix in the past. Both worked nice. Citrix is a little more complex and once with Windows updates damaged a Citrix installation causing all ICA traffic to not accept connections. 2x Client was simple and free for 3 connections (or used to be). Both …
Chose Remote Desktop Services
We selected Remote Desktop Services based upon price alone. Other solutions on the market are significantly more expensive, but if your company can foot the bill you should seriously consider products that have been on the market for longer. The lack of an ability to easily …
Chose Remote Desktop Services
Mainly licensing optimization, as Remote Desktop Services CALs are needed anyway for other products.
Chose Remote Desktop Services
Remote Desktop Services is close to free, it is native and performs far better from a user experience point of view with almost no lag and excellent integration to the normal desktop environment. Even if another product is used Remote Desktop Services still forms part of the …
Features
ISL LightRemote Desktop Services
Remote Administration
Comparison of Remote Administration features of Product A and Product B
ISL Light
8.0
Ratings
1% below category average
Remote Desktop Services
8.9
Ratings
9% above category average
Screen sharing8.30 Ratings9.30 Ratings
File transfer7.70 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Instant message7.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Secure remote access with Smart Card authentication8.00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Access to sleeping/powered-off computers6.70 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Over-the-Internet remote session8.60 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Initiate remote control from mobile7.40 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Remote management of servers & workstations8.50 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Remote Active Directory® management8.70 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Centralized management dashboard8.20 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Session record8.20 Ratings9.50 Ratings
Annotations8.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Monitoring and Alerts7.90 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Multi-platform remote control8.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ISL LightRemote Desktop Services
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Medium-sized Companies
Remote Desktop Manager
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Score 9.0 out of 10
Remote Desktop Manager
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Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Remote Desktop Manager
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Score 9.0 out of 10
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Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
ISL LightRemote Desktop Services
Likelihood to Recommend
8.6
(0 ratings)
9.3
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(0 ratings)
6.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.2
(0 ratings)
6.6
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(0 ratings)
5.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.1
(0 ratings)
3.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
5.0
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
ISL LightRemote Desktop Services
Likelihood to Recommend
Perfect for remotely accessing user machines. Better than any of the competitors such as Anydesk etc. Feels a lot safer and the auto rollout makes it perfect for large organisations and small Cannot think of a case when it's less appropriate!
Read full review
Remote Desktop Services provides access to work environments from any device. This allows us to ensure business continuity in case of disaster. It provides admins more control over access and security. Remote Desktop Services simplifies software updates and compliance management by reducing the need to act on end users devices.
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Pros
  • Prikaz strani na kateri se nahaja uporabnik
  • Prikaz kontaktov uporabnikov
  • Zgodovina pogovorov s strankami
  • Možnost spreminjanja statusa dosegljivosti
  • Nalaganje datotek, zajemov slik,..
  • Klepetalnik, ki je enostaven za uporabo
  • Nas obvesti, da smo dobili sporočilo, tudi če smo izven klepetalnika
  • Display the page the user is on
  • Displaying user contacts
  • Customer conversation history
  • Ability to change availability status
  • Uploading files, capturing images, etc.
  • An easy-to-use chatbot
  • Notifies us that we have received a message, even if we are outside the chat room
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  • Relative ease of setup: in comparison to some of the other solutions on the market (Citrix, etc.), Remote Desktop Services is rather easy to set up and get configured in your environment.
  • Feature set: Microsoft offers a good deal of the same features many competitors offer in the same space including a mobile app and the ability to have a "native" app feel for a remote application.
  • Inexpensive Licensing: in comparison to other solutions on the market Remote Desktop Services is inexpensive.
  • Move LOB applications closer to their server counterparts: this goes for all remote solutions, but if you have a line of business application that makes a great deal of calls across the network to your data center, your remote office users will likely benefit from the performance and stability side by moving those client side applications into the data center.
Read full review
Cons
  • Need a control toggle at least on AlwaysOn. User moves the mouse and you lose all control instantly.
  • Clipboard features are a bit wonky still, and your clipboard seems to get emptied a lot. So if you're trying to copy and paste you might lose something
  • Passwords for the systems are saved per machine, so if you work from multiple devices it can be tricky if you have complex passwords
Read full review
  • Advanced configuration is required.
  • Off-site access from a different network is very insecure unless a VPN can be used.
  • It's complicated and relatively costly for multi-user environments, as each user or device requires a CAL on top of the server licensing.
  • Incredibly complicated licensing strategy from Microsoft.
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Likelihood to Renew
We are renew the license for 10 years now and we do not see why would change that. It just gets better with every new version.
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No answers on this topic
Usability
It is very easy to use. You hardly need any computer knowledge to learn how to use it, as everything is displayed in easily recognizable icons. Although its appearance does not look cutting-edge, it could have a more modern look, but it must be said that everything is understandable, and with just a couple of taps on each icon that appears, you already know what each thing is for, and it allows you to use it skillfully and fluidly. Everything is perfect in this regard.
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Once set up it works well and is extremely easy for users. Getting it right can be difficult, it is easy to setup insecurely. Maintenance can be difficult with only a single broker and with manual switchover required for redundant gateways. Troubleshooting access issues can also be difficult
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Reliability and Availability
During the entere time of use, I have never come across any availability issues.
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No answers on this topic
Performance
High performance!
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There are some third party tools available that allow you to manage multiple connections.
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Support Rating
We had issues with mouse skipping on mobile devices. Support is immediatly availabe, they examined our case and in one of the new versions of the app this problem was gone.
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As with any Microsoft Server product, support for Remote Desktop Services requires a paid support package. These are license-based and very costly, on top of the already costly product licensing. Microsoft's licensing is complicated to begin with, so setting up licensing alone essentially requires a licensing expert's counsel. There is community documentation and support available on Microsoft websites, as well as community websites.
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Implementation Rating
It was so easy!
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
In our specific case user console simplicity in ISL light is a major positive for ISL light. ISL always on agent for unattended access is vastly superior to TeamViewer's solution. TeamViewer has become bloated in recent years, changing things for the sake of changing them, rather than improving their offering. One advantage TeamViewer has is a copy-paste file function that does not require the use of cumbersome file transfer tool.
Read full review
We used RDS on-site primarily because of how easy it is for users to transition from their own desktop to a remote desktop. However, from off-site, there are VPN and other security considerations to take into account, and the process gets a little more complex. In this situation, especially if you're trying to support a user who is outside the local network, it can be easier to use something like Chrome Remote Desktop or TeamViewer. However, the Windows functionality of RDS is totally unmatched.
Read full review
Scalability
Easy to deploy onto new devices. Ability to group devices so they can managed remotely efficiently.
Read full review
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • We can now help our customers within minutes. Sending a technician could take hours or even days.
  • We can immediately help customers who are stuck and unable to refuel so that they can continue their journey.
  • We can now quickly resolve warranty cases, so that it hardly costs us any money.
Read full review
  • Remote Desktop Services has had a major positive ROI impact at our firm. There were a number of times when our staff was traveling abroad to business meetings with a laptop that had missing presentations. But once they had internet access, a Remote Desktop Services connection is established, and presentation data can now be shown directly from their laptops as if theyr'e sitting in our office.
  • Remote Desktop Services has made it possible for Mac staff users to use their computing devices to access our network system to run Windows applications and access all our network data.
  • Remote Desktop Services has made it possible for our staff to successfully work remotely from outside the office. There were many occasions when emergencies came up which prevented staff from coming into the office to work. But as long as they have a computer with an internet connection, they used Remote Desktop Services to connect to our terminal server and successfully ran the programs to modify data files on the network without losing a beat.
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ScreenShots

ISL Light Screenshots

Screenshot of remote access control in ISL Light.Screenshot of unattended access setup. Access can be allowed to as many computers as desired.Screenshot of a connection with a remote client, which can be set up by sending an email or sharing a link.Screenshot of interactions with the Windows UAC on a remote device.Screenshot of the dual panel File Manager, used to transfer files.Screenshot of the web console where remote desktop sessions can be managed from a web browser.