Zero Trust Platform
vs. Legacy Remote Desktop

The Fundamental Difference

The choice between Agilicus and RustDesk is a choice between a Complete Zero Trust Platform and Self-Hosted Remote Control Software. A choice between browser-native single-resource authorisation and maintaining self-hosted relay servers with open inbound firewall ports.

Agilicus AnyX is a complete Zero Trust Network Access platform comprising authentication, authorisation, audit, and access. A primary capability of AnyX is enabling secure, clientless remote access to graphical environments via Remote Desktop Protocol and VNC Desktop directly inside standard web browsers. Users authenticate through their corporate single sign-on identity providers (Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, Google Workspace) with mandatory multi-factor authentication, enforcing least-privilege authorisation without exposing internal networks or requiring inbound firewall openings.

RustDesk is an open-core remote desktop application that positions itself as an alternative to proprietary tools like TeamViewer and LogMeIn. While RustDesk allows organizations to self-host their rendezvous and relay infrastructure (hbbs and hbbr), running custom servers requires opening multiple inbound firewall ports (TCP 21115 to 21119, UDP 21116) and configuring public IP addresses, significantly expanding the network attack surface. As highlighted in community evaluations across industry and self-hosting forums, relying on public relays introduces governance and transparency concerns, while client binaries frequently trigger endpoint antivirus flags. Agilicus AnyX eliminates these operational burdens through an outbound-only connector architecture that requires zero open inbound ports and zero client software on end-user devices.