Apache Guacamole
Shares rank 12 of 19 game streaming software by recommenders
Free, self-hosted gateway for remote desktop access in a browser, with no client install needed. Critics note Java and Tomcat setup is painful and it has had serious vulnerabilities.
5 people recommended Apache Guacamole in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
Summary written by Claude from 8 comments.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- mixed feelings
- 1
- warn against or regret it
- 2
The record
Recommended in 3 of 12 months
In 4 different threads.
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 2.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
- Recommended in 4 threadsNeeds 5 or more, not met.
- The biggest thread supplies 40% of its recommendersNeeds half or less, met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 8 of the 8 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Browser access without client install
“When it’s in a browser you don’t need to install anything on the local machine.”
Comment from 25 Apr 2026 in “A web-based RDP client built with Go WebAssembly and grdp” “RDP with a html client (guacamole) seams like a good match”
Comment from 23 Dec 2025 in “We replaced H.264 streaming with JPEG screenshots (and it worked better)”
Other game streaming software people recommend
The four most recommended other game streaming software, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moonlight | 56 | 8 | 9 | 86% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Sunshine | 49 | 6 | 16 | 75% | 10 | — | Approved |
| RustDesk | 24 | 3 | 19 | 56% | 8 | — | — |
| Sunshine and Moonlight | 15 | 3 | 5 | 75% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Apache GuacamoleThis page | 5 | 1 | 2 | 71% | 3 | — | — |
Also compared with Windows RDP.
What people said
All 8 opinions about it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“a few built in features similar to https://guacamole.apache.org and Proxmox”
“a less trustworthy version of Apache Guacamole”
“setting it up wasn't pleasant with the whole java/tomcat thing, and it kept having severe vulnerabilities”
“I use apache guacamole for this with our OIDC proxy for this purpose”
“That was the main problem in guacamole rdp in browser.”
“When it’s in a browser you don’t need to install anything on the local machine.”
“Now here's the clever bit - qemu will allow you to expose the keyboard, mouse, and framebuffer as a VNC server.”
“RDP with a html client (guacamole) seams like a good match”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.