Deskflow
Keyboard and mouse sharing software
Open-source Synergy successor that shares one keyboard and mouse across computers, with critics noting missing trackpad support, high-DPI bugs on Windows and Wayland problems.
8 people recommended Deskflow in Hacker News comments, 2 had mixed feelings and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
Summary written by Claude from 12 comments.
12 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- mixed feelings
- 2
- warn against or regret it
- 2
The record
Recommended in 3 of 12 months
In 3 different threads.
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
- Recommended in 3 threadsNeeds 5 or more, not met.
- The biggest thread supplies 38% 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 12 of the 16 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
Open-source fork of Synergy
“these days i strongly prefer deskflow (oss version of synergy) for this sort of thing”
Comment from 18 May 2026 in “Two computers, one monitor, zero fiddling – Alex Plescan” “I also recommend checking out the open source fork of Synergy”
Comment from 18 May 2026 in “Two computers, one monitor, zero fiddling – Alex Plescan”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Trouble on Wayland and GDM
“Have fun trying to make Deskflow/Synergy working on GDM.”
Comment from 20 Mar 2026 in “Wayland set the Linux Desktop back by 10 years” “is not working well with Wayland”
Comment from 20 Mar 2026 in “Wayland set the Linux Desktop back by 10 years”
What people said
12 of the 16 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Deskflow clipboard sharing between devices missing file sharing”
“Love Deskflow. It has bugs with high-DPI displays on Windows.”
“i use deskflow between two mac’s and a pc, but it doesn’t support trackpads”
“But Deskflow occasionally crashes, so it'd be nice to have a hardware solution”
“I also recommend checking out the open source fork of Synergy”
“these days i strongly prefer deskflow (oss version of synergy) for this sort of thing”
“Beats remote desktop for sure.”
“I guess I'll have to see if I should switch over to that one now”
“Works fine on Wayland afaik.”
“is not working well with Wayland”
“install Deskflow, do my job, earn my money”
“Have fun trying to make Deskflow/Synergy working on GDM.”
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.