# X2Go

6 Hacker News commenters recommended X2Go and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People like forwarding single applications over the network instead of whole desktops, and say it works better than many alternatives, though getting it running can be painful. Some recommenders still distrust it.

## Why people recommend it

- Works better than alternatives (2 comments): "I used to use x2go before Wayland, and despite the pain of actually getting it working even that worked better" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47368216)) "NoMachine's NX (or the shrink wrapped X2Go) were better suited for such." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49154676))
- Good experiences with compressed X11 tools (2 comments): "I've generally had good experiences with the various compressed X11-like tools." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45831529)) "which was and still is awesome" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49674803))

## What people warn about

- Lack of trust in it (2 comments): "X2Go does....but I don't trust it terribly." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49307555)) "I don't trust it terribly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49302701))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Windows RDP](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rdp.md): 15 recommend
- [VNC](https://hackerapproved.com/p/vnc.md): 10 recommend
- [Xpra](https://hackerapproved.com/p/xpra.md): 9 recommend
- [Apache Guacamole](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apache-guacamole.md): 6 recommend
- [WayVNC](https://hackerapproved.com/p/wayvnc.md): 5 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "X2Go", https://hackerapproved.com/p/x2go/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).