Best Remote Gaming Software in 2026: 12 Parsec Alternatives Compared
Parsec popularized low-latency PC-to-PC game streaming, but it isn’t the only option — and it isn’t always the right one. This guide compares the strongest remote gaming software and Parsec alternatives on latency, security, cost and setup effort, and covers when a screen-share app is the wrong tool entirely and a full remote gaming PC is the better fix.
Reviewed and expanded September 2026. Third-party pricing and features change — always confirm current details on each provider’s own site before choosing one. RDPextra plan pricing referenced below is pulled from the live plan pages at time of writing.
Best Remote Gaming Software — Quick Answer
For streaming games from your own PC to another device, Moonlight (free, open-source, pairs with Sunshine) and Steam Remote Play (built into Steam, zero extra setup) are the strongest Parsec alternatives for most people. Rainway is the easiest to set up across mismatched devices. For gaming without a powerful PC of your own, cloud services like Shadow and GeForce NOW rent you one. And if what you actually need is a dedicated, always-on gaming machine you fully control — not a screen-share of a PC that has to stay switched on — a purpose-built Gaming RDP plan solves a different problem than any of the above.
TL;DR — Remote Gaming Software Overview
- Moonlight + Sunshine = free, open-source, low-latency streaming from your own PC — NVIDIA’s original GameStream backend was discontinued in 2023
- Steam Remote Play / Remote Play Together = zero extra install if your library is already on Steam, great for playing local co-op with friends remotely
- Rainway = easiest cross-device setup, fewer advanced settings than Parsec or Moonlight
- Shadow / GeForce NOW = a full cloud PC or cloud game session — no local gaming hardware required at all
- A rented Gaming RDP machine solves a different problem: an always-on remote PC near your friends or the game server, not a live stream of one you already own
What Counts as “Remote Gaming Software”?
Searches for “remote gaming software,” “remote gaming solutions” and “gaming remote desktop software” usually cover two genuinely different tools that get lumped together:
- Stream a game already running on your own PC to another screen — Parsec, Moonlight, Steam Remote Play, Rainway
- Your PC must stay powered on and connected
- Latency depends on your home network and the client device’s connection
- The game runs on hardware you don’t own or that’s rented — Shadow, GeForce NOW, or a Gaming RDP machine
- Nothing at home needs to stay on
- Latency depends on the distance between you (or the game’s servers) and that remote machine
Most “Parsec alternative” round-ups only cover the first category. This guide covers both, because the right tool genuinely depends on which problem you’re solving — see the quiz below if you’re not sure which one applies to you.
Why Look for Parsec Alternatives in the First Place?
Parsec remains one of the best-known low-latency streaming tools, and its free tier is genuinely capable. People search for parsec alternatives for gaming, “programs like parsec” and “apps like parsec” for a few recurring reasons: wanting a fully open-source stack, needing Steam-specific co-op features Parsec doesn’t replicate, hitting connection issues on a specific network, or — increasingly — realizing that what they actually need isn’t a screen-share of their own PC at all, but a separate machine entirely (covered in the game accelerator and GPU sections below).
Top Remote Gaming Software Compared
If you’re trying to find the single best remote desktop for gaming rather than reading every write-up below, this table is the fastest way to compare all twelve at a glance — type, cost, platform support, and what each one is actually best for.
| Software | Type | Cost | Cross-Platform | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parsec | PC streaming | Free / paid teams tier | Yes | General-purpose low-latency streaming, any app |
| Moonlight | PC streaming | Free, open-source | Yes | DIY setups, pairs with Sunshine host |
| Steam Remote Play | PC streaming | Free | Yes | Steam libraries, Remote Play Together co-op |
| Rainway | PC streaming | Free | Yes, browser-based | Fast, minimal-setup cross-device streaming |
| Shadow | Cloud PC | Paid subscription | Yes | Full Windows PC in the cloud, any game store |
| GeForce NOW | Cloud gaming | Free tier + paid tiers | Yes | Cloud sessions for supported titles you already own |
| Parsec for Teams | PC streaming | Paid | Yes | Studios/teams collaborating on workstations |
| Chrome Remote Desktop | Remote desktop | Free | Yes | Basic access, not tuned for fast-paced games |
| AnyDesk | Remote desktop | Free / paid | Yes | General remote access with light gaming use |
| TeamViewer | Remote desktop | Free / paid | Yes | IT support and productivity, not gaming-optimized |
| PlayStation Remote Play | Console streaming | Free | Yes | Streaming a PS4/PS5’s own games off-console |
| RDPextra Gaming RDP | Remote gaming PC | From $36.99/mo | Yes, any RDP client | An always-on gaming machine, not a stream of your own |
The Alternatives, One by One
Moonlight Game Streaming
Free · Open-sourceMoonlight is a free, open-source client that streams a PC’s games to Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS and even Raspberry Pi. It was originally built to pair with NVIDIA’s GameStream, which NVIDIA discontinued in 2023 — today it commonly pairs with Sunshine, an open-source self-hosted alternative, so the whole streaming stack stays free and vendor-independent. It supports resolutions up to 4K at high frame rates when the host hardware allows it.
Best for: people who want a fully open-source, no-subscription streaming stack and don’t mind a slightly more hands-on setup than a single installer.
Steam Remote Play & Remote Play Together
FreeSteam Remote Play streams your Steam library to another device on the same network or over the internet, with no extra software beyond Steam itself. Remote Play Together extends this so friends can join a local co-op session without owning the game — directly answering “parsec alternatives to play with friends” for anyone whose library already lives on Steam.
Best for: Steam-first players who want the simplest possible setup and built-in couch-co-op-with-friends support.
Rainway
FreeRainway is a lightweight, largely browser-based streaming tool that connects to a gaming PC without complex configuration, working across Windows, Android, iOS and the web. It trades some of Parsec’s and Moonlight’s advanced settings for a much faster setup — a fair trade for people who just want it working quickly on a phone or laptop that isn’t primarily a gaming device.
Best for: quick, minimal-setup streaming to devices that wouldn’t normally run a dedicated gaming client.
Shadow (Shadow PC)
Paid subscriptionShadow rents you a full, dedicated Windows PC in the cloud rather than streaming from a machine you own. Because the games run entirely server-side, you can install anything from any store — Steam, Epic, Battle.net — and play it from low-powered hardware. It’s a genuinely different category from Parsec/Moonlight/Rainway, closer to what a Gaming RDP plan provides, but sold as a fixed consumer subscription rather than a configurable server plan.
Best for: people without a capable local PC who want one game library-agnostic cloud machine.
NVIDIA GeForce NOW
Free tier + paidGeForce NOW streams supported titles you already own on Steam, Epic and other stores from NVIDIA’s own datacenters — you’re not renting a persistent PC, just a game session. The free tier has session-length limits and queue times during peak hours; paid tiers add priority access and higher frame rates/resolutions, including RTX ray-tracing on eligible plans.
Best for: casual players who want to try cloud gaming without committing to a subscription first.
Parsec for Teams
PaidParsec’s business tier adds multi-user collaboration, access controls and workstation-sharing features aimed at studios and remote creative/dev teams rather than solo gamers. If you only need the core low-latency streaming, the free consumer version of Parsec covers that already — this tier is worth it specifically when multiple teammates need managed access to shared machines.
Best for: teams needing managed, auditable access to shared high-performance workstations.
Chrome Remote Desktop, AnyDesk & TeamViewer
Free / paidChrome Remote Desktop, AnyDesk and TeamViewer are general-purpose remote desktop tools, not gaming-optimized streaming clients. They’ll technically show you a game running on another PC, but none of them use the low-latency video pipeline that Parsec, Moonlight or Rainway are built around, so fast-paced titles feel noticeably worse. They’re fine for casual/turn-based games or checking in on a machine, not for anything competitive.
Best for: occasional light gaming alongside general remote-access needs — not a primary gaming setup.
PlayStation Remote Play
FreeSony’s own Remote Play streams a PS4 or PS5’s games to a phone, tablet or PC over the internet. It’s console-locked and only useful if you already own a PlayStation, but it’s free, officially supported and simple to set up.
Best for: PlayStation owners who want to keep playing away from the console itself.
RDPextra Gaming RDP
From $36.99/moThis is the odd one out on this list on purpose: Gaming RDP isn’t a streaming client at all — it’s a dedicated Windows gaming machine you rent, with games pre-installed and no need to keep any PC of your own switched on. Plans run from a Quad-Core Basic tier with 16GB RAM up to a Beast tier with 64GB RAM and 500GB SSD, deployed across US, European and Asian datacenters. It’s the right tool when the actual bottleneck isn’t “which streaming app,” but “I don’t have a capable PC near the game server” — see the game accelerator section below for exactly when that applies.
Best for: anyone who needs an always-on, high-spec gaming PC rather than a live stream of one they already own.
Which Alternative Fits You?
Pick what matters most and jump straight to the relevant section.
Parsec vs Steam Remote Play: Latency Compared
“Parsec vs steam remote play latency,” “is parsec better than steam remote play,” and “parsec or steam remote play” are all asking the same underlying question, and the honest answer is that both are engineered for low latency — the gap between them in practice is usually smaller than the gap caused by your own network, Wi-Fi vs Ethernet, or the host PC’s encoder settings.
| Factor | Parsec | Steam Remote Play |
|---|---|---|
| Works with | Any application, not just games | Steam library titles (and select non-Steam via Big Picture) |
| Setup | Separate install on host + client | Built into Steam, nothing extra to install |
| Play with friends | Multi-controller input sharing | Remote Play Together — friends don’t need to own the game |
| Best network conditions | Holds up well over the open internet | Excellent on local network, more variable over WAN |
| Cost | Free tier available | Free |
If your whole library is on Steam and you mostly play with friends who also use Steam, Remote Play Together is hard to beat for convenience. If you regularly stream non-Steam software or need more consistent performance across unpredictable networks, Parsec is the safer default.
Parsec vs GameStream / Moonlight
“Parsec vs gamestream” is a slightly outdated comparison that’s still searched often: NVIDIA GameStream and SHIELD support were officially discontinued in 2023, so it’s no longer a currently maintained option. What survives is Moonlight, the free client originally built for GameStream, which now typically pairs with Sunshine — an open-source, self-hosted server app that replicates what GameStream used to do.
| Factor | Parsec | Moonlight + Sunshine |
|---|---|---|
| Source model | Closed-source, commercial | Fully open-source |
| Setup effort | Single install, simpler pairing | Two components to install and pair |
| GPU vendor lock-in | None | None (unlike the old NVIDIA-only GameStream) |
| Cost | Free tier + paid teams plan | Free |
If you want zero-maintenance simplicity, Parsec wins. If you specifically want an open-source stack with no dependency on a single company’s continued support — the exact problem GameStream’s 2023 shutdown created for its users — Moonlight + Sunshine is the more future-proof choice.
Rainway vs Parsec vs Moonlight
Answering “rainway remote desktop,” “rainway vs parsec” and “rainway vs moonlight” directly: Rainway sits between the two on complexity. It’s easier to get running across mismatched devices (including straight from a browser) than either Parsec or Moonlight, but it offers fewer advanced tuning options than Parsec and isn’t as fully open-source as the Moonlight + Sunshine combination.
| Rainway | Parsec | Moonlight | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup speed | Fastest | Fast | Slower (needs Sunshine) |
| Advanced settings | Fewer | Most | Most (self-hosted control) |
| Open-source | No | No | Yes |
| Browser-based option | Yes | No | No |
Best Game Accelerator for Distant Servers & Cross-Region Multiplayer
Looking for the best game accelerator for distant servers because ping to a far-away match is unplayable? “Best game accelerator for cross-region multiplayer” and “best game accelerator for online gaming on distant servers” describe a different problem than anything above: it’s not about streaming your own PC, it’s about the round-trip time between you and a game server that’s physically far away — say, connecting from one continent to a match hosted on another. A game accelerator works by routing your traffic over a more direct or less congested path than your regular ISP route would take.
A rented gaming PC positioned near the target region achieves a similar effect from a different angle: instead of accelerating the path from your home to a distant server, you play from a machine that’s already close to that server, and only the “last mile” between you and that remote machine covers real distance. Gaming RDP plans are available across datacenters in the US (San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago, Ashburn), Europe (London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin) and Asia (Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Sydney) — pick the region closest to where your friends or the game’s servers actually are, not necessarily the one closest to you.
- Reroutes your existing connection over a faster path
- Doesn’t change where the game itself runs
- Effectiveness varies by route and provider
- You play from a machine already close to the target region
- Consistent, provider-controlled network path
- Also gives you dedicated CPU/RAM/GPU, not just routing
Find Your Nearest Server Region
Pick where your friends or the game server are mostly located, and see which RDPextra datacenter region is the closest match.
Pick a region above to see the closest matching datacenter locations.
Most Secure Remote Desktop for Gaming & Streaming
“Most secure remote desktop for gaming streaming with parsec” and “are there any alternatives to parsec for streaming and remote desktop” both point at the same underlying concern: you’re opening a connection into your PC (or a rented one), and that needs to be locked down properly. Parsec, Moonlight/Sunshine, AnyDesk and TeamViewer all encrypt their sessions, but the details differ — check each provider’s own security documentation before relying on it for anything sensitive.
| Security factor | What to check |
|---|---|
| Session encryption | Confirm the tool uses TLS or end-to-end encryption for the video/input stream, not just the initial pairing handshake |
| Per-device authentication | Prefer tools that authenticate each device separately rather than one shared password for every connection |
| Instant revocation | You should be able to kick a device/session immediately if a device is lost or a friend no longer needs access |
| Who controls the machine | Streaming from your own PC keeps the hardware in your hands; a rented remote PC shifts that responsibility to the provider’s infrastructure |
If you’d rather not manage a screen-share session’s security model at all, an Admin RDP plan gives you a dedicated machine with its own IP, full account control, and encrypted RDP access from $14.99/month — closer to how a company would secure remote infrastructure than a consumer streaming app.
Want a dedicated gaming machine instead of streaming your own?
RDPextra’s Gaming RDP plans give you an always-on, high-spec Windows PC across 14+ global locations — no need to keep your own computer running.
See Gaming RDP Plans Compare GPU RDP PlansFastest / Lowest-Latency Setups: Where GPU Hardware Matters
“Fastest remote desktop gaming,” “low latency remote desktop gaming” and “best low latency remote desktop for gaming” all come back to the same handful of hardware and network factors, regardless of which software you pick: a hardware video encoder (NVIDIA NVENC, AMD AMF, or Intel Quick Sync) on the host, a wired connection on both ends, and physical proximity between you and wherever the rendering actually happens. Software optimizations only get you so far if the underlying hardware is the bottleneck.
For demanding titles or multi-instance setups, a dedicated GPU RDP plan with a real graphics card (RDPextra’s lineup runs from an NVIDIA GT 710 up to a GeForce GTX 1080) and full admin access gives you rendering headroom that a shared or CPU-only server can’t match — the tradeoff being that GPU-backed hardware sits at a premium price point compared to standard plans, so it’s worth it specifically when the workload actually needs the extra rendering power.
Budget & Free Options — Worldwide
Not every search here is about squeezing out the last millisecond. Plenty of players just want something that works without a big bill, including several “what are the best cheap version options of popular game software for casual gamers” queries specifically from Germany, the Netherlands and France. The good news: the strongest free options work identically no matter which country you’re in.
- Moonlight + Sunshine — fully free, open-source
- Steam Remote Play / Remote Play Together — free with a Steam account
- Chrome Remote Desktop — free, though not gaming-optimized
- GeForce NOW free tier — session limits apply
- Cheap RDP plans start from $18.99/month with European datacenter locations — a fit for players across Germany, the Netherlands, France and nearby countries
- Full admin access is available from the mid tier upward if you want to install your own game clients
- No dedicated GPU at this tier — pair with GPU RDP only if a specific title needs it
For most casual, non-competitive play, free client software on your own PC will always beat paying for rented infrastructure — the rented-PC route only starts making sense once you don’t have a capable machine of your own, or you specifically need it running somewhere your home connection can’t reach well.
Lag Checklist: Is Your Remote Gaming Setup Actually Ready?
Whichever tool you picked above, most reported lag and stutter traces back to the same handful of causes. Work through these before blaming the software itself.
0 of 5 checks completed
If every box is checked and performance still isn’t acceptable, the bottleneck is most likely the underlying hardware or distance itself — see the GPU-accelerated and nearby-region sections above for the next step.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the best remote gaming software if I don’t want to use Parsec?
It depends on what you need. Moonlight is the strongest free, open-source pick for low-latency streaming from your own PC. Steam Remote Play is easiest if your library is already on Steam. Rainway is the simplest cross-device setup. Shadow and GeForce NOW replace the local PC entirely with a cloud machine. For a fully separate, always-on gaming computer you control, a Gaming RDP plan is the closest thing to renting a PC rather than streaming from one you own.
Is there a free alternative to Parsec?
Yes. Moonlight, Steam Remote Play, and Chrome Remote Desktop are all free. Parsec itself also has a free tier for personal use — its paid “Parsec for Teams” plan is aimed at business collaboration, not casual gaming. GeForce NOW has a free tier too, though with session-length and queue limits.
Parsec vs Steam Remote Play — which has lower latency?
Both are built for low latency, and the real-world difference usually comes down to your network and hardware, not the software itself. See the full comparison above.
Is Parsec better than Steam Remote Play, or the other way around?
Neither is universally better — they solve overlapping but different problems. Parsec works with any application over the open internet; Steam Remote Play requires zero extra software if your library is already on Steam.
What’s the difference between Parsec and GameStream/Moonlight?
NVIDIA GameStream was officially discontinued in 2023 alongside SHIELD support. Moonlight, the free open-source client, now commonly pairs with Sunshine instead. See the full breakdown above.
Is Rainway a good Parsec alternative? How does it compare to Moonlight?
Rainway is easier to set up across mismatched devices than either Parsec or Moonlight, trading some advanced settings for simplicity. See the Rainway comparison above.
What’s the most secure way to remotely access a PC for gaming?
Look for encrypted sessions, per-device authentication, and instant access revocation. See the security section above for what to check on each tool, or consider a dedicated Admin RDP machine for full account-level control.
What is a game accelerator, and do I need one for distant game servers?
A game accelerator reroutes your connection over a faster path to reduce lag when a game server is physically far away. A rented gaming PC positioned near that server region achieves a similar result from a different angle — see the game accelerator section above.
Can I use a regular RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) for gaming instead of Parsec?
Standard Windows RDP isn’t tuned for gaming by default. Purpose-built gaming RDP providers pre-tune the connection and hardware for real-time rendering instead — see Gaming RDP.
What’s the fastest, lowest-latency remote desktop option for gaming?
The lowest latency comes from the shortest physical/network distance plus hardware video encoding on the host. See the GPU-accelerated setups section above.
Are there cheap remote gaming options for casual gamers outside the US?
Yes — Moonlight, Steam Remote Play, and Chrome Remote Desktop are free anywhere. For a rented machine, budget plans with European datacenters (relevant for Germany, the Netherlands, France and nearby countries) start under $20/month. See budget & free options above.
Can I use Parsec or its alternatives to play with friends remotely?
Yes. Parsec supports multi-controller input for local co-op played over the internet, and Steam Remote Play Together does the same for participating Steam titles without every friend owning the game.
Sources & Further Reading
- Parsec: official website — parsec.app
- Moonlight Game Streaming: official website — moonlight-stream.org
- Sunshine: self-hosted GameStream-compatible server (GitHub) — github.com/LizardByte/Sunshine
- Steam: Remote Play — store.steampowered.com/remoteplay
- Rainway: official website — rainway.com
- Shadow: official website — shadow.tech
- NVIDIA: GeForce NOW — nvidia.com/geforce-now
- AnyDesk: official website — anydesk.com
- TeamViewer: official website — teamviewer.com
- Chrome Remote Desktop — remotedesktop.google.com
- Sony: PlayStation Remote Play — playstation.com/remote-play
- Wikipedia: Cloud gaming — en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia: Remote Desktop Protocol — en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia: WebRTC — en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia: GeForce Experience (GameStream history) — en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia: Round-trip delay (network latency) — en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia: Advanced Video Coding (H.264) — en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia: NVIDIA NVENC — en.wikipedia.org
- Microsoft Learn: Remote Desktop Protocol overview — learn.microsoft.com
- Cloudflare Learning: What is latency? — cloudflare.com