BilldDesk Pro: A Self-Hosted Remote Desktop Built on Vue3, WebRTC, and Flutter

What BilldDesk Pro Does and Who It Targets

BilldDesk Pro is a remote desktop application built by the developer known as galaxy-s10 (shuisheng). The project's description translates as remote desktop control and game streaming built with Vue3, WebRTC, Node.js, and Flutter. The core use case is taking control of a remote machine from a browser or a desktop client, across a mix of Windows, macOS, Android, and web browser endpoints.

The README documents tested configurations reaching 2K resolution at 60 FPS on Windows 10 with an NVIDIA RTX 3060 laptop GPU, and 2K at 120 FPS on Windows 11 with an RTX 5070. A 1080p at 60 FPS configuration is confirmed on a GTX 1060 6GB, establishing the lower GPU boundary for high-framerate use.

The project is positioned as a self-hosted alternative to commercial tools like ToDesk and TeamViewer. The README includes an explicit comparison table between BilldDesk and ToDesk, covering connection limits, resolution, framerate, Android control, and self-hosted deployment. That comparison is a deliberate design document, not incidental.

The project has two tracks: an open-source version and BilldDesk Pro. The Pro version is not open source; source code access requires purchasing a subscription through the project's website.

WebRTC Architecture and Multi-Platform Client Matrix

The connection layer uses WebRTC for real-time peer-to-peer data transport. The technology stack listed in the README combines Vue (for the web interface), Koa2 (Node.js server framework), and Flutter (for mobile and desktop native clients). The native OS interaction layers use Win32 APIs on Windows, Cocoa on macOS, AccessibilityService on Android, and C++ and Swift for platform-level integration.

The client matrix is explicit in the README. Web browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Via, Safari) can control desktop machines. Desktop clients can control both desktop and Android devices. Android clients can control desktops and other Android devices. The web and desktop clients can also connect to a web browser session in view-only mode.

Platform support boundaries are documented clearly. Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows Server 2022, and Windows Server 2019 are confirmed. Windows 7 is explicitly not supported. macOS 15 is confirmed; other macOS versions are listed as untested. Android 8 through Android 16 are confirmed as fully functional; Android 7 supports viewing but not input; Android 6 has been dropped.

iOS is not supported. Linux is not supported. These two omissions are marked explicitly in the README's platform support checklist.

Hardware Acceleration, Codec Support, and Driver Requirements

BilldDesk Pro supports hardware acceleration for both encoding and decoding, and the README documents the options separately. NVIDIA GPU support for H264, H265, and AV1 encoding requires driver version 570.0 or later. AMD GPUs also support H264, H265, and AV1. The complete codec list covers H264, H265, AV1, VP8, and VP9.

Three hardware acceleration controls are exposed: encode hardware acceleration, decode hardware acceleration, and zero-copy mode. Each can be toggled independently. Zero-copy reduces memory bandwidth usage during video transfer but may not work on all GPU configurations.

Framerate modes include a standard mode and a smart mode that reduces framerate automatically based on screen change detection to save bandwidth when the remote screen is static. Network modes include a default mode and a low-latency mode.

For game streaming and applications with anti-cheat systems, the README documents a driver-level keyboard and mouse emulation feature designed to avoid detection by game input validation, and two mouse modes: using the controller's cursor, and using the target machine's cursor for first-person shooter applications where the game must own cursor control.

Feature Comparison with ToDesk

The README includes a comparison table between BilldDesk open source, BilldDesk Pro, and ToDesk. The comparison is the project author's own assessment, and the numbers cited for ToDesk (connection limits and pricing) reflect the README as written; ToDesk's terms may have changed since.

The key differences the README highlights: BilldDesk Pro has no connection time limits or session caps, whereas ToDesk's free tier caps at 80 hours per month, 200 sessions per month, and 24 hours per session. BilldDesk Pro supports Android as a controlled device for free; ToDesk requires a paid plan for that. BilldDesk Pro allows custom device codes; ToDesk does not. Web-initiated remote control is free on BilldDesk Pro; ToDesk requires a paid plan.

BilldDesk Pro also includes features absent from the ToDesk comparison: screen wall (controlling multiple machines simultaneously from a grid view), batch group control, privacy screen with custom images and text, and virtual screen creation. The screen wall feature is listed under staged pricing rather than free.

ToDesk is a commercial product from a company of the same name. Its client runs on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. The key architectural difference is that ToDesk is a hosted service with the relay infrastructure managed by the vendor, while BilldDesk Pro requires operating your own infrastructure.

Building and Running BilldDesk Pro from Source

The project uses pnpm as its package manager. The package.json defines build targets for each platform. To start a development server:

pnpm run dev

This runs rimraf to clean previous build artifacts, then starts Vite for the web interface. For production builds targeting a specific platform:

pnpm run build:win

pnpm run build:mac

The build:ele command builds for all three desktop platforms (macOS, Windows, Linux) at once and runs standard-version for release tagging before the Vite build and electron-builder packaging.

The Electron main process is in the electron-main/ directory. The Flutter Android client is a separate component managed outside the TypeScript/Vite build. The README does not provide instructions for self-hosted server deployment in the visible documentation; the project website at desk.hsslive.cn is the documented reference point for deployment configuration.

The README mentions Docker one-click deployment as a planned but not yet implemented feature, marked with an empty checkbox.

Limitations, Licensing, and Private Deployment

BilldDesk Pro's source code is not publicly available. The README states this directly: BilldDesk Pro is not open source, and source code access requires purchasing a subscription from desk.hsslive.cn. What is open source is the BilldDesk base version (README_OpenSource.md describes this), which has a more limited feature set.

The MIT license applies to the open-source portions of the repository. The Pro version adds features that are paywalled: the privacy screen, virtual screen, high-framerate modes above the free tier's 30 FPS cap, and screen wall batch control.

The gap between what can be built from the public repository and what the Pro version offers is significant. Features like virtual screen, privacy screen, and full 2K/120 FPS support are listed as Pro capabilities. The open-source version has no connection limits but does lack those features.

Docker-based one-click deployment is listed as a planned feature but is not yet implemented as of the last push on 2026-09-22. Teams who need containerized deployment as a hard requirement should confirm the current status directly before building on this stack.

The pnpm run dev command starts a development build but does not package the Electron application. For distribution, each platform requires running the platform-specific build command: pnpm run build:win for Windows, pnpm run build:mac for macOS, and pnpm run build:ele for all desktop platforms together. The build output includes an electron-builder packaged installer for the target platform. No server deployment instructions are included in the visible repository documentation; operators are directed to desk.hsslive.cn for production configuration guidance.

Editorial conclusion

BilldDesk Pro fits developers or small teams who want a self-hosted remote desktop with no connection limits or session caps, and who are willing to run their own server infrastructure. The Pro version is not open source: source code access requires a paid subscription from desk.hsslive.cn. The open-source variant (described in README_OpenSource.md, which is in the repository but was not included in the available material) covers a subset of features. iOS and Linux are not supported. Anyone evaluating BilldDesk Pro for production use should verify the private deployment requirements and confirm their hardware meets the GPU driver minimums documented in the repository before committing to the WebRTC-based architecture.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. galaxy-s10/billd-desk on GitHub
2. Issues
3. License: MIT
4. Project website
5. README