A Chrome Remote Desktop Alternative for Your Mac
An honest comparison, written by the people who make Peering. Chrome Remote Desktop facts are from Google's own help pages, November 2026.
Side by side
| Peering | Chrome Remote Desktop | |
|---|---|---|
| Account | None | Google account required |
| Controls | Mac; Windows in early beta | Windows, Mac, Linux |
| Control from | Android (coming soon), iPhone, iPad | Android, iPhone, iPad, any desktop browser |
| Price | Free at home and 30 minutes a day away; $2.99/month or $24.99 once for unlimited | Free |
| Mac's sound on the phone | Yes | Not that we could confirm for a Mac host* |
| File transfer from the phone | Yes, both ways, with previews | Browser version only, as far as we can tell* |
| Mac keys (Command, Option, F1 to F12) | Keyboard bar with sticky modifiers | Basic on mobile |
| Terminal and coding agents | Built in | No |
| Show one window or app | Yes | No, whole desktop |
| Encryption | End to end, device keys, no account | Encrypted sessions, tied to your Google account |
Rows marked * are where Google's documentation was not specific enough for us to be sure. Check Google's Chrome Remote Desktop help for the current behaviour.
Where Chrome Remote Desktop is the better fit
If you need to reach Windows or Linux machines today, from any browser, for nothing, Chrome Remote Desktop does that well and Peering does not. It is also a reasonable way to help a relative with a one-time access code. If you already live in a Google account, its sign-in is not a cost.
Where Peering is the better fit
You do not want a Google account in the middle. With Peering your phone and your Mac pair with a six-digit code and trust each other's keys. Nobody else has a login that reaches your computer.
You use the Mac as a Mac. Command and Option, F-keys, per-app shortcuts and macros are on a bar above the keyboard. Trackpad mode feels like the Mac's trackpad, with two fingers to scroll and swipe between desktops.
You want more than a picture. Peering adds the Mac's sound, a clipboard that takes images, a file browser, a terminal, and a chat view for Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode with approvals in a notification. See Claude Code on Android.
You want to choose what you see. Show one display, one application or one window, so a small screen shows the thing you are working on rather than a whole desktop.
What a session looks like on the phone
Open Peering and the paired Mac is at the top of the list, marked online. One tap connects. The session bar names the Mac and says how the connection runs: LAN at home, DIRECT when the two ends found a path to each other across the internet, RELAY when they could not. Below it is the Mac's screen, and along the bottom a dock of quick keys: arrows, Enter, Escape, Copy, Paste, Undo. Swipe the dock for shortcuts, macros and the function keys.
If the connection weakens, Automatic quality steps the picture down rather than letting it stall, and steps back up when the link settles. Leave the app and the Mac pauses the picture, so nothing is streamed that you cannot see; come back and it resumes.
Switching
You can run both on the same Mac while you decide. Install Peering for Mac, allow Screen Recording and Accessibility, install the phone app, and pair on your home network. On your own network it costs nothing and has no time limit, so there is no trial to watch. Once you are happy, remove Chrome Remote Desktop's host from the Mac's login items.
Questions
Is there a Chrome Remote Desktop alternative without a Google account?
Yes. Peering has no account at all: the phone and the Mac pair with a six-digit code and trust each other's keys.
Is Peering free like Chrome Remote Desktop?
On your own network, yes, with no time limit. From another network, free includes 30 minutes a day; Pro is $2.99 a month or Lifetime $24.99 once.
Can Peering control Windows or Linux?
Not Linux. A Windows host exists as an early beta that has not yet run on a real PC. For mixed fleets today, Chrome Remote Desktop covers more.
Does Peering work from a web browser?
No. It works from the Android app, coming soon to Google Play, and the iPhone and iPad app.