Remote desktop software
Free remote desktop software for Windows
Install Nelkira on the machines you look after. Each one shows a nine-digit number. Type it from a PC or a phone and you are at that desk. Encrypted end to end, direct where the network allows, and on the record.
Free, with nothing counted
No device limit
Install it on as many Windows machines as you look after. Nobody counts them, and the two hundredth costs what the first one did.
No session timer
A session runs for as long as you need it. There is no daily cap and no interruption asking whether this is commercial use.
No card, no trial
Nothing is billed automatically, ever. How it stays free, including the paid plans for organisations planned for 2028, is written on the pricing page.
Three steps to another desk
Install
Run one small Windows installer on each machine you want to reach. Each one picks up its own nine-digit number and an access password.
Share the number
The person at the machine reads you the number. It is generated once and kept, so it can be written on a sticker.
Connect
Type the number. The machine’s access password lets you straight in. Leave it blank and the person at the machine is asked to allow you; with no answer in 60 seconds, the connection is turned away.
Works through the networks you actually have
A connection tries the local network and a relay at the same time and keeps whichever answers first. Two PCs on the same subnet normally talk straight to each other where Windows Firewall allows it, and the session stays on the site; the relay still hears about the call while it is set up. Where a firewall refuses, the session goes through a relay on port 443. Neither machine needs a public address or a forwarded port.
The two machines agree their keys with each other. A relay carries encrypted bytes it holds no key for, and that includes relays we run. Where a password protects the connection, the viewer proves it saw the same keys, and the machine being reached checks that proof. Two limits: a viewer older than release 0.4.0 (from 0.4.0 the password is proved, not sent; SPAKE2, RFC 9382) still sends the password to whichever machine answers the number, so a sign-in from it through a hostile relay is not protected against impersonation (a 0.4.0 viewer asks for Allow instead of sending the password to an older PC); and a connection let in by clicking Allow, with no password, is encrypted but not proof against an active attacker in the relay path. The full detail is in the security statement.
What you can do once you are in
Files both ways
Copy and paste files in both directions. A short line drop reconnects on its own, so a wobbly connection does not cost you the session.
Several machines in tabs
Each machine opens in its own tab, with a plus for the next one. A far machine with several screens shows all of them.
View only and privacy screen
View only when you only need to look. Privacy screen hides the session from people walking past, and blocks local input only where Nelkira runs with administrator rights or, from release 0.5.0, on a PC set up for access when nobody is there. It is not a way to hide from the machine’s own user.
Picture quality that follows the line
From release 0.6.0 the picture adjusts to the connection by default (Auto). You can choose Smooth, Balanced or Sharp instead. Auto never uses more data than Balanced unless you choose Sharp. In Nelkira Go and in viewers from before 0.6.0, choosing Balanced keeps Auto.
Quiet updates
Updates arrive quietly, signed with a release key, and install themselves while nobody is connected. A PC installed for everyone with release 0.4.x moves to 0.5.0 only when someone there chooses Install for everyone, or an IT rollout does it.
Windows today, and a phone in your pocket
The app runs on Windows. For Linux there is a viewer that connects to Windows PCs; a macOS viewer, and versions that can themselves be reached, are to follow. From a phone, Nelkira Go runs in the browser at nelkira.com/app with nothing to install, and it always connects through a relay. The same nine digits work from a PC and from a phone. Open Nelkira Go, or go straight to the Windows installer, no form.
Said plainly: the installer is not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen asks before it runs; check the SHA-256 on the download page. We hold no ISO 27001, SOC 2 or HIPAA attestation, and the session record on each machine is a plain file, not yet tamper-evident. A machine installed for use while someone is here (Setup’s default) can be reached only while someone is signed in to it and Nelkira is running; from release 0.5.0 an administrator can set a PC up for access when nobody is there, as the security statement describes.
Supporting other people’s computers for a living? Read about remote support software for IT teams and MSPs. Looking after a hospital, clinic or lab? Read about remote desktop for hospitals.
Questions people ask first
Is it really free?
Yes. Every feature, every device and every session, with no card to enter and no trial that expires. Personal use stays free even after paid plans for organisations arrive in 2028.
Does it need port forwarding or a public IP?
No. Where a firewall refuses a direct path, the traffic goes through a relay on port 443 instead. Neither machine needs a public address or a forwarded port for that.
Who can see the screen?
You and the person at the machine. For as long as you are connected, an amber ‘Screen shared’ pill sits at the bottom right of their screen, except on Windows’ lock, sign-in, Ctrl+Alt+Del and administrator-prompt screens. Their own Nelkira window says one person is connected. Using it to hide a session from the machine’s own user breaches the acceptable use policy.