MeshCentral is a free, open-source, self-hosted remote monitoring and management platform for computers, maintained by its original author and a community of contributors on GitHub rather than sold by a company. It is licensed under Apache-2.0, so there is no purchase price: an MSP installs it on its own server (or uses the free public server at meshcentral.com) instead of paying a subscription.
There is a free version. Listing updated . Checked by MSP Software .
MeshCentral is an open-source remote access and device management platform originally created by Ylian Saint-Hilaire, an Intel engineer, and now maintained by an active community of contributors on GitHub rather than a vendor. It gives an MSP full web-based remote desktop, terminal and file access to Windows, Linux, macOS and FreeBSD devices from any browser, plus an Android agent for mobile devices, session recording, multi-monitor support, in-session chat, wake-on-LAN, and MeshCentral Router for mapping RDP, VNC, SSH and other TCP ports through the agent. It supports two-factor authentication, SAML and OIDC single sign-on, LDAP directories, and out-of-band management of Intel AMT hardware where available.
MeshCentral suits an MSP or internal IT team that is comfortable running and patching its own Node.js server, on Windows, Linux, macOS, FreeBSD or via Docker, and wants remote access with no per-endpoint or per-technician licence fee. It is not sold, so there is no pricing page, no quote process and no trial to arrange: the software itself is free under the Apache-2.0 licence (checked September 2026), and the only ongoing cost is the MSP's own server infrastructure. A free public server at meshcentral.com exists for testing or light use on shared infrastructure, without any service level guarantee. Because there is no vendor, there is also no phone or email support contract; help comes from the searchable documentation, YouTube tutorials, GitHub issues, monthly community meetings, and unofficial Discord, Telegram and Reddit communities.
MeshCentral integrates with SAML and OIDC identity providers and LDAP directories including JumpCloud, sends notifications and two-factor codes through Twilio and SendGrid, can post alerts to Slack, and can manage Intel AMT-capable devices out of band. It has no built-in PSA or ticketing integration, though it exposes a REST API and a meshctrl command-line tool that an MSP can script against. Before adopting it, an MSP should confirm its team can handle server maintenance, security patching and troubleshooting itself, since there is no vendor support desk behind the software, and check that community-only support is acceptable for a tool that will hold remote access credentials to client machines.
MeshCentral is worth a look for an MSP that wants remote access without adding a recurring per-technician or per-endpoint line to its software budget, and that has someone on staff able to run, patch and secure a Node.js server. It is a genuine alternative to Tactical RMM for a self-hosted, no-licence-fee approach, though MeshCentral is narrower: it is a remote access and device management tool, not a full RMM with patch automation and monitoring policies. Compare it against paid tools such as ScreenConnect, Splashtop or TeamViewer if you want a vendor support contract, managed updates and a polished client experience instead of community support. Confirm on a trial deployment that your team is happy maintaining the server themselves and that there is no PSA integration you were relying on.
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|---|---|---|
| Unattended access | yes | Agent installs permanently on managed devices for always-on access. |
| On-demand support session | yes | Supports ad hoc, invite-link style sessions in addition to permanent agents. |
| Mobile device support | yes | Dedicated Android agent; no iOS agent confirmed. |
| File transfer | yes | Built-in Files tab for browsing and transferring files to and from agents. |
| Session recording | yes | Built-in session recording module (mcrec). |
| Multi-monitor support | yes | |
| In-session chat | yes | |
| Self-hosted option | yes | Self-hosting is the primary model; a free public server also exists. |
| White-label branding | yes | Server branding and terms-of-use customisation documented for self-hosted instances. |
| Wake-on-LAN | yes | |
| Command-line scripted deployment | yes | Customised agent installers and meshctrl/meshcmd command-line tooling for scripted rollout. |
| PSA integration | no | No documented built-in PSA connector; a REST API and meshctrl CLI are available for custom integration. |
| Feature | Supported | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Patch management | unknown | |
| Scripting | yes | Command execution via the web terminal and meshctrl/meshcmd tooling. |
| Remote access | yes | Remote desktop, terminal and file access are the core of the product. |
| Monitoring and alerting | unknown | |
| Software deployment | unknown | |
| Network discovery | yes | Includes a network scanner (meshscanner) and Intel AMT device scanning. |
| Mobile device management | unknown | |
| Backup integration | unknown | |
| PSA integration | no | No documented built-in PSA connector; a REST API and meshctrl CLI are available for custom integration. |
| Reporting | unknown | |
| Automation policies | unknown | |
| Third-party application patching | unknown |
Yes, MeshCentral is free, open-source software released under the Apache-2.0 licence, with no purchase price, subscription or per-endpoint fee from the project itself. An MSP runs it on its own server, so the only real cost is that server's hosting, or it can use the free public server at meshcentral.com for light use without any service level guarantee.
Yes, MeshCentral remains actively maintained. Intel's sponsorship of the project ended (reported as 2022), but original author Ylian Saint-Hilaire and community maintainer Simon Smith have continued shipping releases roughly every three to four weeks through 2026, with version 1.2.5 published in August 2026 and monthly community meetings still running.
MeshCentral has a dedicated Android agent that can be installed and managed like any other device, with its own setup tutorial from the project. No equivalent iOS agent has been confirmed, so an MSP needing to manage iPhones or iPads directly should check current documentation before relying on MeshCentral for that.
Not fully. MeshCentral covers remote desktop, terminal, file access, wake-on-LAN and basic network discovery, but it is not a full RMM: it does not publish the automated patch management, monitoring alert policies or software deployment features that NinjaOne or Datto RMM are built around. It is better compared with dedicated remote access tools such as ScreenConnect, Splashtop or TeamViewer, with the difference that MeshCentral is free and self-hosted rather than a paid subscription.
MeshCentral has no documented built-in integration with a PSA or ticketing platform. It does expose a REST API and a meshctrl command-line tool, so an MSP with development resources can build a custom connection to its own PSA, but there is no ready-made integration to install.
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