LogMeIn Free users: a free alternative is just around the corner

Martin Brinkmann
Jan 22, 2014
Software
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LogMeIn announced that it will retire LogMeIn Free, a remote access product that has been available for a decade, in January 2014.

The company made the decision to unify its products, paid and free, into a single product that is paid-only.

Host computers of LogMeIn Free will remain accessible for seven days from first login after January 21, 2014 after which they will no longer be available.

To keep remote access, a Pro subscription will be required. Free users will be notified about the changes via email and in-product messages. Pricing details and purchase links are provided on the LogMeIn website, and a subscription must be purchased before LogMeIn can be used again.

Yearly subscription costs are defined by the number of computers that you have access to. Pro for individuals provides access to 2 computer systems for $99 a year, while Pro for small businesses raises the computer systems to 10 for $449 per year.

Alternative

If you do not want to pay for remote access, then you have only one option, and that is to switch to a free product offered by another company.

Probably the most popular alternative is TeamViewer, which is free for private use. Private use is defined by the company as an activity that is not paid directly or indirectly. So, helping friends or family members is fine, while offering support for software that your company is selling is not.

You can download the application directly on the official website of the service. It can be installed on the host computer, installed so that the computer can be controlled from another one, or run only if that is preferred.

You do need to select whether you intend to use the software for commercial or non.commercial use, or both.  You can use the software for free if you select non-commercial use here.

Once installed or run, you are presented with a basic interface that you can use to either control a remote computer -- by filling in the partner ID -- or to allow remote control by informing a partner about this computer's ID and password.

The program is really easy to use and you can start to access other systems remotely in a matter of minutes after starting the download of it from the official website.

TeamViewer is compatible with all major desktop and mobile operating systems: Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Android, iOS and Windows Phone.

New TeamViewer users may want to check out manuals and first step guides that the company has published on its website. They explain how "things" such as remote controlling another computer, setting up meetings, or using the management console, are done using the application.

Know another alternative for LogMeIn Free? Post it in the comments!

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Comments

  1. Mark said on November 19, 2014 at 12:44 am
    Reply

    Splashtop is now offering all Logmein (LogMeOut) customer free months to switch to Splashtop Business.. Splashtop Business is only $60 per year to support unlimited computers. Grouping function is now added to manage large number of computers. Simply faster and cheaper…. http://www.splashtop.com/business

  2. Allan roger said on April 15, 2014 at 8:13 am
    Reply

    Yeah, its really bad that Logmein free is going away. But, I have discovered an alternative to Logmein: RHUB`s remote support servers. It provides better security and is easy to use as well.

  3. Lena said on January 31, 2014 at 7:13 pm
    Reply

    Careful folks…I dug deeper & found the usage info for the free version of Team Viewer here…

    http://www.teamviewer.com/en/help/213-How-exactly-is-private-use-defined.aspx

  4. Trousle Undrhil said on January 30, 2014 at 7:19 pm
    Reply

    OK, most of the programs I am seeing mentioned here are “invitation” support software, meaning that someone has to be at the other computer to initiate the remote session. I have been using LogMeIn to access several “headless” servers that I maintain for my friends and family. No one will ever be sitting at these machines in order to “invite” me to access them remotely.

    I am looking for something similar to that. Chrome Remote Desktop seems to have an option to run this way. Any others?

  5. BeastIT said on January 30, 2014 at 4:20 pm
    Reply

    +1 for Aeroadmin
    http://www.aeroadmin.com/

  6. MikeG said on January 27, 2014 at 10:36 am
    Reply

    I love ISL Online and use it @work for remote client support and home to fix family&friends computers.

    I think ISL Online is the best!

    http://www.islonline.com/

  7. Barbara said on January 24, 2014 at 2:42 pm
    Reply

    If you’re a SME and need secure and trustworthy remote access and support software – try ISL
    Online. No limits per user, workstations or computers accessed.
    Starting at $145 for a pay-per-use plan or $469 for a yearly subscription.
    More: http://blog.islonline.com/2014/01/24/alternative-to-logmein-for-sme-fifth-of-its-price-isl-online-all-in-one/

  8. Swarup said on January 24, 2014 at 6:11 am
    Reply

    I am all time fan of TeamViewer and never use LogMeIn

    I think TeamViewer is the best software available in market.

  9. Jack White said on January 24, 2014 at 12:00 am
    Reply

    1) http://www.ammyy.com/en/
    this one works very much like eam Viewer

    2) http://www.remoteutilities.com/download/
    this one gives you the free version if your company runs 10 or less machines

    and..

    3) http://www.gbridge.com/

  10. Lord Rakim said on January 23, 2014 at 4:08 pm
    Reply

    AmmyAdmin and ShowMyPc are pretty good and dont need to be installed to use…

    http://www.ammyy.com/en/

    http://showmypc.com

    Ooops showmyPC doesnt look free anymore

  11. Steph Newman said on January 23, 2014 at 10:30 am
    Reply

    I’m currently using NoMachine, https://www.nomachine.com. You need it installed on both sides, not like Chrome’s Remote, but it’s fast.

  12. giuppi said on January 23, 2014 at 10:21 am
    Reply

    i’m currently using comodo unite but didn’t know about neorouter, thanks!

  13. Chuck Cortes said on January 23, 2014 at 4:30 am
    Reply

    I like Chrome Remote. Does just what I need for now. Teamviewer is good and all but when none techie people don’t know how to use it and are more likely to have Chrome installed it will be easier for me to just have them install Chrome Remote.

  14. chris said on January 23, 2014 at 1:53 am
    Reply

    I use splashtop for years… fastest and better anyway

  15. syed ali said on January 22, 2014 at 9:45 pm
    Reply

    I always prefer my teamviewer. It works really great for my laptop.

  16. Scott said on January 22, 2014 at 8:06 pm
    Reply

    I made the switch to NeoRouter. Good stuff so far.

    They have free, sub, and one time price versions.

    http://www.neorouter.com/

  17. ReX said on January 22, 2014 at 8:00 pm
    Reply

    I’ve used TightVNC before, it worked way faster than TeamViewer for me.
    Your mileage may vary.

  18. Louis Gagliano said on January 22, 2014 at 7:12 pm
    Reply

    The elephant in the room is that TeamViewer will go the way of the hundreds of “Freemium” internet products that came before – if you don’t pay now you’ll pay later. I’ve been using eBLVD.com for 2 years now. I can access all my computers and servers, as well as those of my customers from PCs, Macs, and iOS for a very low monthly price. I don’t mind paying for an EXTREMELY high-quality, professional service. Just my 2 cents.

  19. Supremo said on January 22, 2014 at 4:57 pm
    Reply

    Try Supremo. It’s another free remote desktop software and it works great!
    http://www.supremocontrol.com/

  20. Raphael said on January 22, 2014 at 4:47 pm
    Reply

    Hi

    I am also a happy user of Teamviewer but investigating for a LogMeIn replacement solution… I found that Google Chrome Remote Desktop Add does a remarkably good job.

    My guess is that this will be difficult for all comparable remote solution to become paying services as the room left for free remote service will always be taken by other companies…

    Google seems to implement this also to boost Android/iOS Chrome browser adoption because apparently (not tested yet) this remote app is also working on mobile devices.

    Raphael

  21. Maelish said on January 22, 2014 at 3:32 pm
    Reply

    But if you have to generate a “ticket id” each time you connect, it doesn’t allow you to connect when somebody on the foreign pc isn’t there, right?

    Not knowing that, I’d recommend something like Remote Control(free) or Splashtop instead. They allow you to connect and control the PC even if no one is logged-in to the foreign machine.

    1. Dave said on January 22, 2014 at 5:50 pm
      Reply

      No, you do not have to generate a ticket ID.

      http://www.uvnc.com/docs.html

  22. Dave said on January 22, 2014 at 3:25 pm
    Reply

    UltraVNC

  23. What said on January 22, 2014 at 3:21 pm
    Reply

    What about built-in Remote Assistance which is way better than free version of Teamviewer? plus the title of this article is confusing.

  24. Boris said on January 22, 2014 at 2:53 pm
    Reply

    I used TeamViewer few times. Very useful for simple stuff. But it is nagware. After you close session its ends with pop-up nag instead of just closing.

  25. Ajay said on January 22, 2014 at 2:51 pm
    Reply

    I’ve been using TeamViewer for a long time now. But, considering the costs that LogMeIn possibly had in offering the free service, I wouldn’t be surprised TeamViewer also going to paid route eventually.

    1. Barry Smith said on January 23, 2014 at 7:02 pm
      Reply

      I’d also pay your attention to FREE for commercial use Aeroadmin.

      It requires no installation and registratio, works behind NAT. Perfect for
      spontaneous tech support, though it lacks some advanced features Logmein has.
      http://www.aeroadmin.com/

      Hope it helps.

      1. DaniVivas said on November 9, 2016 at 1:28 pm
        Reply

        +1 for AEROADMIN

      2. user said on March 6, 2014 at 2:16 am
        Reply

        Russian based where literally every connection is untrustworthy? No thanks. No way I’d install software from a company in Russia. I realize you can say that about all of these companies but Aeroadmin doesn’t even have a phone number, physical address, or email address on their website. That’s incredibly sketchy.

    2. Virtualguy said on January 22, 2014 at 6:46 pm
      Reply

      I totally agree, this is likely what will happen, and soon, not necessarily due to the cost. Rather, due to the fact that users can’t run to LogMeIn when TeamViewer pulls the plug on their free service.

    3. Andrew said on January 22, 2014 at 6:15 pm
      Reply

      I hope not… I really don’t want to go back to RDP

      1. Terry said on June 18, 2014 at 1:52 pm
        Reply

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