Mocha VNC Lite vs iRdesktop
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mocha VNC Lite
Control your Mac or Windows PC remotely from your iPhone or iPad. View and interact with your computer's files and programs on a smaller screen. This version includes a 5-minute session limit.
- Connect to Mac/Windows PCs
- View files and programs remotely
- Standard VNC protocol support
- Encrypted password sign-on
- Local mouse support
- Use iPhone as Bluetooth trackpad
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Using your iPhone or iPad, you can connect to a Mac or Windows PC, and see the files, programs, and resources exactly as you would if you were sitting at your desk, just on a smaller screen. LITE VERSION: The lite version has a 5 minutes session limitation. FEATURES: - Standard VNC protocol. - macOS sign on. - Encrypted password signon. - 8 and 32 bit color modes. - Local Mouse support. - Support for Swiftpoint GT hardware mouse. - Support for Mouse Easy. Use an iPhone as a bluetooth trackpad. Mouse Easy is a free App. - Camera as barcode scanner. - Zoom and scroll as the Safari browser. - Landscape mode. - Has been tested with RealVNC, TightVNC, UltrVNC on Windows, and Apple Screen sharing, which is included with the macOS.
iRdesktop
Access and control your Windows desktop remotely from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. This client uses the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to connect to compatible Windows versions, offering features like mouse emulation and a familiar keyboard.
- Remote desktop control via RDP
- Mouse emulation (click, drag, drop)
- Familiar iPhone keyboard support
- Zoom and pan desktop view
- Portrait and landscape rotation
- Multiple connection entries
- Wi-Fi and cellular data connection
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iRdesktop is a free Remote Desktop Client for Windows Terminal Services (Remote Desktop Services), capable of natively using the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) in order to view and control your Windows Desktop using your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. iRdesktop supports all Windows Versions that have support for Terminal Services respectively Remote Desktop Services out of the box. You must know that Microsoft has removed Terminal Services (Remote Desktop Services) from the Windows Home and Starter editions. In order to access those Windows systems with any RDP client you can install our alternative Terminal Services (Remote Desktop Services) solution called "Thinstuff XP/VS Terminal Server" (http://www.thinstuff.com/products/xpvs-server/). The good news is that iRdesktop users will get a big discount for a single-user XP/VS Terminal Server version which allows you to have 1 Remote Desktop connection in addition to your PC's console session even on Windows Home and Starter editions! To get your discount code just follow the "Discount ..." link on the iRdesktop start screen. SUPPORTED REMOTE SYSTEMS - Windows XP Home (*) - Windows XP Professional - Windows XP Media Center 2005 - Windows Vista Home Basic and Home Premium (*) - Windows Vista Business, Ultimate and Enterprise - Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium (*) - Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, Enterprise - Windows Server 2000 - Windows Small Business Server 2003 - Windows Server 2003 - Windows Server 2008 - Windows Server 2008R2 *) only with Thinstuff XP/VS Terminal Server IRDESKTOP FEATURES - Mouse emulation: left-, right- and double-click, and drag & drop - Supports the standard, familiar iPhone keyboard for text entry - Zoom and pan the remote desktop screen as in the Safari browser - Rotate the device to switch between portrait and landscape views - Create an unlimited number of predefined connection entries - Connect through WIFI or your cellular data network (GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA etc.) - Safari-like page view for switching between multiple concurrent sessions - Compatible with the iPhone's built-in VPN (L2TP, PPTP, IPSec) for secure access to corporate and home networks - Includes a promotion discount code for Thinstuff's XP/VS Terminal Server LIMITATIONS - No support for TS Gateway (a special RDP VPN solution for Windows Server 2008) - No sound and clipboard redirection LANGUAGES: English, French and German
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: iRdesktop at 3.3 against Mocha VNC Lite's 3.0. iRdesktop also leads on review sentiment (80% vs 63%) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 4 months). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
iRdesktop holds the better App Store score, 3.3 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 19 and 45 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 63% of Mocha VNC Lite's written reviews are positive against 80% of iRdesktop's.
Mocha VNC Lite ships an update every 4 months, iRdesktop every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and July 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mocha VNC Lite | iRdesktop |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (19 ratings) | 3.3 (45 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 62.7% of reviews | 80.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 19 | 45 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 3.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | MochaSoft | Thinstuff s.r.o. |
Customer experience
Mocha VNC Lite
iRdesktop
User reviews
Mocha VNC Lite
From 19 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy to set up and use
- 👍 Useful for remote access and control
- 🚀 Responsive and fast over WiFi
- 💡 Ability to access and control remote computers
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes frequently
- 🐛 Laggy and slow performance, especially over 3G
- 🐛 Incompatible with certain VNC servers and configurations
- 🔒 Security concerns around remote access
iRdesktop
From 45 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ⭐ Excellent free RDP client
- 🚀 Fast and responsive
- 👍 Intuitive touch-based controls
- 🔒 Secure remote access
- 💡 Supports multiple simultaneous connections
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes or freezing
- 📱 Limited screen real estate for desktop apps
- 🔑 Lack of keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl, Alt, etc.)
- 🔍 Difficulty with small on-screen elements
- 📢 Intrusive ads on setup screens
Bugs and requests
Mocha VNC Lite
Reported bugs
4 issues- Inability to capitalize letters or use special characters
- Disconnects after short time periods
- Difficulty connecting to remote computers
- Displays only partial screens on high-resolution displays
Requested features
4 requests- Support for multiple monitors and higher resolutions
- Add keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl+Alt+Del
- Improve mouse/cursor controls and scrolling
- Implement remote sound/audio support
iRdesktop
Reported bugs
2 issues- Crashes on startup with iOS 3.1.x
- Incompatibility with some Windows versions (Home editions)
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to hide top status bar for more screen space
- Support for international keyboard layouts
- Scrolling/panning improvements
- Option to pay for ad-free version
In-app purchases
Mocha VNC Lite
No in-app purchases
iRdesktop
No in-app purchases
