We're making changes to the way RealVNC Viewer works.
To help you understand what the changes are and how they may affect you, we’ve put together this FAQs.
What’s changing?
From v8.4.0 onwards, the RealVNC Viewer will be known as the RealVNC Connect Viewer.
This new RealVNC Connect Viewer brings the standalone Viewer app in line with the look, feel, and functionality of our Connect All-in-One App experience. It also introduces signing in to your account as a core part of the experience, unlocking access to advanced RealVNC Connect features and helping you get more from the product – while also strengthening security.
Please note that our current RealVNC Viewer (v7) is not being retired, as it is still needed in certain scenarios where direct connectivity and offline/on-prem are used. It is, however, being renamed to RealVNC Classic Viewer to help better differentiate it from the RealVNC Connect Viewer experience.
The RealVNC Classic (v7) Viewer will continue to be available for customers with a Premium or Enterprise plan to download from the RealVNC Portal (after signing in to manage.realvnc.com).
FAQs: For users with a RealVNC Connect Account or Paid Plan Subscription
We’ve launched the new RealVNC Connect Viewer and want to avoid confusion by offering only the one version of the application on our main download page.
For customers who need offline connections or prefer the ‘classic’ experience, the RealVNC Viewer is still available and can be easily accessed from the Downloads area of the RealVNC Portal (https://manage.realvnc.com).
The RealVNC Connect Viewer (v8.4.0 and later) and RealVNC Connect (All-in-One) App can still be downloaded at https://www.realvnc.com/download.
However, customers with a Premium or Enterprise subscription that want the RealVNC Classic Viewer (v7), will be able to access it. To do so, they will need to sign into their RealVNC Connect Portal (https://manage.realvnc.com) and download that from the Downloads section there.
You can still access the standalone installers for RealVNC Connect Viewer (v8.4.0 and later) and RealVNC Connect Server from https://www.realvnc.com/download. However, the standalone installers for RealVNC Classic Viewer (v7) are now only available from the Downloads area of the RealVNC Portal (https://manage.realvnc.com) after signing in to it.
Yes, absolutely! Nothing has changed with regards to entitlements.
The number of devices that you can connect to at any given time depends on the RealVNC plan you are subscribed to, and whether you are connecting to devices that are licensed with RealVNC or that are running an alternative 3rd Party VNC Server.
| Essentials | Plus | Premium | Enterprise |
No. of Active Connections to RealVNC licensed devices | 1 Active Session only | Starts at 1 (Purchase up to max. 3 active sessions) | Starts at 1 (Purchase up to max. 5 active sessions) | Unlimited Active Sessions |
No. of Active Connections to 3rd Party VNC Servers | 1 Active Session only | 5 Active Sessions | 15 Active Sessions | 150 Active Sessions |
For more detail and information, please visit our pricing page.
Yes, you will need to sign into RealVNC Portal to find the download links for our classic RealVNC Viewer.
The RealVNC Connect Viewer is also available from the Portal and can be downloaded from www.realvnc.com/connect/download too.
No, installing RealVNC Connect Viewer and signing in to your account does not count as a licensed remote device, and so it doesn’t show in your Devices list.
FAQs: For users without a RealVNC Connect Account or Plan Subscription
The new RealVNC Connect Viewer (v8.4.0 and later) now includes account sign‑in to help improve transparency and security for you and your devices.
Requiring users to sign in means you’re able to see exactly who is accessing your devices — which provides better protection and more confidence that everything is being used as intended.
You also get access to powerful features within RealVNC Connect, such as device list syncing and back-up, Code Connect, and in-session productivity tools like file transfer, remote printing, and more.
This is a permanent change to the way users will engage with the RealVNC Connect Viewer app going forward.
The latest iteration of RealVNC Connect Viewer offers exciting new features and a more intuitive design that’s easier to use and offers a better overall experience. It also makes your use of RealVNC Connect more secure with improved visibility of who is connecting into devices. So we want to put it front and center for everyone to experience.
At the same time, customers on Premium or Enterprise plans that need specific functionality will be able to download the “Classic” version of RealVNC Viewer by logging into the RealVNC Portal at manage.realvnc.com.
Yes, you can keep using the RealVNC Connect Viewer for free, either as part of our free 14-day trial, or if you have a Lite Plan.
The limitations of our free Lite version will continue to be available for those who are not interested in the advanced features and paid plans.
Our new RealVNC Connect Viewer is a major upgrade on our older version that’s been designed to be easier to use and is packed with new features. And for most users, the new RealVNC Connect Viewer offers an improved overall experience.
However, there are some plan-specific features that require the RealVNC Classic Viewer (e.g. offline licensing), and so to ensure those customers can access it, we’ve made it available for them to download in the RealVNC Portal (manage.realvnc.com).
Only users who belong to a Premium or Enterprise Team will be able to download the RealVNC Classic Viewer from their RealVNC Portal at manage.realvnc.com.
You’ll start to see us refer to version 7 of RealVNC Viewer as the RealVNC Classic Viewer. This version will continue to be supported for the foreseeable future, so it’s not being discontinued.
While the new RealVNC Connect Viewer is our focus for ongoing improvements, the Classic Viewer will remain available for the foreseeable future.
When you sign up for an account, we ask for your email address, first and last name, and an optional phone number. You can find our privacy policy for more information on how we process your data: https://www.realvnc.com/en/legal/#privacy
For information on how we store, manage, and protect your data, please refer to our Privacy Policy: https://www.realvnc.com/en/legal/#privacy
Yes, you do. However, once you have signed in, the app will keep you signed in until your log out again.
Being signed in to RealVNC Connect Viewer or the RealVNC Connect (All-in-One) app does not impact performance or connection speed.
When you start a session using RealVNC’s cloud‑based brokering service, it will always try to establish a direct, peer‑to‑peer connection first. If that isn’t possible, it will automatically fall back to our privately hosted cloud relay. This ensures you’ve a reliable, high‑quality experience regardless of whether a device is on a local network or not.
This depends on the version of RealVNC Viewer that you have installed. We always recommend that you ensure you’re running the latest version of either the RealVNC Connect Viewer or the RealVNC Classic Viewer, depending on your needs. For information on supported versions, please refer to our Product Lifecycle Policy.
Yes, you can find instructions for installing on our Help Center: How Do I Update RealVNC Connect?
Please contact us by visiting https://www.realvnc.com/en/contact-us/