Azure Bastion vs. HelpWire

Azure Bastion is a fully managed Platform as a Service (PaaS) that provides secure and seamless Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and Secure Shell (SSH) access to virtual machines (VMs) without exposing them to public IP addresses. By deploying Azure Bastion within your virtual network, you can connect to your VMs directly through the Azure portal or via native RDP/SSH clients, enhancing security and simplifying remote access management.

HelpWire is remote access software for Windows, macOS, and Linux. IT teams and technicians can start sessions by sending a link, so the remote user clicks it and joins without creating an account or entering credentials. When follow-up is required, unattended access allows technicians to return to devices later without involving the remote user again. Sessions reconnect automatically after reboots. To keep remote access responsive, HelpWire uses direct peer-to-peer connections by default, with relay fallback when network conditions require it. All sessions are encrypted with TLS and AES-256.