Why DartRelay Stands Out from Other Remote Application Delivery Products
Remote application delivery is a crowded market. Citrix, Parallels RAS, VMware Horizon, Azure Virtual Desktop, Microsoft RDS and a long list of smaller tools all promise to put Windows applications in front of users wherever they are. On a feature checklist they can look very similar.
The differences show up later: when you deploy the platform, patch it, brand it, add your second customer, or open your renewal invoice. We built DartRelay after twenty years of customizing and supporting these products for our clients, and we designed it around the problems we kept seeing. Here is what makes it different.
1. Truly agentless
Most remote application delivery platforms work by installing their own agent on every session host: a VDA, a RAS agent, a Horizon agent or an AVD agent. Every agent has to be deployed, kept at a compatible version, and debugged when it misbehaves after a Windows update.
DartRelay installs nothing on your hosts. The DartRelay server connects to Windows desktops and Windows Servers over standard RDP and streams the session to the browser. Adding a host means entering its name and a management account; DartRelay checks it is ready, lists the installed programs so you can publish them, and can install the Remote Desktop Session Host role for you. When you retire a host, there is nothing to uninstall.
2. One server instead of a farm of roles
A traditional deployment spreads the work across a broker, a web portal, a gateway, a licence server and a database, often on separate machines. DartRelay brings the user portal, the administrator console, access decisions and the session relay together in one service that runs on Windows or Linux. Small sites can start with a built-in SQLite database; larger ones can use SQL Server, MySQL or PostgreSQL.
Fewer moving parts means faster deployment, fewer upgrade surprises and less specialist knowledge needed to keep it running.
3. Nothing for users to install
Users open a web address, sign in and click an application. It opens in a new tab inside the portal. There is no client to download, no VPN profile to configure and no plug-in to approve, which makes DartRelay ideal for contractors, remote staff and anyone working on a device you do not manage.
4. Branding and customization without limits
Branding is usually an afterthought in remote access products: upload a logo, pick a colour, done. Anything more means editing files that the next upgrade overwrites. We know this well, because rebuilding those customizations is how Custom Interface Solutions started.
In DartRelay, branding is part of the product. It ships with a growing library of ready-made themes, a theme editor for colours, logos and layouts, and a block-based page builder for the sign-in and home pages. Your themes are stored in DartRelay, so they survive upgrades. When you want something truly bespoke, our designers can create a custom DartRelay theme that matches your brand exactly.
5. Multi-tenancy built in
Service providers and organisations with several departments normally run a separate deployment for each customer, or settle for one shared portal. DartRelay's Tenancy & Branding lets one installation answer on several web addresses, each with its own brand, its own Relay Seat allowance, its own announcements and its own terms of use. We cover this in detail in Multi-Tenancy and Custom URL Branding with DartRelay.
6. Security that is included, not sold separately
Every DartRelay licence includes:
- Two-factor authentication with recovery codes
- Picture CAPTCHA and sign-in lockout to stop automated attacks
- Password age and complexity policies
- Session lifetimes and keyboard-based idle timeout
- Administrator roles with fine-grained permissions
- A complete audit log of sign-ins, launches and administrative changes
Windows credentials are handled on the DartRelay server and never sent to the browser. Certificates for your public address can be issued and renewed automatically, so HTTPS never quietly expires.
7. Communicate with your users
Two features that customers ask us for again and again are built in. Announcements let you show maintenance windows, outages or news on the sign-in screen or inside the portal, aimed at the users who need to see them. Agreements ask users to accept your terms of use or acceptable use policy before they continue, and record that they did.
8. Everyday features that just work
Favourites, search, sorting, categories and folders keep large catalogues tidy. A file browser in the session toolbar lets users move files in and out with drag and drop, and administrators decide which file actions are allowed. Printing produces a PDF in the browser, so there are no printer drivers to manage. Web applications can be listed beside published Windows applications, and DartRelay supports several portal languages.
9. Pricing that is published and simple
Every DartRelay licence includes every feature, with no editions or add-on packs. At the time of writing, a base licence costs $300 a year and includes 5 Relay Seats, and additional seats are $15 a year each. You can estimate your cost on the DartRelay pricing calculator without filling in a form or waiting for a quote.
10. Backed by the people who built your portals
DartRelay is developed by Dart Innovations, the team behind Custom Interface Solutions. We have been customizing Citrix, Microsoft RD Web, ADFS, Parallels RAS and Thinfinity portals for twenty years. When you call for help, you reach engineers who understand both DartRelay and the environment around it.
Summary
| What matters | How DartRelay handles it |
|---|---|
| Host software | None. Agentless over RDP |
| Infrastructure | One server on Windows or Linux, plus a database |
| User devices | Any modern browser, no client or VPN |
| Branding | Themes, theme editor and page builder included |
| Multi-tenancy | Separate address, brand, seats, notices and terms per tenant |
| Security | 2FA, CAPTCHA, lockout, policies and audit log included |
| Pricing | Published, with all features in every licence |
See the difference yourself
Install DartRelay next to your current platform, connect it to the hosts you already have and publish an application in minutes. Start the 30-day free trial, try our live DartRelay demos, or ask our engineers for a guided tour.