When comparing Synergy vs ShareMouse, the Slant community recommends Synergy for most people. In the question“What are the best KVMs for high resolution monitors?” Synergy is ranked 2nd while ShareMouse is ranked 3rd. The most important reason people chose Synergy is:
Share one mouse, one keyboard, and one clipboard between multiple Windows, macOS, and Linux computers.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux
Share one mouse, one keyboard, and one clipboard between multiple Windows, macOS, and Linux computers.
Pro Low latency cursor and keystrokes
Low latency can be ensured by directly connecting computers via crossover cable.
Pro Share the clipboard across multiple computers
Copy and paste images and text between all of your computers.
Pro Great customer service
After purchasing a professional license with an affiliate code, there's a possible issue where you only have rights to the second version. You can contact customer service and they will respond quickly to add your professional license.
Pro This is a must-have if you work with multiple computers
If needing to keep one Mac from updating the iOS for a software compatibility issue, doing everything else on another Mac solves that problem & using Synergy makes it all easy & practical.
Pro SSL network encryption
Uses SSL network encryption which is especially important since the shared keyboard data may contain passwords, and the application can "control your computer" (as the MacOS X permissions dialog puts it) it is important to ensure that the connection between computers is secured so that even if you are using it on an open WiFi hotspot, others cannot see the data being sent, nor can they inject data into the connection.
Note: This feature is only included with Synergy Pro and all paid versions of Synergy 2.
Pro Customer service is fast to respond to inquiries and needs
Turnaround on refund in under 24 hours with complete customer satisfaction.
Pro Saves space
It's great to have only 1 mouse and keyboard for 2 laptops and 2 large monitors in a smallish apartment.
Pro It was like not having 2 computers but made you feel as if you had one computer with extended monitor
Pro Core software is complete open-source and free
If you know how to compile code from source, you can follow the documentation to compile the core binaries (server and client) and run them on your machines without a GUI using a hand-crafted configuration. Given how seamlessly and beautifully this works on a LAN, the paid option is more of a convenience that helps contribute to FOSS. The model is similar to Xchat and does not bar you from using the full-featured version.
Pro You get to use your favorite keyboard and mouse for all the machines you deal with
Pro Optimizes and saves screen real estate and desk real estate
Pro Partially open source software
Synergy is partially open source. The open core is released under the GPLv2 license and the code is freely available on Github.
Pro Devs are active on Github
Reported issues are covered quickly on the Github site.
Pro Cross-platform compatible with Mac and Windows
Pro Seamless file drag & drop
Files can be moved from any Mac/PC to any Mac/PC.
Pro Absolutely no configuration requried
ShareMouse automatically senses the display positions and requires no manual setup in most setups.
Pro Low latency and seamless switching
Pro Easy to use Monitor Manager
A beautiful and easy-to-use Monitor Manager allows to fine-adjust monitor positions of all connected computers.
Pro Works equally in either direction (no master-slave restriction)
You can use any(!) mouse and keyboard of any(!) computer to control any(!) other computer.
Pro Freeware option available
A feature-limited freeware is available for two computers and two displays (in total).
Pro Trackpad gestures support
Available in the beta program.
Pro Can control locked desktop and elevated applications on remote computers.
A service worker auto-launches ShareMouse corresponding to the remote user credentials.
Pro Can map CMD/CTRL/ALT-keys on Mac with Windows CTRL/WIN/ALT-keys on Windows
Comes in handy, if you are used with one of the two modifier key scheme of Mac vs Windows.
Pro Can remote shut-down, log-out and lock all connected computers
Pro Can sync screen savers of all connected computers
Pro Can send CTRL-ALT-DEL to remote Windows PC
Required to remote log onto Windows user session.
Pro Feature to equalize different display dimensions
ShareMouse can optionally simplify monitor transitions between monitors of different dimensions.
Pro Wrap-around-monitors feature
The mouse pointer can optional wrap around large monitor setups. E.g. if moving against the right border of the most-right display, the pointer jumps to the most-left monitor.
Pro Many options to prevent unwanted mouse transitions
ShareMouse can ignore mouse transitions, if hovering display edges, or when running full-screen apps. Alternatively, you can add a hotkey to enable mouse transitition, like CTRL-move to switch monitors.
Pro Unused displays can optionally be dimmed
This optional dimming feature includes an arrow trail, making it easy to locate the mouse pointer in large multi-display setups.
Pro Clipboard sharing without interference of local clipboard
ShareMouse allows to share the clipboard between computes. You can always decide, if you wish to paste the local clipboard or the clipboard of a remote computer.
Pro AES network data encryption and password protection
ShareMouse network traffice and data transfer can be AES encrypted and password protected to isolate multiple setups in a shared network.
Cons
Con Clumsy configuration
Not easy to configure.
Con Lacks many features of the competition
No Drag & Drop of files. Clipboard sharing is just plain text. No pics. No text formatting.
Con Not universally Unix compatible
Depending on what distro you have installed on your machine and your local network settings you may not be able to actually slave Microsoft machine to your Linux box.
Con Paid binaries
While being partially open source, Symless charges for builds of their binaries, which is allowed by the GPL (open source license). Cost of $29 for Synergy Basic, or $39 for Synergy Pro. Older versions of the binaries are available for free, and the source code for the core of the app can be downloaded and compiled manually.
Con Unreliable connection
Connection between computers often breaks with no reason.
Con Clicks don't get transferred to clients when the server is Windows
Bug's been open forever. Still not fixed.
Con The price seems to change constantly
Used to be free Open Source software but now prices seem to increase every few months.
Con No Android Support
Con No wake-on-lan option for notebooks
This is more of a hopeful suggestion rather than a con, but they currently do not have the "waking-on-lan" feature to power up a notebook in closed position, but they do have plans to include that feature for future upgrades. Some users are definitely looking forward to that feature being available.
Con AltGr key (right Alt/Option key) does not work
This is an old bug they have had for many years and it can be very problematic for people who use keyboard that need that key a lot.
Con Scrolling in Chrome on Mac client is jittery
For some users, there is a bug which causes jittery movement on client. Scrolling on the server is normal.
Con Doesn't work with Mac (as server) with secure keyboard entry
If you use the Mac as the "server", the mouse will switch to the "client" computer but not the keyboard. Simply entering a password in Chrome on the Mac will enable the SecureEventInput and kill the ability to use the keyboard on a Synergy client. The Synergy client doesn't notify the user if this setting is enabled or not.
Con Pricing leans to professional users
The Professional Edition cost US$ 69.
Con No Linux version
There is no Linux version available for ShareMouse.