When comparing Multiplicity 3 vs Synergy, the Slant community recommends Multiplicity 3 for most people. In the question“What are the best KVMs for high resolution monitors?” Multiplicity 3 is ranked 1st while Synergy is ranked 2nd. The most important reason people chose Multiplicity 3 is:
Multiplicity enables a single keyboard and mouse to control up to nine PCs each with a dedicated display monitor. The cursor can be smoothly moved directly to any monitor regardless of which PC the monitor is connected to.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Seamless Keyboard and Mouse Control
Multiplicity enables a single keyboard and mouse to control up to nine PCs each with a dedicated display monitor. The cursor can be smoothly moved directly to any monitor regardless of which PC the monitor is connected to.
Pro Listen to Audio and Alerts from Multiple PCs through One PC
Audio and alerts can be sent from multiple PCs to a single PC.
Pro Drag/Drop and Copy/Paste between PCs
Quickly and securely drag and drop files of any size between PCs. Advanced compression techniques ensure very large files and folders, such as video files, transfer quickly. Copy and paste images and text between PCs, local and remote. Formatting attributes are retained when copying and pasting formatted images.
Pro Remote Multi-Monitor Operation
Multiplicity supports control of remote PCs with multi-monitor configurations. Users may select the specific remote monitor display to show on the local PC monitor and freely switch between them. The window that contains the remote PC display can be resized and moved between monitors attached to the controlling PC.
Pro Seamless Multi-Monitor Operation
Multiplicity supports multi-monitor configurations. Any Multiplicity controlled PC may have multiple monitors and Multiplicity will enable the user to seamlessly move the cursor across all PCs and all display screens.
Pro Remote / VPN Operation
Multiplicity may be used to control PCs not on your local network if a VPN connection is available.
Pro Universal Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse Connection Types
Multiplicity will work with any display or input device connection type that is compatible with your PC.
Pro Connection Security Codes
Primary PCs are configured with a connection code unique to each PC it will control.
Pro Encrypted Data Transmission
AES-256 encryption of all data sent between PCs with the ability to define a unique encryption key for each PC.
Pro Encrypted Connections
Ability to require all or specific remote connections to be encrypted.
Pro Lock and Unlock All PCs at Once from One Keyboard
Each PC can have its own unique password
Pro View Only Connections
Remote PC connections can optionally be limited to view only.
Pro Remote Connection Timeout
Remote connection session time limits can be preset to ensure connections are not left open.
Pro Signed Binaries
Identify authentic Multiplicity binaries.
Pro Lock Down User Configuration Options
Multiplicity's user configuration options can be set by administrators and locked down.
Pro Audit Logging
Remote connection activity can be logged to the Windows Event Viewer.
Pro IP-KVM / Remote Desktop Connection Session Codes
PCs requesting a remote connection can be required to enter a session code generated by the remote PC.
Pro Dim/Darken Monitor Brightness or Highlight Active Monitor Border
Keep track of the active PC with monitor brightness or border highlight indicators
Pro Active Thumbnail Sidebar
A second method to connect to a remote PC is to select it from the thumbnail sidebar. The sidebar can be displayed all the time or automatically based on mouse control. When sufficient thumbnails are available the sidebar will scroll and can be one or two columns wide.
Pro Remote Many-to-One Operation
Multiplicity enables multiple PCs to access a single PC. This enables staff in different locations to access a PC when collaborating on a task or problem resolution.
Pro Remote and Seamless Virtual Machine Support
In Remote mode Multiplicity can connect to a headless virtual machine (VM) and in Seamless mode connect to other PCs with monitors hosting VMs.
Pro Remote / Seamless Mixed Mode Operation
Multiplicity supports simultaneous operation in both seamless and remote mode. This enables multiple local PCs to be seamlessly switched between using their own monitors while also controlling other PCs using a shared monitor, keyboard and mouse.
Pro Remote PC Control Operation
Multiplicity enables a single monitor, keyboard and mouse to be used to control other PCs. Remote PCs can be located anywhere on the network. Keyboard and mouse inputs will be sent to the remote PC and the remote display will be shown on the local PC monitor.
Pro Active Desktop Thumbnails
Multiplicity can display a full screen of active desktop thumbnails from remote PCs available to be selected and controlled from the Primary PC. Based on your monitor resolution Multiplicity will automatically resize and adjust the number of thumbnails displayed and horizontal scroll to accommodate as many thumbnail views as are available.
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.
Cons
Con Windows only
You're running a linux box or a Mac? Then Multiplicity is not for you, sorry. It runs on a variety of Windows flavours, but it doesn't support anything but Windows.
Con License fees
Unless using the 30-day trial, this software costs a minimum of 9.99 USD, which only gives access to a limited number of the multitude of features.
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.