Cendio Aktiebolag

What Cendio Aktiebolag does

Cendio Aktiebolag is a privately held Swedish software company that develops and sells ThinLinc, a Linux remote desktop server providing secure graphical access to Linux desktops and applications from Windows, macOS, Linux, and HTML5 web clients. Company timeline data shows TightVNC contributions from 2002 and the ThinLinc product first released in 2003, with the firmographic record listing 1992 as a possible predecessor or incorporation year; Cendio AB operates with a small 1-10 person team out of Linköping, Sweden. Customers are concentrated in high-performance computing (NLHPC Chile, Indiana University, Purdue, Lund, Uppsala, DTU, Leidos), semiconductor and EDA (Seagate, SMD Semiconductor, Bruco Integrated Circuits), media and entertainment (Walt Disney Studios, Ghost VFX, Technicolor, Superprod), engineering and manufacturing (SAAB, Volkswagen Infotainment), government (NOAA, NIAID/NIH, Bolagsverket, Chilean NLHPC), and education/research, with anchor accounts such as SAAB (1,000+ engineers), Seagate (500+ engineers), Walt Disney Studios (hundreds), and Indiana University (~1,700 HPC users, 81% satisfaction in a 2019 survey).

ThinLinc is built on a stack of open-source components including TigerVNC, noVNC, OpenSSH, and PulseAudio, combined with a proprietary orchestration layer that delivers session management with persistent sessions, load balancing, high availability, audio redirection, smart card and local drive/printer redirection, and VirtualGL-based server-side GPU acceleration. Cendio is a leading developer and co-founder (with Red Hat and the VirtualGL project in 2009) of TigerVNC, contributing SIMD-accelerated JPEG compression/decompression, the ExtendedDesktopSize extension, and the CMake build system, while also stewarding the RFB (Remote Framebuffer) protocol documentation. Authentication integrates with LDAP, Active Directory, Kerberos, OTP, and PC/SC smart cards, and the product installs in approximately 15 minutes across all major Linux distributions. No public APIs or SDKs are offered, and no AI/ML capabilities are embedded in the product.

The business model is a freemium and tiered subscription: the free tier supports up to 10 concurrent users per organization, Standard subscriptions are priced at $66-$122 per user per year depending on term and volume, and Premium subscriptions at $91-$168 per user per year, with terms of 12, 36, or 60 months billed annually in advance and a 20% non-profit discount. Distribution combines product-led growth (free tier, web shop, downloadable client, free redistribution rights) with enterprise field sales for larger deployments, supported by resellers and a partners program. Cendio has received no disclosed external funding and operates as a bootstrapped business with a wholly-owned US subsidiary, ThinLinc USA Inc. (an Indiana corporation), handling North American license distribution.

Name

Cendio Aktiebolag

Legal name

Cendio AB

Website

https://cendio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Cendio Aktiebolag is a Swedish software company that sells ThinLinc, a Linux remote desktop server providing secure graphical access to Linux desktops from any device. It serves enterprises in HPC, semiconductor/EDA, media production, engineering, government, and academia via tiered subscription pricing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Remote Desktop Software

NAICS

Other Computer Related Services (541519), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Industrial Thin Clients & Remote Terminals (HDACALAK)

Keywords

• Linux remote desktop
• Thin client server
• Remote access software
• VNC solutions
• HPC remote access

Headquarters

HQ city

Linköping

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. ThinLinc Software Subscriptions: ThinLinc is sold via tiered annual/multi-year subscriptions priced per concurrent user. Two tiers: Standard (response within 2 business days) and Premium (priority response within 1 business day + telephone support). Licenses are organization-wide and can be redistributed within the legal entity.
2. Free Tier (Freemium): ThinLinc is free to use for up to 10 concurrent users per individual or organization worldwide, without obligations. The server software has a default limit of 3 concurrent users; a community license file increases this to 10. Beyond 10 users, commercial subscriptions are required.
3. Professional Services (Migration and Consulting): Organizations joining the SGD Exchange Program receive up to 10 hours of consultation for installation and integration. Custom setups and bigger deals are possible via direct engagement. Evaluations include setup assistance from technical team.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Cendio Aktiebolag is a Swedish software company that develops and sells ThinLinc, a Linux remote desktop server solution that enables organizations to deliver graphical Linux desktop sessions to users over a network. The company also maintains open-source projects including TigerVNC and noVNC that underpin its remote desktop technology. Cendio operates with a US subsidiary, ThinLinc USA Inc., and serves enterprise and institutional customers with subscription-based licensing.

Product overview

Cendio Aktiebolag offers ThinLinc, a Linux remote desktop server that combines open-source components with proprietary orchestration layers. The product portfolio includes ThinLinc as the core remote desktop server, TigerVNC (an open-source VNC project that Cendio co-founded and maintains) for graphics rendering via the RFB protocol, and ThinLinc Web Access (built on noVNC) for browser-based HTML5 client access. ThinLinc is free for up to 10 concurrent users and offers subscription-based licensing for larger deployments with Standard and Premium support tiers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ThinLinc: Linux remote desktop server solution providing secure graphical remote access to Linux desktops and applications, supporting Windows, macOS, Linux, and web browsers. Free for up to 10 concurrent users with paid subscriptions for larger deployments.

Products and services

• ThinLinc ThinLinc is a Linux remote desktop server software that delivers graphical Linux desktop sessions to remote users over a network. It is targeted at enterprises, high-performance computing (HPC) centers, universities, and other organizations that need centralized, multi-user access to Linux environments.

Quantifiable outcome

• Organizations report supporting hundreds of concurrent users with just a small support team — Seagate manages 500+ engineers with 3 support staff.
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers32 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

AI capability4 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Red HatcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009In 2009, Cendio teamed up with Red Hat and the VirtualGL project to create the TigerVNC project. TigerVNC was based on TightVNC 1.5 and is a core component of ThinLinc. This co-development partnership established the foundation of ThinLinc's VNC technology.
• VirtualGL ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009Cendio co-founded TigerVNC with the VirtualGL project in 2009. VirtualGL provides hardware-accelerated OpenGL on the server side, which is integrated into ThinLinc for GPU acceleration in remote sessions. This partnership enables applications such as Google Earth and CAD/CFD tools to run with good performance over remote connections.
• SCM (Software for Chemistry and Materials)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThinLinc has partnered with SCM, the authors of Amsterdam Modeling Suite (AMS), to provide a cloud-based demonstration environment for AMS for prospective customers. This enables potential customers to experience AMS via ThinLinc's remote graphical access.
• Microsoft (Azure)coreTechnology or IntegrationCendio and Microsoft have a partnership for ThinLinc on Azure, enabling deployment of ThinLinc on Azure cloud infrastructure. Microsoft Azure is a recommended cloud platform for ThinLinc deployments.
• Indiana UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndiana University's HPC center pioneered the research desktop approach using ThinLinc. Their setup inspired other HPC centers including NLHPC Chile to adopt similar ThinLinc deployments. Indiana University had approximately 1,700 ThinLinc HPC users as of 2019.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• X2Go: X2Go is an open-source remote desktop solution for Linux, offering session persistence and NX-based performance. It competes with ThinLinc primarily in academic and research environments where open-source preference is high.
• NICE DCV (NVIDIA): NVIDIA's NICE DCV provides GPU-accelerated remote desktop for HPC, VFX, and engineering workloads — the same core use cases as ThinLinc, particularly for 3D/OpenGL applications. It is increasingly bundled with AWS and NVIDIA enterprise offerings.
• Graphon GoGlobal: Graphon GoGlobal delivers Windows and Linux applications to any client browser without a local OS. It overlaps with ThinLinc's value proposition of Linux application delivery for Microsoft-centric and mixed-OS organizations.
• RealVNC: RealVNC provides VNC-based remote desktop software for cross-platform access including Linux. It is the closest direct competitor to ThinLinc, addressing the same need for graphical Linux access from Windows, macOS, and mobile clients.
• NoMachine: NoMachine (NX) delivers high-performance remote desktop for Linux, Windows, and macOS with a proprietary protocol. It directly competes with ThinLinc in HPC, engineering, and Linux-centric enterprise workflows.
• OpenText Exceed (formerly Hummingbird): OpenText Exceed is a long-standing X Window server for Windows that provides remote access to Linux/UNIX graphical applications. It serves the same enterprise need as ThinLinc for accessing Linux applications from Windows desktops.

Emerging players

• Apache Guacamole: Apache Guacamole is a clientless, browser-based remote desktop gateway supporting VNC, RDP, and SSH. As an open-source Apache project, it represents a free alternative to ThinLinc Web Access for organizations willing to self-host.

Broad incumbents

• Microsoft Remote Desktop Services: Microsoft RDS / Azure Virtual Desktop provides remote Windows desktop delivery and is often the default for Microsoft-centric enterprises. It is not a direct Linux solution but competes for the broader enterprise remote-desktop budget.
• Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops: Citrix (now Cloud Software Group) offers a full enterprise VDI/DaaS suite including Linux application delivery. It competes with ThinLinc at the high end of enterprise deployments but with a much broader product portfolio and field-sales footprint.
• VMware Horizon: VMware Horizon is a major enterprise VDI platform. While Linux is not its primary focus, it offers Linux desktop delivery for customers seeking a single vendor across Windows and Linux virtual desktops.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ThinLinc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cendio-ab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cendio Aktiebolag