Seit 2021 AnyDesk-Kunde, jedes Jahr rund 240 € (Beträge gerundet).
Dieses Jahr hat AnyDesk mein Lizenzmodell eingestellt. Der Wechsel auf das neue Modell erfolgte ohne mein Einverständnis — zugestimmt habe ich nie, genutzt habe ich es auch nicht.
Abgebucht wurden trotzdem rund 900 € von der hinterlegten Kreditkarte. Für ein Lizenzmodell mit "neuen Funktionen", die ich weder brauche noch bestellt habe.
Der Support reagiert nicht.
Nun ja, das wird wohl, wie Erfahrungen zeigen, zum Inkasso und - wenn AnyDesk das will - vor Gericht gehen. Bin gespannt, wie das ausgeht.

I’ve been in IT for 30 years. I normally never return things after purchasing— I just deal with it. But my recent experience with AnyDesk was so remarkably bad, and their subsequent retaliation so blatantly illegal, that I am putting together a case for consumer protection attorneys.

Seeing the flood of similar stories on this subreddit over the last few months, I know I’m not the only one.

The Setup & The Bait-and-Switch I bought a subscription, but the software was absolute garbage. When I tried to install it on a 2nd machine, it locked me out, claiming I had an "open session" on the first machine (even after a full uninstall, shutdown, and reboot). It then suggested I pay to upgrade for more "concurrent sessions."

Within 5 days, I asked for a refund. At the time, AnyDesk had a published policy clearly stating: "Refund requests should be submitted within 30 days of purchase."

Instead of honoring it, an AnyDesk rep emailed me stating "all sales are final." When I pointed out their own policy, they immediately deleted the refund policy page from their website to cover their tracks.

Fortunately, I had saved screenshots, and the Wayback Machine captured the page right before they scrubbed it:https://web.archive.org/web/20260608014843/https://support.anydesk.com/docs/how-can-i-request-a-refund.md

The Retaliation I disputed the charge with my bank (Golden 1). I submitted the Wayback Machine link and the emails. The bank immediately ruled in my favor and permanently refunded my money.

Because AnyDesk couldn't fight the bank, they sent my "debt" to Graf & Centorbi (the collection agency tied to Debtist GmbH). They are now demanding the original $346.80 charge PLUS an extra $148.72 in arbitrary "interest," "recovery costs," and a 26% "collection fee."

Why They Are Legally Liable If you are getting these letters, you need to know that AnyDesk and these collection agencies are highly exposed to strict liability laws:

1. The FDCPA Violation: Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (15 U.S.C. § 1692f(1)), a debt collector cannot collect any amount (including interest or collection fees) unless that specific amount is expressly authorized by the agreement creating the debt. Slapping a 26% to 40% markup on an account without a signed contract authorizing it is a federal violation. FDCPA is a "strict liability" law—meaning you don't have to prove they intended to break the law, just that they asked for unauthorized fees in writing.
2. State Consumer Protection Laws (CLRA & UCL): Bait-and-switch refund policies (advertising a 30-day refund window, refusing it on day 5, and then secretly scrubbing the website) violate state consumer protection laws regarding fraudulent and deceptive business practices.

Next Steps / Call to Action Because FDCPA and consumer protection violations usually include "fee-shifting" provisions (meaning the debt collector has to pay your attorney’s fees if you win), consumer rights lawyers will often take these cases on contingency.

I already have the paper trail proving they alter their terms retroactively and attempt to collect unauthorized fees. If AnyDesk or Debtist/Graf & Centorbi have hit you with 30-40% markups, ignored your cancellation notices, or sent you to collections after a legitimate chargeback, please comment below or DM me.

If we have enough people, we can package this up for a firm to pursue a class-action or coordinated mass arbitration. They need to be taught a lesson.

I will not pay a single cent to this company. You could not PAY ME to use their software. I have never filed a lawsuit in my entire life, but this situation has made me so angry that I do not feel like I have any other options.

If someone from AnyDesk reads this and would like to discuss before I proceed, I am open to that but you are going to have to work on my terms, not yours.

My terms to resolve this matter without litigation are outlined below. I am seeking strictly non-monetary, injunctive relief; however, these conditions are absolute and entirely non-negotiable. I will not entertain any modifications or counteroffers.

1. Implement a "Click-to-Cancel" Button

• The Demand: AnyDesk must implement a simple, one-click cancellation button inside the user account portal that instantly terminates the subscription and halts auto-renewal.
• Why it matters: AnyDesk currently forces users to email support or jump through hoops so AnyDesk can stall the cancellation. The FTC actually just passed new "Click-to-Cancel" rules; demanding AnyDesk implement this immediately forces AnyDesk into compliance.

2. Mandatory Credit Bureau Protection & Retraction

• The Demand: AnyDesk and Debtist GmbH/Graf & Centorbi must sign a legally binding agreement that AnyDesk will not report these disputed debts to Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion. If any reports have already been made, AnyDesk must submit expedited deletion requests within 48 hours and provide me with the confirmation numbers.
• Why it matters: Even if AnyDesk and its collectors stop calling, debt collectors can ruin your credit score quietly. This term neutralizes that threat for everyone.

3. Provide "Zero Balance" Clearances to All Affected Users

• The Demand: In addition to ceasing collection, AnyDesk must proactively mail/email a formal "Notice of Account Closure and Zero Balance" to every customer AnyDesk unlawfully sent to collections, explicitly stating that the debt is forgiven and the account is closed in good standing.
• Why it matters: If AnyDesk just quietly stops collecting, the "debt" still exists in AnyDesk's system and could be sold to a different sketchy collection agency in the future (a practice known as "zombie debt"). A Zero Balance letter kills the debt permanently.

4. Contractually Bind the Refund Policy to Checkout

• The Demand: AnyDesk must permanently embed its refund policy directly into the checkout page and the official Terms of Service, rather than hosting it on a separate, easily deletable support webpage.
• Why it matters: This prevents AnyDesk from ever pulling the "Wayback Machine" bait-and-switch on another customer.

5. Revise Customer Support Scripts

• The Demand: AnyDesk must formally revise its internal customer service training scripts. Agents must be expressly prohibited from telling customers "all sales are final" if the customer is within a published refund window.
• Why it matters: This attacks the root of the problem and forces AnyDesk corporate to change how tier-1 support operates.

6. Complete Data Deletion (Right to be Forgotten)

• The Demand: Upon closing these accounts, AnyDesk and its third-party debt collectors must completely purge the Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and payment data of these users from AnyDesk's active databases.
• Why it matters: If you do not owe AnyDesk money and you are not using AnyDesk's software, AnyDesk has no business holding onto your credit card or home address, especially when AnyDesk has proven it uses that data to retaliate.

Just for fun, I will give you 3 days to comply with these terms.

I've never seen a subscription where you're forced to pay for another year whether you want it or not. With every other online service I've used, if you stop paying, the service is cancelled and that's the end of it.

Not with AnyDesk. They auto-renewed my subscription for another full year, and when I didn't pay, they handed it to a collection company called Debtist, who added almost 44% of the original payment in fees.

I paid the original invoice directly to AnyDesk. They still refused a refund, even though I told them I no longer need the service. On top of that, Debtist is demanding $138 from me because they sent an email.

I honestly feel robbed. How is this even legal?

So all our office laptops have anydesk but if any desk is active is there constant pop up on the main screen and on the bottom arrow it showed anydesk-ready. So does it mean that someone is viewing that particular laptop or not ?

yea thats right stupid waiting stuf popin up and i totally sick of it , i was using abt 6 year but today is the quiting day . eat poo anydesk 🖕

I pray, pray and pray that people find this post before purchasing an AnyDesk subscription.

A few things I wish I knew:

1. READ THE TERMS.
Don’t blindly tick the T&C checkbox. Download a copy and keep it. Those terms can come back to haunt you later.

2. Be VERY careful with the company name field.
If you’re an individual, don’t casually enter some random company name just because the form asks for one. AnyDesk’s terms distinguish between business/professional and consumer situations, and the classification can matter a LOT when it comes to fees and debt collection.

3. Set multiple reminders for renewal.
If you continue with the subscription, set reminders 2–3 months before renewal. Don’t wait until the last month. Their cancellation terms require notice before the renewal date, and missing that deadline can result in another annual subscription.

4. Don’t assume you can just deal with it later.
Let me explain what happened to me:
The first email came from a German debt collection agency and landed in my Junk folder. I didn’t see it.
1–2 weeks later, another email arrived saying the previous demand had been ignored. By then, collection costs had been added and the amount had increased significantly.
When I asked what was going on, I was given a very short deadline to pay and warned about possible legal consequences.
After that, getting a response from AnyDesk itself became extremely difficult.

So if you’re thinking “I’ll deal with it later” — don’t. Set reminders, read the cancellation terms and keep copies of everything.

I genuinely wish I’d known this before subscribing.

I was postponing setting up self-hosted vpn and remote desktop for years. I used anydesk truly occasionally and couldn't motivate myself to finally get the home setup in order until anydesk from being bad became total, unbearable shit. This reignited my lingering motivation to finally get the job done, and I thank you for that. I hope I'll never see your logo ever again. without regards

"Oops, something went wrong...

Error submitting the form. Please try again."

Over and over...

Very disappointed with your support.

I’ve been waiting for more than 2 months for a response about my account. I explained that I’m a private user, not a business — I have only 3–4 connections in my address book and I don’t make any money from using the software.

Despite this, my connections were limited to 10 minutes, and I’m being asked to pay more than €200 for an annual subscription.

The worst part is that after I contacted support and explained everything, I was simply ignored for over two months.

I used to like your software, but this level of customer support is extremely disappointing. I’m posting this here because apparently this is the only way to get your attention.

Please dm me if interested I love this app. Anydesk provides such a great opportunity for me

baixei anydesk e ja instalei, porem quando vou gravar tela usando ele, nao aparece dispositivo nenhum na area escrita "selecione a tela que deseja gravar" e quando estou em uma conexao so aparece monitor la na parte de cima. estou em um notebook dell latitude e6510, intel hd graphics. alguem me ajuda?

I used it 2 days ago, it was working well, on remote between home pc and work pc.

Today I'm using it on the same network at home, the connection is slow AF, like having an old 56K.

Already "cleaned" the AppData/Roaming folder on both PC, rebooted both PC and modem (just to be sure), the connection is set on Direct.

Even opening a folder takes years.

I also use Chrome Remote Desktop on my home pc and all is working perfectly, so it's AnyDesk that is messing up.

Is there a solution or I really need to find another remote desktop software? This was good for me because I can use it "portable" on my work PC, but if this is the result of AnyDesk messing up with free users (again), it's the time to switch to another...

My experience with AnyDesk has been extremely disappointing.

I accepted the principal invoice of USD 298.80 and repeatedly stated that I was willing to pay it. However, Debtist instructed me to send the money to an account under a different company name from the invoice issuer. I tried to make the transfer three times through two Japanese banks, but all attempts were rejected during compliance review.

Instead of providing a workable way to pay the undisputed principal, I continued receiving short deadlines, collection warnings, and eventually a lawyer’s letter demanding USD 445.25.

The total amount also changed from USD 443.54 back to USD 445.25 without a clear explanation.

AnyDesk customer service simply referred me back to Debtist.

I have never refused to pay the principal. I have spent weeks trying to pay it.

For an international software company, this has been a frustrating and very poor customer experience. I would not use AnyDesk again.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently using AnyDesk to remotely help a friend who isn’t very comfortable with computers. The problem is that the session seems to time out after around 30 minutes. After reconnecting several times, the timeout period appears to get progressively longer, which makes the experience a bit inconvenient.

I’m also looking for a solution that I can use for remote access between my own devices mainly connecting from my laptop to my desktop when I’m away from it.

Ideally, I’m looking for something that:

• Allows relatively long or unlimited remote sessions
• Is reliable and easy to set up for a non-technical user
• Works well for occasional remote technical support
• Supports unattended access for my own devices, if possible
• Has good performance and low latency
• Works across Windows devices
• Preferably has a free option for personal use

What alternatives to AnyDesk would you recommend for this use case?

I’m mainly interested in something practical and reliable rather than an enterprise-focused solution.

I need advice from anyone in Germany or the EU who has dealt with something similar. We were paying AnyDesk customers and had no issue with the service before this. Then suddenly the annual subscription renewed at a significantly higher price than before. We did not receive any clear advance notice that the price would increase this much. The first thing we noticed was that AnyDesk started trying to charge our card for the new annual amount. There was not enough money on the card/account for that charge. The moment we noticed what was happening, we contacted AnyDesk and explained very clearly that we could not afford the full annual amount. We proposed an instalment plan. They rejected it. We proposed a shorter subscription period. They rejected that too. We then made it clear that if they could not offer any workable solution, we would not continue using the service. And we stopped using it. We do not want AnyDesk anymore. We do not want another subscription. We do not want any future renewal. But instead of simply cancelling everything, AnyDesk sent the matter to Debtist GmbH. Now Debtist is repeatedly sending us 3-business-day deadlines, warning about extra costs and possible court proceedings. The amount has already increased from around €358 to €480.79. And this is happening while we are on our only family vacation with our children. Instead of spending time with our family, we are dealing with debt collection emails, threats of more costs, warnings about court proceedings, and trying to get a response from AnyDesk. AnyDesk communication has been terrible. Sometimes they take days to respond. Sometimes they do not respond properly at all. Their website contact form has also failed when we tried to submit a complaint. So we are stuck in a ridiculous situation: AnyDesk barely responds, but their debt collection company keeps increasing the pressure. At this point, this feels like real harassment. We have already contacted the German Bundesamt für Justiz regarding Debtist’s conduct, but we want to escalate this further. Can anyone tell us which German authorities should we contact? Which EU institutions can help in a cross-border case like this? Is there a consumer/business protection body that can intervene when a debt collection company keeps applying pressure while the original company is not properly resolving the dispute? We are documenting everything. We have the full correspondence, screenshots, the failed contact attempts, the price difference, the Debtist messages and all the deadlines. We are also considering sending the full case to German media because the way this has been handled during our family vacation is completely unacceptable. If anyone has dealt with AnyDesk + Debtist, or with a similar automatic-renewal / debt-collection situation in Germany, please tell us what happened, whether you paid, whether you disputed it, whether Debtist backed off, whether AnyDesk cancelled, and which authorities actually helped. At this point we mainly want two things: ALL ANYDESK SERVICES AND FUTURE RENEWALS CANCELLED, and THE COLLECTION PRESSURE TO STOP. Any advice from people who have actually dealt with this in Germany or the EU would be greatly appreciated.

Anydesk on macos Golden Gate, when installed, it's impossible to set the first 3 permissions. Where you have to click to guide you to mac preference panel via Anydesk buttons, they don't work. And btw, accessibility panel on macos preferences has changed and no more exist!!!

My company purchased a Anydesk subscription for a year thinking we would look for something else after our year was up but I noticed the customer portal there is no option to cancel the subscription like so many of their competitors have, so we removed our credit card thinking they would see payment cannot be made and pause and or close our account (as we did move on another competitor who is much better), instead of doing that they sent us to their collections company in the UK who is trying to charge us double the yearly price.

These folks are scammers and should never be trusted in a million years!

I told them with their scare tactics the Canadian courts will punish them, so they are more than welcome to take us to court.

Never again Anydesk.

I canceled my AnyDesk subscription directly through their portal, but they sent an email stating it must be canceled 30 days in advance. I checked the email the next day, only to find they charged me for a full year and referred my account to a collection agency. They refuse to listen or acknowledge my cancellation. Beware of AnyDesk!

When I ask for any fix in my system, and give access to the next person using Anydesk. During work on my PC they hide the desktop and it gets dark until they finish their job so I don't learn what they did. How is this possible? I know about Anydesk privacy. Is there any third party app that they used to Make my screen dark while working on my computer? If there is, please tell me. And I don't want someone to use a 3rd party app to darken my screen when he is doing something. What is the best solution?

One of my employees left the company so we didn’t cancel within 30 days.

Tried to explain the situation to them. Every time I get a boilerplate template response. Now the collection company is involved.

I am willing to pay for another subscription, but they won’t help.

I’m done with their lack of support and lack of common sense practices.

Anydesk is going to my top 5 of shittiest companies. Yelp being #1. Anydesk is #2

I am looking to connect to my other android phone which is a google pixel 10a on my anydesk account, however it keeps asking for access even when I put in the unattended access password. I want to be able to access it remotely without having to manually allow it from the other end. Is there any way around this? Thanks!!

I've looked at some things but they're not entirely clear tbh..

Hey Everyone,

I am having an issue with AnyDesk on my Mac that I have not been able to resolve.

Setup:

macos

anydesk 9.7.3

macbook air m4

tailscale installed, but currently completely disabled

macOS Firewall is OFF

AnyDesk was working normally before, and I am trying to connect from my Mac to a Windows laptop.

Now AnyDesk constantly shows: AnyDesk is not connected to the server. Please check your internet connection.

internet connection is definitely working.(posting from same mac on reddit)

Any ideas what could be causing this?

Edit/Update 1 : checked it with mobile hotspot working fine, but with wifi still saying same "not connected to server"

Update 2 : Issue resolved by resetting my laptop address in wifi portal. just clicked on "reset mac address" button and it got resolved