A Synergy alternative that switches your monitor too
Synergy lets your mouse glide between computers that each have their own screen. EasyKVM is built for the other setup — two computers sharing one monitor — so it switches the monitor's input and hands off your keyboard, mouse, and audio, all on one hotkey. One-time $29.99, no subscription, LAN-only.
The key difference: one monitor vs. many
Synergy is a "software KVM" in the mouse-sharing sense: each computer keeps driving its own display, and you move the cursor off the edge of one screen onto the next. It's great when you have a separate monitor per machine sitting side by side.
EasyKVM solves the case Synergy doesn't: one monitor, two computers. Press your hotkey and EasyKVM flips the monitor's input over DDC/CI (the same channel the buttons on the front of your monitor use) while your keyboard and mouse hand off to the other machine. Each computer drives the screen natively, so you keep full resolution, refresh rate, and HDR — nothing is streamed or compressed.
EasyKVM vs Synergy at a glance
| EasyKVM | Synergy | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Two computers, one shared monitor | Two computers, two side-by-side monitors |
| Switches monitor input (DDC/CI) | Yes | No |
| Share keyboard & mouse | Yes (hotkey handoff) | Yes (edge crossing) |
| Audio follows control | Yes, both directions | No |
| Shared clipboard | Yes | Yes |
| Mac & Windows | Yes | Yes |
| Price | $29.99 once | Paid tiers, per-version upgrades |
| Network | LAN-only, no telemetry | LAN |
What Synergy costs today
Synergy is paid software sold in tiers (Lite, Plus and Max at the time of writing), and major-version upgrades have historically been paid again. That's a fair model — but if you're pricing it against EasyKVM, the comparison is simple: $29.99 once, both platforms, every update included for the life of the product. And if Synergy's edge-crossing model is actually what you want, its free forks (Barrier / Input Leap) exist too.
Which should you pick?
- Two monitors, glide the mouse across → Synergy (or its free fork, Barrier) fits that model.
- One monitor shared by two computers → EasyKVM, because it actually switches the monitor input — Synergy can't.
- Just keyboard, mouse & audio between a Mac and a PC → either works; EasyKVM adds audio + monitor switching for $29.99 once.