Drovio

Overview

Drovio is a remote-collaboration app for sharing an IDE, other app, or screen, aimed especially at distributed teams working through pair programming, code reviews, and coding interviews. Its broad app support makes it useful beyond coding, but the free plan’s two-person cap and 30-minute daily remote-control limit constrain regular collaboration.

Shared control is the central draw: participants use separate cursors to work in the shared app rather than merely watch someone else’s screen. Voice chat, webcam sharing, and browser-based joining round out sessions, while paid tiers lift the remote-control cap and allow up to 10 participants.

Key features

Drovio works with any IDE or app, making it a flexible choice for teams that do not want to move their work into one editor. It also fits design collaboration, brainstorming, and education. On paid plans, groups can reach 10 participants; Basic supports only two, so it suits a pair better than a class or larger review.

Sessions combine screen sharing, integrated chat, voice chat with echo cancellation, and webcam sharing. Guests can join through a browser without installing the app, which is useful for interviews or occasional collaborators. Drovio says its screen sharing is optimized for low latency on low-bandwidth connections and at high resolutions.

Drovio describes sessions as peer-to-peer and end-to-end encrypted, and says it uses strong encryption for communications and data at rest. Its cloud edition supports local accounts, Slack, GitHub, and Google sign-in, plus SAML single sign-on on Business. Slack integration lets users start sessions from Slack, with participants joining in the app or browser. Drovio says it bills active members and credits prepaid time when a member stops using the app. Stripe handles payments, and Drovio says it does not store card data.

Pricing

Basic is free and includes unlimited screen sharing and calls, but remote control is limited to 30 minutes per day and sessions are capped at two participants. That is a useful no-cost option for occasional pairs, but the control limit is a meaningful restriction for sustained collaborative work.

Standard costs $15 a month, billed monthly; yearly billing saves 2 months. It includes unlimited screen sharing, calls, and remote control, up to 10 participants, centralized billing, drawing and spotlight tools, and session recording. It is the practical step up for regular teams that need more than two people or sustained control.

Business costs $30 a month, billed monthly, with the same two-month saving on yearly billing. It adds SAML single sign-on and dedicated support to Standard’s features, making it the relevant tier for teams that need those capabilities. Standard includes a 15-day free trial with no card required. After the trial, accounts move to Basic unless payment details and billing contact information are registered.

Enterprise is on-premises, runs on the customer’s own machines in a private network without an internet connection, and has custom pricing. It is the option for organizations that require that deployment arrangement; teams wanting cloud service have the Basic, Standard, and Business plans instead.

Platforms

Drovio supports Linux, macOS, Windows, and web access, and offers a self-hosted deployment. Browser joining avoids requiring guests to install the app. The Enterprise deployment can run in a private network without an internet connection.

Who it's for

Drovio is best suited to distributed teams that need to collaborate inside their existing apps, especially engineering teams pairing, reviewing code, or interviewing candidates. Its support for any IDE or app also makes it a reasonable fit for design sessions, brainstorming, and education. Choose a paid cloud plan when sessions regularly exceed two people or need more than 30 minutes of remote control each day; choose Enterprise when an offline private-network deployment is essential.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Shared control works with any IDE or app, so teams can collaborate without switching to a single supported editor.
• Pro: Browser joining, voice, webcam, and integrated chat support sessions with guests as well as regular teammates.
• Pro: Standard and Business raise the participant limit to 10 and remove the daily remote-control cap.
• Pro: The Enterprise option supports deployment on customer machines in a private network without internet access.
• Con: Basic limits remote control to 30 minutes per day and two participants, so frequent or group collaboration calls for a paid plan.
• Con: Business costs twice as much per month as Standard; its stated additions are SAML single sign-on and dedicated support, which may not matter to smaller teams.

Alternatives

For a broader comparison, see Pair Programming Software. Pop is another free option, with its Pro plan described as unlimited meetings and no time limit while in beta. Zed is the better fit for someone seeking a free code editor plan with 2,000 accepted edit predictions and external-agent or API-key support, rather than Drovio’s shared-app control. Saros is a free, open-source alternative with no paid plans.

Duckly may suit occasional sessions: its Free plan supports two simultaneous participants but has no video calls, while Hacker costs $6 a month. Visual Studio is a Windows IDE option, including a Community plan for students, open-source work, and individual developers. ShareCode is a free web option with unlimited CodeSpaces and users per CodeSpace. CodeTogether offers a Starter Plan at $10 a month per developer for up to 25 developers. Gobby is a free alternative.

Verdict

Choose Drovio if your team needs to collaborate with shared control inside its existing apps, and values browser joining, voice, and webcam options. Standard is the natural fit for regular sessions; Business is worth considering when SAML single sign-on or dedicated support matters. Look elsewhere if Basic’s two-person and daily control limits are too restrictive and paid collaboration does not fit your needs, or if you need a different kind of tool such as a free editor or open-source alternative.