CursorHop vs Mouse Without Borders
Mouse Without Borders is a free Microsoft Garage side project. Windows-only, capped at 4 PCs, and about 8 Mbps of file transfer. For anything more serious than that, the comparison ends fast.
The honest read
Mouse Without Borders is a 20%-time side project built inside Microsoft's Garage program. That's what it delivers: four PCs, Windows only, file transfer that tops out around 8 Mbps, idle RAM around 110 MB, and a release cadence of whatever Microsoft can spare. AES encryption finally arrived in 2023 — the biggest gap before that.
The hard ceiling: no macOS build, no plans announced. One Mac on your desk and MWB is off the table.
CursorHop runs on Windows and macOS, scales to 10 devices, transfers files at 70 Mbps, holds ~7 ms median latency, and idles at 18 MB. Noise encryption from day one. Screen dimming and raw-input Game Mode out of the box. Full-time development with a support inbox that actually answers.
What each one ships today
Apples to apples. No footnotes-on-footnotes.
| Mouse Without Borders | CursorHop | |
|---|---|---|
| Engine | .NET / C# | Rust (native, no GC) |
| Windows | Yes (Win 10+) | Windows 10+ |
| macOS | No | macOS 12+ |
| Linux | No | Coming soon |
| Max PCs supported | 4 | Up to 10 (Max tier) |
| Encryption | AES (added 2023) | Noise, every tier |
| Pairing | Shared security code | mDNS + account pairing |
| Clipboard — images | Yes | Yes, every tier |
| File transfer throughput | Basic drag-drop (~8 Mbps) | Native drag-drop (~70 Mbps) |
| Ctrl ⇄ Cmd translation | N/A (no Mac) | Automatic |
| Screen dimming | No | Auto-dim inactive screens |
| Game Mode (raw input) | No | Ctrl+G raw input mode |
| Full-time development | Microsoft Garage (part-time) | Yes |
| Pricing | Free | From $10 one-time |
Latency and throughput figures describe typical behavior on gigabit LAN with both machines on the same switch. Real-world numbers vary with Wi-Fi congestion and driver configuration. Claims about Mouse Without Borders sourced from its public product pages, documentation, and user reports as of April 2026.
Pick Mouse Without Borders if…
- All your computers are Windows, and four or fewer.
- You want zero cost and don't need file transfer faster than ~8 Mbps.
Pick CursorHop if…
- You have a Mac on your desk too.
- You need more than 4 devices.
- You want a Rust engine with ~7 ms LAN latency.
- You want 70 Mbps file transfer, not 8 Mbps drag-drop.
- You want someone to reply when you email support.
Quick answers
Does Mouse Without Borders work on Mac?
No. Mouse Without Borders is Windows-only. If you need to share mouse and keyboard between a Windows PC and a Mac, CursorHop is one of the few actively maintained options that handles both natively.
Is Mouse Without Borders free?
Yes, Mouse Without Borders is a free Microsoft Garage project. CursorHop is paid (starting at $10 one-time, 2 devices). The trade-off is cross-platform support, active full-time development, Rust engine, 70 Mbps file transfer, and features like screen dimming and game-mode raw input that MWB doesn't offer.
How many PCs can each one connect?
Mouse Without Borders caps at 4 Windows PCs. CursorHop scales to 10 devices on the Max tier, with full cross-platform support between Windows and macOS.
Is Mouse Without Borders encrypted?
Microsoft added AES encryption to Mouse Without Borders in 2023. CursorHop uses the modern Noise protocol on every tier. Both are encrypted in current versions.
Which has lower latency?
CursorHop's Rust engine with a native input pipeline holds a median around 7 ms on gigabit LAN. MWB is usable but its .NET-based architecture is not optimized for cross-platform, high-polling input the way a modern Rust daemon is — our tests put it closer to 19 ms.
Bring your Mac to the desk.
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Mouse Without Borders and Microsoft® are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. CursorHop is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the aforementioned. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Comparison based on publicly available information as of April 2026.