A free punch in the nose is still a punch in the nose.
You can make a pikvm for almost free if you want, because it doesn't care what hardware you use. You probably either already own or at least have access to everything necessary for free. That fact is 100x more valuable even aside from the price, simply the fact that you can source the necessary hardware from anywhere at any time on zero notice. When things go wrong, you are far more likely to be able to lash up a solution immediately if all you need is any kind of computer and any kind of capture device, and you can even tell a remote customer what to buy at their local Walmart if you had to.
But even the full finished productized package with custom hat pcb and case is still 1/2 of the equivalent single port Lantronix, and is more convenient and more useful.
And even the proprietary code in something like a Lantronix which is a long standing industry name with accountability and a reputation to protect, is still a 100% different proposition than the proprietary code from an unknown nobody.
It would be crazy, today, completely grossly negligent irresponsible, to use such a device in a high consequense role as remote server administration.
An ip-kvm is fundamntally literally a man in the middle and a keylogger, which you use to access all the most critical things that everthing else happens on. No big.
pikvm solution is a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W + HDMI CSI cable + pi pico for atx control + usb c splitter. It's actually cheaper. And once you put it together, you run stock pikvm image with smooth upgrades, etc.
