Best app for remote access to Mac Pro?

[LordeOurMother]

Background Info:
I have a Mac Pro 5,1 which is quite powerful, at least compared to my MacBook Pro 5,5. I cracked the screen on my beloved 2013 Air earlier this year which ran perfectly, and needed a replacement laptop. However I didn't feel like spending for a new one when the ARM transition is happening. I got the unibody for dirt cheap, and have replaced the battery, and the replaced the HDD with an SSD. I've also upgraded the RAM. It now runs Catalina perfectly fine for normal usage.

Problem:
I am doing a degree which requires a fair amount of statistical programming in R and Python, and my Mac Pro just does data analysis faster, obviously. I would like to be able to use it remotely whilst I'm in class via my MBP. What is the best route for this? I will be living on campus and so will have very fast WiFi both on the MBP and the cMP. Money isn't an issue (if it's a relatively cheap app), I'm mainly looking for best performance. I don't want a subscription service ideally. The solution would ideally be one where I can do file transfer between on my MBP and my Mac Pro, also, but it isn't a huge deal since I have unlimited Google Drive.

I also have a 2011 Air which I keep around for when I want to run a 32 bit app in High Sierra or watch YouTube or do Zoom uni lessons in bed etc, but it's not relevant here.
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[velocityg4]

For remote access. Zoho has a free option.

Teamviewer also has a free option.

I don't think either allows file transfer for free but Zoho has cheap plans for that.

As for reliability. I've only used Teamviewer long term and it works well. I haven't tried Zoho long term. I've just been using it for one time sessions.

You can also use something like VNC or the built in Screen Sharing. I haven't tried either.

 

[AZhappyjack]

I've run Screens off and on... file transfers could be an issue... I get around that by using Dropbox - stick the files there and can access them from both machines... works well for my purposes.

 

[prometheus12]

I use and like Screens. Haven't used it for file transfers though.

 

[StandingGoose]

Just command line access, or do you need graphics too?

For command line access, if you can set up your Mac Pro with an externally reachable domain name (there are several free options for just 1 or 2 names), use the built-in Terminal app and turn on the ssh server (Remote Access) on your Mac Pro. Read up on generating a key so you don't have get a password prompt. The scp utility can do file transfers once ssh is set up. Even slicker is to use sshfs, which lets you mount a remote directory over ssh.

For GUI access, have you tried the Apple VNC server?

Allow Apple Remote Desktop to access your Mac

On your Mac, use Remote Management settings to allow others to access your Mac using Apple Remote Desktop.

support.apple.com