diff --git a/swh/provenance/__init__.py b/swh/provenance/__init__.py
--- a/swh/provenance/__init__.py
+++ b/swh/provenance/__init__.py
@@ -96,12 +96,19 @@
         db = MongoClient(**kwargs["db"]).get_database(dbname)
         return ProvenanceStorageMongoDb(db)
 
-    elif cls == "remote":
-        from .api.client import RemoteProvenanceStorage
+    elif cls in ["remote", "rpcapi"]:
+        from .api.client import ProvenanceStorageRPCClient
 
-        storage = RemoteProvenanceStorage(**kwargs)
-        assert isinstance(storage, ProvenanceStorageInterface)
-        return storage
+        if cls == "remote":
+            warnings.warn(
+                '"remote" class is deprecated for provenance storage, please '
+                'use "rpcapi" class instead.',
+                DeprecationWarning,
+            )
 
-    else:
-        raise ValueError
+        rpc_storage = ProvenanceStorageRPCClient(**kwargs)
+        if TYPE_CHECKING:
+            assert isinstance(rpc_storage, ProvenanceStorageInterface)
+        return rpc_storage
+
+    raise ValueError
diff --git a/swh/provenance/api/client.py b/swh/provenance/api/client.py
--- a/swh/provenance/api/client.py
+++ b/swh/provenance/api/client.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 from .serializers import DECODERS, ENCODERS
 
 
-class RemoteProvenanceStorage(RPCClient):
+class ProvenanceStorageRPCClient(RPCClient):
     """Proxy to a remote provenance storage API"""
 
     backend_class = ProvenanceStorageInterface
diff --git a/swh/provenance/api/server.py b/swh/provenance/api/server.py
--- a/swh/provenance/api/server.py
+++ b/swh/provenance/api/server.py
@@ -26,12 +26,12 @@
     return storage
 
 
-class ProvenanceStorageServerApp(RPCServerApp):
+class ProvenanceStorageRPCServerApp(RPCServerApp):
     extra_type_decoders = DECODERS
     extra_type_encoders = ENCODERS
 
 
-app = ProvenanceStorageServerApp(
+app = ProvenanceStorageRPCServerApp(
     __name__,
     backend_class=ProvenanceStorageInterface,
     backend_factory=get_global_provenance_storage,
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@
 api_cfg: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None
 
 
-def make_app_from_configfile() -> ProvenanceStorageServerApp:
+def make_app_from_configfile() -> ProvenanceStorageRPCServerApp:
     """Run the WSGI app from the webserver, loading the configuration from
     a configuration file.
 
diff --git a/swh/provenance/cli.py b/swh/provenance/cli.py
--- a/swh/provenance/cli.py
+++ b/swh/provenance/cli.py
@@ -54,8 +54,8 @@
             # "db": {
             #     "dbname": "provenance",
             # },
-            # Remote REST-API/PostgreSQL
-            # "cls": "remote",
+            # Remote RPC-API/PostgreSQL
+            # "cls": "rpcapi",
             # "url": "http://localhost:8080/%2f",
         },
     }
diff --git a/swh/provenance/tests/conftest.py b/swh/provenance/tests/conftest.py
--- a/swh/provenance/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/swh/provenance/tests/conftest.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 from swh.journal.serializers import msgpack_ext_hook
 from swh.provenance import get_provenance, get_provenance_storage
-from swh.provenance.api.client import RemoteProvenanceStorage
+from swh.provenance.api.client import ProvenanceStorageRPCClient
 import swh.provenance.api.server as server
 from swh.provenance.archive import ArchiveInterface
 from swh.provenance.interface import ProvenanceInterface, ProvenanceStorageInterface
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@
 @pytest.fixture
 def app(
     provenance_postgresqldb: Dict[str, str]
-) -> Iterator[server.ProvenanceStorageServerApp]:
+) -> Iterator[server.ProvenanceStorageRPCServerApp]:
     assert hasattr(server, "storage")
     server.storage = get_provenance_storage(
         cls="postgresql", db=provenance_postgresqldb
@@ -61,19 +61,19 @@
 # the RPCClient class used as client used in these tests
 @pytest.fixture
 def swh_rpc_client_class() -> type:
-    return RemoteProvenanceStorage
+    return ProvenanceStorageRPCClient
 
 
-@pytest.fixture(params=["mongodb", "postgresql", "remote"])
+@pytest.fixture(params=["mongodb", "postgresql", "rpcapi"])
 def provenance_storage(
     request: SubRequest,
     provenance_postgresqldb: Dict[str, str],
     mongodb: pymongo.database.Database,
-    swh_rpc_client: RemoteProvenanceStorage,
+    swh_rpc_client: ProvenanceStorageRPCClient,
 ) -> ProvenanceStorageInterface:
     """Return a working and initialized ProvenanceStorageInterface object"""
 
-    if request.param == "remote":
+    if request.param == "rpcapi":
         assert isinstance(swh_rpc_client, ProvenanceStorageInterface)
         return swh_rpc_client