Owncast vs SRS
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
Self-hosted live video streaming and chat server you run on your own machine.
Open source · MIT
A real-time media server that receives and delivers live video over many streaming protocols.
The short answer
Choose Owncast if you need…
- Streamers who want control over their content, interface and moderation
- People who already use OBS or similar RTMP-based broadcasting software
- Hobbyists who want a single self-hosted service that works out of the box
- Developers who want to read or modify a Go and React streaming server
Choose SRS if you need…
- Developers building live streaming backends that need several delivery protocols
- Teams that want to convert between RTMP and WebRTC streams
- People hosting their own low-latency live video service
- Users who can run a server with Docker and follow a getting-started guide
Side-by-side
| Owncast | SRS | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | App | App |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 11.6k | 29.4k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Download the app | Run with Docker |
| Main language | Go | C++ |
| Last code update | 10 days ago | 6 days ago |
What each one is
Owncast
Owncast is a free, open source server that lets you run your own live video streams with a built-in chat, instead of using a mainstream streaming platform. You point your existing broadcasting software (such as OBS) at your Owncast server, and viewers watch through a web page that Owncast hosts. The README says it offers ownership over your content, interface, moderation and audience.
SRS
SRS is a server that receives live video and audio streams and sends them out to viewers in the formats they need. It supports protocols such as RTMP, WebRTC, HLS, HTTP-FLV, and SRT, so a broadcaster can publish one stream and many kinds of players can watch it. The README describes it as open source under the MIT license.
Best for
Owncast
- Streamers who want control over their content, interface and moderation
- People who already use OBS or similar RTMP-based broadcasting software
- Hobbyists who want a single self-hosted service that works out of the box
- Developers who want to read or modify a Go and React streaming server
SRS
- Developers building live streaming backends that need several delivery protocols
- Teams that want to convert between RTMP and WebRTC streams
- People hosting their own low-latency live video service
- Users who can run a server with Docker and follow a getting-started guide
Strengths
Owncast
- Self-hosted, so you control your content, interface, moderation and audience
- Streaming and chat are included together in one service
- Uses RTMP, so it works with widely used broadcasting software
SRS
- The README lists support for many streaming protocols and codecs in one server
- Docker quick start is provided, which makes a first test relatively simple
- Released under the MIT license with a regularly updated release history
Not ideal for
Owncast
- People who want a hosted service with no server to run, since you must host it yourself
- Users on native Windows servers, because the README says Owncast does not natively support Windows servers and recommends WSL2
- Anyone needing multi-user or multi-channel platform features, since the README describes it as a single user server
SRS
- People who only want to watch or stream casually with no server setup, since a server must be run and configured
- Beginners looking for a point-and-click tool, because the README is aimed at operators comfortable with the command line and networking
Trade-offs
Owncast
- You must host and maintain the server yourself, including its networking and bandwidth
- The README notes no native Windows server support; WSL2 is the suggested path
- Building from source needs a C compiler, ffmpeg and Go 1.24 or above
SRS
- Configuration and production deployment details are in external docs, not fully covered in the README
- The README mixes version references (v5, v6, v7, v8), so users should confirm which version to use
- Some features and integrations depend on the wiki and external documentation rather than this README
Getting started
Owncast
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/owncast/owncastRun from source (backend)
go run main.goSRS
Run SRS with Docker
docker run --rm -it -p 1935:1935 -p 1985:1985 -p 8080:8080 -p 8000:8000/udp -p 10080:10080/udp ossrs/srs:6Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Owncast and SRS?
Owncast: Self-hosted live video streaming and chat server you run on your own machine. SRS: A real-time media server that receives and delivers live video over many streaming protocols. Owncast suits streamers who want control over their content, interface and moderation, while SRS suits developers building live streaming backends that need several delivery protocols.
Are Owncast and SRS free?
Owncast: Free and open source. SRS: Free and open source.
Is Owncast or SRS more popular?
SRS has more GitHub stars (29.4k) than Owncast (11.6k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Owncast and SRS?
Other options people compare them with include livego, go2rtc, MediaMTX, WebTorrent Desktop.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.