Comparison of streaming media software

Last updated

This is a comparison of streaming media systems. A more complete list of streaming media systems is also available.

Contents

General

The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of streaming media systems both audio and video. Please see the individual systems' linked articles for further information.

NameCreatorFirst Public Release (yyyy-MM-dd)Latest Stable Version (Release Date)Latest Release DateCost (USD) license Media
Adobe Media Server Macromedia/Adobe Systems//Veriskope Inc 2002-07-95.0.16 (2020-2-15)2020-2-15 proprietary Video, Audio, Data
Ant Media Server Ant Media Inc.20172.12 / 12-12-20242.12Free Trial License, Monthly, Annual and Perpetual License Offerings Proprietary Video, Audio,Data
atmosph3re Guillaume Carrier2005-08-153.0.7 (2015-10-31)2015-10-31 proprietary Audio
Darwin Streaming Server Apple Inc. 1999-03-166.0.3 (2007-05-10)2007-05-10 APSL Audio/Video
FengLSCube [1] 2007-05-312009-10-142009-10-04 GPL Audio/Video
Firefly Ron Pedde ?0.2.4.2 (2008-04-19)2008-04-19 GPL Audio
Helix DNA Server RealNetworks 2003-01-2211.1 (2006-06-10)2006-06-10 RCSL/RPSL Audio/Video
Helix Universal Server RealNetworks 1994-01-0115.2.1 (2014-09-16)2014-09-16 proprietary Audio/Video
Icecast Xiph.Org Foundation 1998-122.4.4 (2018-10-31)2018-10-31 GPL Audio
IIS Media Services Microsoft 2008-11-074.1 (2011-11-09)2011-11-09 proprietary Audio/Video/Data
Lyrion Music Server Logitech/LMS Community2001-09-168.5.2 (2024-05-20)2024-05-20 GPLv2 Audio
Nimble Streamer Softvelum20133.7.1-5 (2020-10-27)2020-10-27 proprietary Audio/Video
OvenMediaEngine AirenSoft2019-05-230.16.8 (2024-07-19)2024-07-19 AGPLv3 Audio/Video
OpenBroadcaster OpenBroadcaster20035.0.0 (2018-01-27)2018-01-27 AGPLv3 Audio/Video
Open Broadcaster Software OBS Project2012-9-0130.0.2 (2023-12-10)2023-12-10 GPL v2 Audio/Video
Plex (software) Plex Media Server2008-07-081.15.6.1079 (2019-05-15)2019-05-15 proprietary Audio/Video
Red5 (open source) Infrared5/community2003-09-221.0.9 (2017-06-11)2018-12-13 Apache License v2 Audio/Video/Data
SHOUTcast Nullsoft 1998-122.4.7 (Build 256) (2015-03-31)2015-03-31 proprietary Audio
Unreal Media Server Unreal Streaming Technologies2003-09-1515.0 (2023-01-03)2023-01-03 proprietary Audio/Video
VLC media player VideoLAN  ?2.2.4 (2016-06-05)2016-06-05 GPL v2 Audio/Video
Windows Media Services Microsoft 1996-12-109.6 (2010-04-05)2010-04-05 proprietary Audio/Video
Wowza Streaming Engine Wowza Media Systems2007-02-174.8.5 build 20200616153358 (2020-06-17) [2] 2020-06-17 proprietary Audio/Video/Data
xiuHarlan Chen2020-08-160.13.0 (2024-08-11)2024-08-11 MIT Audio/Video

Operating system support

Name Windows macOS Linux Unix
Adobe Media Server YesYesYesNo
atmosph3re YesNoNoNo
Darwin Streaming Server YesYesNoYes
Firefly Yes ?YesYes
Helix DNA Server Yes ?YesYes
Helix Universal Server YesNoYesYes
Icecast YesYesYesYes
IIS Media Services YesNoNoNo
Lyrion Music Server YesYesYesYes
Nimble Streamer YesYesYesNo
OvenMediaEngine Yes (with Docker)Yes (with Docker)YesNo
OpenBroadcaster NoNoYes ?
Open Broadcaster Software YesYesYes ?
Plex (software) YesYesYesYes
Red5 (open source) YesYesYesYes
SHOUTcast YesYesYesYes
Unreal Media Server YesNoNoNo
VLC media player YesYesYesYes
Windows Media Services YesNoNoNo
Wowza Streaming Engine YesYesYesYes
xiuYesYesYesYes

Container format support

Information about what digital container formats are supported.

Name 3GP AVI ASF QuickTime Ogg OGM Matroska MP4 MPEG-TS FLV ABR WebM
Adobe Media Server  ? ? ? ? ? ? ?YesNoYesYes ?
atmosph3re  ? ? ? ? ? ? ?Yes ? ? ? ?
Darwin Streaming Server Yes ? ?Yes ? ? ?YesNoNoNo ?
Firefly  ?No ? ?Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Helix DNA Server  ?NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo ? ?
Helix Universal Server YesNoYesYesYesNoNoYesYesYesYes ?
Icecast  ?Yes ? ?Yes ? ? ? ?NoNoYes
IIS Media Services YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes ?
Nimble Streamer NoYesNoNoNoNoYesYesYesYesYes ?
OvenMediaEngine NoYesNoNoYesNoYesYesYesYesYesYes
OpenBroadcaster NoYesNoYesYesYesNoYes ?No ? ?
Red5 (open source) YesNoNoYesNoNoNoYesYesYesYes ?
SHOUTcast  ?Yes ? ?Yes ? ? ? ?NoNo ?
Unreal Media Server YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes ? ?
VLC media player  ?Yes ?YesYes ?YesYesYesYes ? ?
Windows Media Services  ? ?Yes ? ? ? ? ? ?NoNo ?
Wowza Streaming Engine YesNoNoYesNoNoNoYesYesYesYes ?
xiuNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoYesYesNoNo

Protocol support

Information about which internet protocols are supported for broadcasting streaming media content.

Name HTTP MPEG DASH WebRTC RTSP MMS RTP RTCP UDP TCP RTMP MPEG TS Real Data Transport Web socketsHLSDASHSRTP
Adobe Media Server Yes
(HTTP Live Streaming, HTTP Dynamic Streaming)
 ?NoNoNoNoNoYesYesYesNoYesYesYes ? ?
atmosph3re Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Darwin Streaming Server No ? ?YesNoYesYes ? ? ? ? ?
Firefly  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Helix DNA Server YesNoNoYesNoYesNoYesYes ? ?Yes
Helix Universal Server Yes
(HTTP Live Streaming, MPEG-DASH, HTTP Progressive Streaming)
YesNoYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNoYes
Icecast Yes ? ?NoNoNoNo ? ? ? ? ?
IIS Media Services Yes ?NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo
Nimble Streamer Yes (HTTP Live Streaming, Smooth Streaming)YesNoYesNoYesNoYesYesYesYesNoYesYesYes
OvenMediaEngine YesYesYesYesNoYesYesYesYesYesYesNoYesYesYesNo
OpenBroadcaster YesNoNoYesNoYesYesYesYesNo ?Yes
Red5 (open source) [4] YesNoIn DevelopmentNoNoNoNoNoYesYes (RTMP, RTMPE, RTMPTE, RTMPT, RTMPS, RTMP Dynamic Streaming)NoYesYes ?No
SHOUTcast Yes ? ?NoNoNoNo ? ? ? ? ?
Unreal Media Server Yes
(HTTP Live Streaming, Smooth Streaming)
NoYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
(RTMP, RTMPT, Dynamic RTMP)
YesNoYesYesYes
VLC media player Yes ?NoYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes ?Yes
Windows Media Services Yes
(WM-HTTP)
 ?NoYes
(WM-RTSP)
Yes, for WMS 9.0 and earlier; removed in WMS 2008 (9.5) [5] Yes
(WM-RTSP)
NoYes
(WM-RTSP/U and MS-MSB)
Yes
(WM-RTSP/T and WM-HTTP)
NoNoNo
Wowza Streaming Engine Yes
(HTTP Live Streaming, Smooth Streaming, HTTP Dynamic Streaming)
Yes
YesYesNoYesYesYesYesYes
(RTMP, RTMPE, RTMPTE, RTMPT, RTMPS, RTMP Dynamic Streaming)
YesNoNoYesYes
xiuYes
(HTTP Live Streaming)
NoYes
(Whip/Whep)
YesNoYes
(WM-RTSP)
NoYes
(WM-RTSP/U)
Yes
(WM-RTSP/T)
Yes
(RTMP)
YesNoNoYesNoNo
Name HTTP MPEG DASH WebRTC RTSP MMS RTP RTCP UDP TCP RTMP MPEG TS Real Data Transport Web socketsHLSDASHSRTP

Features

Name Client Playback SynchronizationWeb Interface Graphical user interface iOS SDK Android SDK Javascript SDK
Lyrion Music Server YesYesNo
Red5 (open source) NoYesYesNoNoNo
VLC media player YesYesYes

See also

References

  1. "index : feng". LSCube. Archived from the original on 2013-06-15. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  2. "Latest software updates for Wowza Streaming Engine".
  3. "Get Estimated Live Streaming Server Prices | Wowza Streaming Engine". Wowza Media Systems. Retrieved 2021-07-30.
  4. "Red5". GitHub. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  5. David Nelson (10 December 2009). "Windows Media protocol reference". Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved 23 February 2012.