# Comparison of streaming media software

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

## 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.
| Name | Creator | First Public Release (yyyy-MM-dd) | Latest Stable Version (Release Date) | Latest Release Date | Cost (USD) | license | Media |
| Adobe Media Server | Macromedia/Adobe Systems//Veriskope Inc | 2002-07-9 | 5.0.16 (2020-2-15) | 2020-2-15 | Free Developer and Trial licenses; Subscription Licenses at $33/month; Standard Perpetual License at $995; Amazon Marketplace license starting at $0.13/hour | proprietary | Video, Audio, Data |
| Ant Media Server | Ant Media Inc. | 2017 | 2.12 / 12-12-2024 | 2.12 | Free Trial License, Monthly, Annual and Perpetual License Offerings | Proprietary | Video, Audio,Data |
| atmosph3re | Guillaume Carrier | 2005-08-15 | 3.0.7 (2015-10-31) | 2015-10-31 | $30 perpetual license | proprietary | Audio |
| Darwin Streaming Server | Apple Inc. | 1999-03-16 | 6.0.3 (2007-05-10) | 2007-05-10 | Free | APSL | Audio/Video |
| Feng | LSCube | 2007-05-31 | 2009-10-14 | 2009-10-04 | Free | GPL | Audio/Video |
| Firefly | Ron Pedde | ? | 0.2.4.2 (2008-04-19) | 2008-04-19 | Free | GPL | Audio |
| Helix DNA Server | RealNetworks | 2003-01-22 | 11.1 (2006-06-10) | 2006-06-10 | Free | RCSL/RPSL | Audio/Video |
| Helix Universal Server | RealNetworks | 1994-01-01 | 15.2.1 (2014-09-16) | 2014-09-16 | Free for 12 months (Basic) and $1,000-$10,000 | proprietary | Audio/Video |
| Icecast | Xiph.Org Foundation | 1998-12 | 2.4.4 (2018-10-31) | 2018-10-31 | Free | GPL | Audio |
| IIS Media Services | Microsoft | 2008-11-07 | 4.1 (2011-11-09) | 2011-11-09 | Free | proprietary | Audio/Video/Data |
| Lyrion Music Server | Logitech/LMS Community | 2001-09-16 | 8.5.2 (2024-05-20) | 2024-05-20 | Free | GPLv2 | Audio |
| Nimble Streamer | Softvelum | 2013 | 3.7.1-5 (2020-10-27) | 2020-10-27 | Free | proprietary | Audio/Video |
| OvenMediaEngine | AirenSoft | 2019-05-23 | 0.16.8 (2024-07-19) | 2024-07-19 | Free | AGPLv3 | Audio/Video |
| OpenBroadcaster | OpenBroadcaster | 2003 | 5.0.0 (2018-01-27) | 2018-01-27 | Free | AGPLv3 | Audio/Video |
| Open Broadcaster Software | OBS Project | 2012-9-01 | 30.0.2 (2023-12-10) | 2023-12-10 | Free | GPL v2 | Audio/Video |
| Plex (software) | Plex Media Server | 2008-07-08 | 1.15.6.1079 (2019-05-15) | 2019-05-15 | Free | proprietary | Audio/Video |
| Red5 (open source) | Infrared5/community | 2003-09-22 | 1.0.9 (2017-06-11) | 2018-12-13 | Free | Apache License v2 | Audio/Video/Data |
| SHOUTcast | Nullsoft | 1998-12 | 2.4.7 (Build 256) (2015-03-31) | 2015-03-31 | Free | proprietary | Audio |
| Unreal Media Server | Unreal Streaming Technologies | 2003-09-15 | 15.0 (2023-01-03) | 2023-01-03 | $995 perpetual license | proprietary | Audio/Video |
| VLC media player | VideoLAN | ? | 2.2.4 (2016-06-05) | 2016-06-05 | Free | GPL v2 | Audio/Video |
| Windows Media Services | Microsoft | 1996-12-10 | 9.6 (2010-04-05) | 2010-04-05 | Free | proprietary | Audio/Video |
| Wowza Streaming Engine | Wowza Media Systems | 2007-02-17 | 4.8.5 build 20200616153358 (2020-06-17) | 2020-06-17 | Free Developer and Trial licenses; Subscription Licenses at $125/month; Perpetual Pro License at $1995; Amazon EC2 with embedded license starting at $0.15/hour | proprietary | Audio/Video/Data |
| xiu | Harlan Chen | 2020-08-16 | 0.13.0 (2024-08-11) | 2024-08-11 | Free | MIT | Audio/Video |

## Operating system support

| Name | Windows | macOS | Linux | Unix |
| Adobe Media Server | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| atmosph3re | Yes | No | No | No |
| Darwin Streaming Server | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Firefly | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes |
| Helix DNA Server | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes |
| Helix Universal Server | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Icecast | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IIS Media Services | Yes | No | No | No |
| Lyrion Music Server | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Nimble Streamer | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| OvenMediaEngine | Yes (with Docker) | Yes (with Docker) | Yes | No |
| OpenBroadcaster | No | No | Yes | ? |
| Open Broadcaster Software | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Plex (software) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Red5 (open source) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SHOUTcast | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Unreal Media Server | Yes | No | No | No |
| VLC media player | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Media Services | Yes | No | No | No |
| Wowza Streaming Engine | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| xiu | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |

## 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 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? |
| atmosph3re | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Darwin Streaming Server | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | No | No | No | ? |
| Firefly | ? | No | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Helix DNA Server | ? | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | ? |
| Helix Universal Server | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Icecast | ? | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | Yes |
| IIS Media Services | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Nimble Streamer | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| OvenMediaEngine | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| OpenBroadcaster | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | No | ? | ? |
| Red5 (open source) | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| SHOUTcast | ? | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | ? |
| Unreal Media Server | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
| VLC media player | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
| Windows Media Services | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | No | ? |
| Wowza Streaming Engine | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| xiu | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |

## 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 sockets | HLS | DASH | SRTP |
| Adobe Media Server | Yes (HTTP Live Streaming, HTTP Dynamic Streaming) | ? | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
| atmosph3re | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | | | |
| Darwin Streaming Server | No | ? | ? | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | | | |
| Firefly | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | | | |
| Helix DNA Server | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | | | | |
| Helix Universal Server | Yes (HTTP Live Streaming, MPEG-DASH, HTTP Progressive Streaming) | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | | | | |
| Icecast | Yes | ? | ? | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | | | |
| IIS Media Services | Yes | ? | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | | | | |
| Nimble Streamer | Yes (HTTP Live Streaming, Smooth Streaming) | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| OvenMediaEngine | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| OpenBroadcaster | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | Yes | | | | |
| Red5 (open source) | Yes | No | In Development | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes (RTMP, RTMPE, RTMPTE, RTMPT, RTMPS, RTMP Dynamic Streaming) | No | Yes | Yes | ? | | No |
| SHOUTcast | Yes | ? | ? | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | | | | |
| Unreal Media Server | Yes (HTTP Live Streaming, Smooth Streaming) | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (RTMP, RTMPT, Dynamic RTMP) | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | | Yes |
| VLC media player | Yes | ? | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | | Yes | | |
| Windows Media Services | Yes (WM-HTTP) | ? | No | Yes (WM-RTSP) | Yes, for WMS 9.0 and earlier; removed in WMS 2008 (9.5) | Yes (WM-RTSP) | No | Yes (WM-RTSP/U and MS-MSB) | Yes (WM-RTSP/T and WM-HTTP) | No | No | No | | | | |
| Wowza Streaming Engine | Yes (HTTP Live Streaming, Smooth Streaming, HTTP Dynamic Streaming) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (RTMP, RTMPE, RTMPTE, RTMPT, RTMPS, RTMP Dynamic Streaming) | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | |
| xiu | Yes (HTTP Live Streaming) | No | Yes (Whip/Whep) | Yes | No | Yes (WM-RTSP) | No | Yes (WM-RTSP/U) | Yes (WM-RTSP/T) | Yes (RTMP) | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Name | HTTP | MPEG DASH | WebRTC | RTSP | MMS | RTP | RTCP | UDP | TCP | RTMP | MPEG TS | Real Data Transport | Web sockets | HLS | DASH | SRTP |

## Features

| Name | Client Playback Synchronization | Web Interface | Graphical user interface | iOS SDK | Android SDK | Javascript SDK |
| Lyrion Music Server | Yes | Yes | No | | | |
| Red5 (open source) | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| VLC media player | Yes | Yes | Yes | | | |