Comparison of streaming media systems


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.
NameCreatorFirst Public Release Latest Stable Version Latest Release DateCost licenseMedia
Adobe Media ServerMacromedia/Adobe Systems//Veriskope LLC2002-07-95.0.16 2020-2-15Free Developer and Trial licenses; Subscription Licenses at $33/month; Standard Perpetual License at $995; Amazon Marketplace license starting at $0.13/hourproprietaryVideo, Audio, Data
atmosph3reGuillaume Carrier2005-08-153.0.7 2015-10-31$30 perpetual licenseproprietaryAudio
CameleonYatko2014-04-011.0.7 2016-11-11FreeproprietaryAudio/Video
Darwin Streaming ServerApple Inc.1999-03-166.0.3 2007-05-10FreeAPSLAudio/Video
FengLSCube2007-05-312009-10-142009-10-04FreeGPLAudio/Video
FireflyRon Pedde0.2.4.2 2008-04-19FreeGPLAudio
Helix DNA ServerRealNetworks2003-01-2211.1 2006-06-10FreeRCSL/RPSLAudio/Video
Helix Universal ServerRealNetworks1994-01-0115.2.1 2014-09-16Free for 12 months and $1,000-$10,000proprietaryAudio/Video
IcecastXiph.Org Foundation1998-122.4.4 2018-10-31FreeGPLAudio
IIS Media ServicesMicrosoft2008-11-074.1 2011-11-09FreeproprietaryAudio/Video/Data
Logitech Media ServerLogitech7.7.5 2014-11-28FreeGPLv2Audio
Nimble StreamerSoftvelum20133.5.4-3 2018-12-21FreeproprietaryAudio/Video
OpenBroadcasterOpenBroadcaster20035.0.0 2018-01-27FreeAGPLv3Audio/Video
Open Broadcaster SoftwareOBS Project2012-9-010.657 2015-11-24FreeGPL v2Audio/Video
Plex Plex Media Server2008-07-081.15.6.1079 2019-05-15FreeGPLAudio/Video
Red5 Infrared5/community2003-09-221.0.9 2018-12-13FreeApache License v2Audio/Video/Data
SHOUTcastNullsoft1998-122.4.7 2015-03-31FreeproprietaryAudio
Unreal Media ServerUnreal Streaming Technologies2003-09-1514.0 2020-04-14$995 perpetual licenseproprietaryAudio/Video
VLC media playerVideoLAN2.2.4 2016-06-05FreeGPL v2Audio/Video
Windows Media ServicesMicrosoft1996-12-109.6 2010-04-05FreeproprietaryAudio/Video
Wowza Streaming EngineWowza Media Systems2007-02-174.7.6 Build 20180731190812 2018-08-01Free Developer and Trial licenses; Subscription Licenses at $65/month; Perpetual Pro License at $1995; Amazon EC2 with embedded license starting at $0.15/hourproprietaryAudio/Video/Data

Operating system support

Container format support

Information about what digital container formats are supported.
Name3GPAVIASFQuickTimeOggOGMMatroskaMP4MPEG-TSFLVABRWebM
Adobe Media Server
atmosph3re
Darwin Streaming Server
Firefly
Helix DNA Server
Helix Universal Server
Icecast
IIS Media Services
Nimble Streamer
OpenBroadcaster
Red5
SHOUTcast
Unreal Media Server
VLC media player
Windows Media Services
Wowza Streaming Engine

Protocol support

Information about which internet protocols are supported for broadcasting streaming media content.
NameHTTPMPEG DASHWebRTCRTSPMMSRTPRTCPUDPTCPRTMPMPEG TSReal Data TransportWeb socketsHLSDASHSRTP
Adobe Media Server
atmosph3re
Cameleon
Darwin Streaming Server
Firefly
Helix DNA Server
Helix Universal Server
Icecast
IIS Media Services
Nimble Streamer
OpenBroadcaster
Red5 In Development
SHOUTcast
Unreal Media Server
VLC media player
Windows Media Services

, for WMS 9.0 and earlier; removed in WMS 2008


Wowza Streaming Engine


NameHTTPMPEG DASHWebRTCRTSPMMSRTPRTCPUDPTCPRTMPMPEG TSReal Data TransportWeb socketsHLSDASHSRTP

Features

NameClient Playback SynchronizationWeb InterfaceGraphical User InterfaceiOS SDKAndroid SDKJavascript SDK
Logitech Media Server
Red5
VLC media player