head to head · open source
go2rtc vs lap
go2rtc has 14,208 GitHub stars, 1,323 forks, 928 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. lap has 2,440 stars, 150 forks, 27 open issues and last shipped yesterday. go2rtc leads on adoption by 482% (14,208 vs 2,440 stars). go2rtc is written in Go under MIT; lap is written in Vue under GPL-3.0. go2rtc has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, lap 6%. lap was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| go2rtc | lap | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 14K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Vue |
| Last push | 2026-09-06 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.3K | ⑂ 150 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick go2rtc if
- You weight community size — 14K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick lap if
- You want the lap feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Vue
- You evaluated both and lap fits your workflow better
About go2rtc
go2rtc is a camera streaming application written in Go and released under the MIT license. It runs as a zero dependency binary on Windows, macOS, Linux, and FreeBSD, and it also ships as a Docker image, a Home Assistant add on, and a Home Assistant integration. The project lives in the smart home and media server ecosystem, with topics spanning Home Assistant, HomeKit, ONVIF, RTSP, RTMP, HLS, MJPEG, MP4, and FFmpeg. It can be embedded into another project through its HTTP API or run as a standalone application with a web interface at http://localhost:1984/ .
read the full go2rtc overview →
About lap
Lap is an open source, GPL 3.0 desktop photo manager for macOS, Windows, and Linux. It is built around a local first model, so users browse family albums, find old photos, and manage large personal media libraries without a required cloud account or upload. The concrete problem is the tension between convenience and privacy in photo organization. Many services rely on cloud storage, accounts, and proprietary libraries, while many users keep photos and videos in ordinary folders on their own disks. Lap solves this by working directly with existing folders, keeping files in place, and offering local search, similar…
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Frequently asked questions
Is go2rtc or lap more popular?
go2rtc has 14,208 GitHub stars and lap has 2,440. go2rtc has the larger community by that measure.
Are go2rtc and lap free?
Both are open source. go2rtc is licensed under MIT and lap under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between go2rtc and lap?
go2rtc is written in Go and lap in Vue. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, go2rtc or lap?
Choose go2rtc if you want the larger community (14,208 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose lap if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.