head to head · open source
go2rtc vs tubesync
go2rtc has 14,208 GitHub stars, 1,323 forks, 928 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. tubesync has 2,794 stars, 171 forks, 58 open issues and last shipped yesterday. go2rtc leads on adoption by 409% (14,208 vs 2,794 stars). go2rtc is written in Go under MIT; tubesync is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. go2rtc has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, tubesync 6%. tubesync was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (media-server), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | tubesync | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 14K | ★ 2.8K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-06 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.3K | ⑂ 171 |
| 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 tubesync if
- You want the tubesync feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and tubesync 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 tubesync
TubeSync is a self hosted personal video recorder for YouTube. It synchronizes YouTube channels and playlists into local directories, then updates a connected media server after downloads complete. The project lives in the self hosted media server ecosystem, where users keep downloaded video and audio files available through services such as Jellyfin or Plex.
read the full tubesync overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is go2rtc or tubesync more popular?
go2rtc has 14,208 GitHub stars and tubesync has 2,794. go2rtc has the larger community by that measure.
Are go2rtc and tubesync free?
Both are open source. go2rtc is licensed under MIT and tubesync under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between go2rtc and tubesync?
go2rtc is written in Go and tubesync in Python. 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 tubesync?
Choose go2rtc if you want the larger community (14,208 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose tubesync if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.