head to head · open source
go2rtc vs UniversalMediaServer
go2rtc has 14,556 GitHub stars, 1,461 forks, 928 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. UniversalMediaServer has 2,668 stars, 526 forks, 405 open issues and last shipped yesterday. go2rtc leads on adoption by 446% (14,556 vs 2,668 stars). go2rtc is written in Go under MIT; UniversalMediaServer is written in Java under GPL-2.0. go2rtc has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, UniversalMediaServer 20%. UniversalMediaServer was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (ffmpeg, 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 | UniversalMediaServer | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 2.7K |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Java |
| Last push | 2026-10-26 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 526 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick go2rtc if
- You weight community size — 15K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick UniversalMediaServer if
- You want the UniversalMediaServer feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and UniversalMediaServer fits your workflow better
About go2rtc
Ultimate camera streaming application with support for dozens formats and protocols. zero dependency small app for all OS (Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD) zero delay for many supported protocols (lowest possible streaming latency) streaming input from dozens formats and protocols streaming output in all popular formats streaming ingest in a number of popular formats publish any source to popular streaming services (YouTube, Telegram) on the fly transcoding only if necessary via FFmpeg two way audio support for many formats streaming audio to all cameras with two way audio support mixing tracks from different…
read the full go2rtc overview →
About UniversalMediaServer
Universal Media Server [ ][1] Universal Media Server is a DLNA, UPnP and HTTP/S Media Server. It is capable of sharing video, audio and images between most modern devices. It was originally based on PS3 Media Server by shagrath, in order to ensure greater stability and file compatibility. Universal Media Server supports all major operating systems, with versions for Windows, Linux and macOS. The program streams or transcodes many different media formats with little or no configuration. It is powered by [FFmpeg][27], [MediaInfo][28], [Crowdin][29], [MEncoder][26], tsMuxeR, AviSynth, VLC, and more, which combine…
read the full UniversalMediaServer overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is go2rtc or UniversalMediaServer more popular?
go2rtc has 14,556 GitHub stars and UniversalMediaServer has 2,668. go2rtc has the larger community by that measure.
Are go2rtc and UniversalMediaServer free?
Both are open source. go2rtc is licensed under MIT and UniversalMediaServer under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between go2rtc and UniversalMediaServer?
go2rtc is written in Go and UniversalMediaServer in Java. 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 UniversalMediaServer?
Choose go2rtc if you want the larger community (14,556 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose UniversalMediaServer if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.