head to head · open source
mediamtx vs lap
mediamtx has 20,170 GitHub stars, 2,374 forks, 188 open issues and last shipped yesterday. lap has 2,440 stars, 150 forks, 27 open issues and last shipped yesterday. mediamtx leads on adoption by 727% (20,170 vs 2,440 stars). mediamtx is written in Go under MIT; lap is written in Vue under GPL-3.0. mediamtx has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, lap 6%. mediamtx 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| mediamtx | lap | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 20K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Vue |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 150 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick mediamtx if
- You weight community size — 20K 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 mediamtx
MediaMTX is a ready to use, zero dependency live media server and media proxy written in Go, aimed at anyone who needs to publish, read, proxy, record and play back real time video and audio streams across many protocols without standing up a heavy media platform.
read the full mediamtx 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…
More in Content & Publishing
Related comparisons
More Digital Asset Management (DAM) projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Digital Asset Management (DAM) field.
Frequently asked questions
Is mediamtx or lap more popular?
mediamtx has 20,170 GitHub stars and lap has 2,440. mediamtx has the larger community by that measure.
Are mediamtx and lap free?
Both are open source. mediamtx is licensed under MIT and lap under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between mediamtx and lap?
mediamtx 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, mediamtx or lap?
Choose mediamtx if you want the larger community (20,170 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose lap if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.