head to head · open source
mediamtx vs Pulsarr
mediamtx has 20,170 GitHub stars, 2,374 forks, 188 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Pulsarr has 744 stars, 14 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped yesterday. mediamtx leads on adoption by 2,611% (20,170 vs 744 stars). mediamtx is written in Go under MIT; Pulsarr is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. mediamtx has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, Pulsarr 2%. mediamtx 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| mediamtx | Pulsarr | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 20K | ★ 744 |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 14 |
| 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 Pulsarr if
- You want the Pulsarr feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Pulsarr 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 Pulsarr
Pulsarr is TypeScript, AGPL 3.0 project for Plex watchlist monitoring and content acquisition. It bridges Plex watchlists with Sonarr and Radarr, so Plex items become media library requests without extra logins. It runs in self hosted media server ecosystem, with web interface at port 3003. Docs site covers quick start, native installation, configuration, Discord setup, features, API. Docs are at jamcalli.github.io/Pulsarr.
read the full Pulsarr overview →
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 Pulsarr more popular?
mediamtx has 20,170 GitHub stars and Pulsarr has 744. mediamtx has the larger community by that measure.
Are mediamtx and Pulsarr free?
Both are open source. mediamtx is licensed under MIT and Pulsarr under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between mediamtx and Pulsarr?
mediamtx is written in Go and Pulsarr in TypeScript. 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 Pulsarr?
Choose mediamtx if you want the larger community (20,170 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Pulsarr if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.