head to head · open source
mediamtx vs smolrtsp
mediamtx has 20,587 GitHub stars, 2,444 forks, 188 open issues and last shipped yesterday. smolrtsp has 511 stars, 119 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. mediamtx leads on adoption by 3,929% (20,587 vs 511 stars). mediamtx is written in Go under MIT; smolrtsp is written in C under MIT. mediamtx has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, smolrtsp 23%. mediamtx was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (media-server, rtp), 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
| mediamtx | smolrtsp | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 511 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Go | C |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-09-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 119 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick mediamtx if
- You weight community size — 21K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick smolrtsp if
- You want the smolrtsp feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and smolrtsp fits your workflow better
About mediamtx
MediaMTX is a ready to use and zero dependency live media server and media proxy that allows to publish, read, proxy, record and playback real time video and audio streams. It has been conceived as a "media router" that routes media streams from one end to the other, with a focus on efficiency and portability. Features Publish streams to the server with Media over QUIC, SRT, WebRTC, RTSP, RTMP, HLS, MPEG TS, RTP, using FFmpeg, GStreamer, OBS Studio, Python , Golang, Unity, Web browsers, Raspberry Pi Cameras and more. Read streams from the server with Media over QUIC, SRT, WebRTC, RTSP, RTMP, HLS, using FFmpeg…
read the full mediamtx overview →
About smolrtsp
SmolRTSP SmolRTSP is a simple [RTSP 1.0] server library tailored for embedded devices, such as IP cameras. It supports both TCP and UDP, allows any payload format, and provides a convenient and flexible API. [RTSP 1.0]: Highlights Small. SmolRTSP is designed for use in embedded systems (e.g., IP cameras). Unopinionated. You can use SmolRTSP with bare POSIX sockets, [libevent], or any other network framework. Zero copy. SmolRTSP does not allocate or copy data while parsing. Battle tested. SmolRTSP is used by [Majestic], an IP camera streamer developed by [OpenIPC]. [libevent]: [array slices]: [Majestic]…
read the full smolrtsp overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is mediamtx or smolrtsp more popular?
mediamtx has 20,587 GitHub stars and smolrtsp has 511. mediamtx has the larger community by that measure.
Are mediamtx and smolrtsp free?
Both are open source. mediamtx is licensed under MIT and smolrtsp under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between mediamtx and smolrtsp?
mediamtx is written in Go and smolrtsp in C. 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 smolrtsp?
Choose mediamtx if you want the larger community (20,587 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose smolrtsp if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.