head to head · open source
nats-server vs webrtc
nats-server has 20,745 GitHub stars, 1,962 forks, 472 open issues and last shipped yesterday. webrtc has 16,785 stars, 1,887 forks, 125 open issues and last shipped yesterday. nats-server leads on adoption by 24% (20,745 vs 16,785 stars). nats-server is written in Go under Apache-2.0; webrtc is written in Go under MIT. nats-server has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, webrtc 11%. webrtc was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (go, golang), 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 15422 open source comparisons
Side by side
| nats-server | webrtc | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 17K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 1.9K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick nats-server if
- You weight community size — 21K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick webrtc if
- You want the webrtc feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and webrtc fits your workflow better
About nats-server
nats server is the Go based, Apache 2.0 licensed server at the heart of NATS, a simple, secure and performant communications system for digital systems, services and devices, aimed at teams building distributed systems, microservices, and cloud, edge or connected vehicle deployments that need messaging without running heavyweight broker infrastructure.
read the full nats-server overview →
About webrtc
Pion WebRTC is a pure Go implementation of the WebRTC API, aimed at Go developers who need real time audio, video, and data channels running inside their own applications rather than inside a browser tab or a C++ codebase.
read the full webrtc overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Messaging & Event Streaming projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Messaging & Event Streaming field.
Frequently asked questions
Is nats-server or webrtc more popular?
nats-server has 20,745 GitHub stars and webrtc has 16,785. nats-server has the larger community by that measure.
Are nats-server and webrtc free?
Both are open source. nats-server is licensed under Apache-2.0 and webrtc under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between nats-server and webrtc?
nats-server is written in Go and webrtc in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, nats-server or webrtc?
Choose nats-server if you want the larger community (20,745 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose webrtc if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.