head to head · open source
RustDesk vs OBS Studio
RustDesk has 128,104 GitHub stars, 20,294 forks, 147 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. OBS Studio has 78,917 stars, 11,050 forks, 1,148 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. RustDesk leads on adoption by 62% (128,104 vs 78,917 stars). RustDesk is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0; OBS Studio is written in C under GPL-2.0. RustDesk has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, OBS Studio 14%. OBS Studio 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.
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Side by side
| RustDesk | OBS Studio | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 128K | ★ 79K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | C |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 20K | ⑂ 11K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick RustDesk if
- You weight community size — 128K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick OBS Studio if
- You want the OBS Studio feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and OBS Studio fits your workflow better
About RustDesk
Build • Docker • Structure • Screenshots [ Українська ] [ česky ] [ 中文 ] [ Magyar ] [ Español ] [ فارسی ] [ Français ] [ Deutsch ] [ Polski ] [ Indonesian ] [ Suomi ] [ മലയാളം ] [ 日本語 ] [ Nederlands ] [ Italiano ] [ Русский ] [ Português (Brasil) ] [ Esperanto ] [ 한국어 ] [ العربي ] [ Tiếng Việt ] [ Dansk ] [ Ελληνικά ] [ Türkçe ] [ Norsk ] [ Română ] We need your help to translate this README, RustDesk UI and RustDesk Doc to your native language [!Caution] Misuse Disclaimer: The developers of RustDesk do not condone or support any unethical or illegal use of this software. Misuse, such as unauthorized access…
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About OBS Studio
OBS Studio =================================== .. image:: :alt: OBS Studio Build Status GitHub Actions :target: .. image:: :alt: OBS Studio Translation Project Progress :target: .. image:: :alt: OBS Studio Discord Server :target: What is OBS Studio? OBS Studio is software designed for capturing, compositing, encoding, recording, and streaming video content, efficiently. It's distributed under the GNU General Public License v2 (or any later version) see the accompanying COPYING file for more details. Quick Links Website: Help/Documentation/Guides: Forums: Build Instructions: Developer/API Documentation…
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Frequently asked questions
Is RustDesk or OBS Studio more popular?
RustDesk has 128,104 GitHub stars and OBS Studio has 78,917. RustDesk has the larger community by that measure.
Are RustDesk and OBS Studio free?
Both are open source. RustDesk is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and OBS Studio under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between RustDesk and OBS Studio?
RustDesk is written in Rust and OBS Studio 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, RustDesk or OBS Studio?
Choose RustDesk if you want the larger community (128,104 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose OBS Studio if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.