head to head · open source
streama vs halcyon-video
streama has 9,820 GitHub stars, 978 forks, 352 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. halcyon-video has 869 stars, 39 forks, 80 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. streama leads on adoption by 1,030% (9,820 vs 869 stars). streama is written in JavaScript under MIT; halcyon-video is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. streama has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, halcyon-video 4%. halcyon-video 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.
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Side by side
| streama | halcyon-video | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 9.8K | ★ 869 |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-08-09 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 978 | ⑂ 39 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick streama if
- You weight community size — 9.8K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick halcyon-video if
- You want the halcyon-video feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and halcyon-video fits your workflow better
About streama
Streama is a self hosted streaming media server, written in JavaScript and released under the MIT licence, that gives someone with a large personal collection of films and shows a private Netflix style library they run and control themselves.
read the full streama overview →
About halcyon-video
Halcyon Video is a self hosted, GPL 3.0 licensed TypeScript application that turns a Jellyfin, Plex, or Emby library into a walkable 3D 1990s video rental store, built for people who want to browse their own collection from the couch with a keyboard, gamepad, TV remote, or phone.
read the full halcyon-video overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is streama or halcyon-video more popular?
streama has 9,820 GitHub stars and halcyon-video has 869. streama has the larger community by that measure.
Are streama and halcyon-video free?
Both are open source. streama is licensed under MIT and halcyon-video under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between streama and halcyon-video?
streama is written in JavaScript and halcyon-video 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, streama or halcyon-video?
Choose streama if you want the larger community (9,820 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose halcyon-video if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.