This is a comparison of streaming media systems. A more complete list of streaming media systems is also available.
General The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of streaming media systems both audio and video. Please see the individual systems' linked articles for further information.
NameCreatorFirst Public Release (yyyy-MM-dd)Latest Stable Version (Release Date)Latest Release DateCost (USD)licenseMedia Adobe Media Server Macromedia/Adobe Systems//Veriskope Inc 2002-07-9 5.0.16 (2020-2-15)2020-2-15 Free Developer and Trial licenses; Subscription Licenses at $33/month; Standard Perpetual License at $995; Amazon Marketplace license starting at $0.13/hour proprietary Video, Audio, DataAnt Media Server Ant Media Inc.20172.12 / 12-12-20242.12Free Trial License, Monthly, Annual and Perpetual License OfferingsProprietaryVideo, Audio, Data atmosph3re Guillaume Carrier 2005-08-15 3.0.7 (2015-10-31)2015-10-31 $30 perpetual license proprietary Audio Darwin Streaming Server Apple Inc. 1999-03-16 6.0.3 (2007-05-10)2007-05-10 Free APSL Audio/Video Feng LSCube 2007-05-31 2009-10-142009-10-04 Free GPL Audio/Video Firefly Ron Pedde 0.2.4.2 (2008-04-19)2008-04-19 Free GPL Audio Helix DNA Server RealNetworks 2003-01-22 11.1 (2006-06-10)2006-06-10 Free RCSL/RPSL Audio/Video Helix Universal Server RealNetworks 1994-01-01 15.2.1 (2014-09-16)2014-09-16 Free for 12 months (Basic) and $1,000-$10,000 proprietary Audio/Video Icecast Xiph.Org Foundation 1998-12 2.4.4 (2018-10-31)2018-10-31 Free GPL Audio IIS Media Services Microsoft 2008-11-07 4.1 (2011-11-09)2011-11-09 Free proprietary Audio/Video/Data Lyrion Music Server Logitech/LMS Community 2001-09-16 8.5.2 (2024-05-20)2024-05-20 Free GPLv2 Audio Nimble Streamer Softvelum 2013 3.7.1-5 (2020-10-27)2020-10-27 Free proprietary Audio/Video OvenMediaEngine AirenSoft 2019-05-23 0.16.8 (2024-07-19)2024-07-19 Free AGPLv3 Audio/Video OpenBroadcaster OpenBroadcaster 2003 5.0.0 (2018-01-27)2018-01-27 Free AGPLv3 Audio/Video Open Broadcaster Software OBS Project 2012-9-01 30.0.2 (2023-12-10)2023-12-10 Free GPL v2 Audio/Video Plex (software) Plex Media Server 2008-07-08 1.15.6.1079 (2019-05-15)2019-05-15 Free proprietary Audio/Video Red5 (open source) Infrared5/community 2003-09-22 1.0.9 (2017-06-11)2018-12-13 Free Apache License v2 Audio/Video/Data SHOUTcast Nullsoft 1998-12 2.4.7 (Build 256) (2015-03-31)2015-03-31 Free proprietary Audio Unreal Media Server Unreal Streaming Technologies 2003-09-15 15.0 (2023-01-03)2023-01-03 $995 perpetual license proprietary Audio/Video VLC media player VideoLAN 2.2.4 (2016-06-05)2016-06-05 Free GPL v2 Audio/Video Windows Media Services Microsoft 1996-12-10 9.6 (2010-04-05)2010-04-05 Free proprietary Audio/Video Wowza Streaming Engine Wowza Media Systems 2007-02-17 4.8.5 build 20200616153358 (2020-06-17)2020-06-17 Free Developer and Trial licenses; Subscription Licenses at $125/month; Perpetual Pro License at $1995; Amazon EC2 with embedded license starting at $0.15/hour proprietary Audio/Video/Data xiu Harlan Chen 2020-08-16 0.13.0 (2024-08-11)2024-08-11 Free MIT Audio/Video
Operating system support Name Windows macOS Linux Unix Adobe Media Server atmosph3re Darwin Streaming Server Firefly Helix DNA Server Helix Universal Server Icecast IIS Media Services Lyrion Music Server Nimble Streamer OvenMediaEngine (with Docker) (with Docker) OpenBroadcaster Open Broadcaster Software Plex (software) Red5 (open source) SHOUTcast Unreal Media Server VLC media player Windows Media Services Wowza Streaming Engine xiu
Container format support Information about what digital container formats are supported. Name 3GP AVI ASF QuickTime Ogg OGM Matroska MP4 MPEG-TS FLV ABR WebM Adobe Media Server atmosph3re Darwin Streaming Server Firefly Helix DNA Server Helix Universal Server Icecast IIS Media Services Nimble Streamer OvenMediaEngine OpenBroadcaster Red5 (open source) SHOUTcast Unreal Media Server VLC media player Windows Media Services Wowza Streaming Engine xiu
Protocol support Information about which internet protocols are supported for broadcasting streaming media content. Name HTTP MPEG DASH WebRTC RTSP MMS RTP RTCP UDP TCP RTMP MPEG TS Real Data Transport Web sockets HLS DASH SRTP Adobe Media Server (HTTP Live Streaming, HTTP Dynamic Streaming) atmosph3re Darwin Streaming Server Firefly Helix DNA Server Helix Universal Server (HTTP Live Streaming, MPEG-DASH, HTTP Progressive Streaming) Icecast IIS Media Services Nimble Streamer (HTTP Live Streaming, Smooth Streaming) OvenMediaEngine OpenBroadcaster Red5 (open source) In Development (RTMP, RTMPE, RTMPTE, RTMPT, RTMPS, RTMP Dynamic Streaming) SHOUTcast Unreal Media Server (HTTP Live Streaming, Smooth Streaming) (RTMP, RTMPT, Dynamic RTMP) VLC media player Yes Windows Media Services (WM-HTTP) (WM-RTSP) , for WMS 9.0 and earlier; removed in WMS 2008 (9.5) (WM-RTSP) (WM-RTSP/U and MS-MSB) (WM-RTSP/T and WM-HTTP) Wowza Streaming Engine (HTTP Live Streaming, Smooth Streaming, HTTP Dynamic Streaming) (RTMP, RTMPE, RTMPTE, RTMPT, RTMPS, RTMP Dynamic Streaming) xiu (HTTP Live Streaming) (Whip/Whep) (WM-RTSP) (WM-RTSP/U) (WM-RTSP/T) (RTMP) Name HTTP MPEG DASH WebRTC RTSP MMS RTP RTCP UDP TCP RTMP MPEG TS Real Data TransportWeb socketsHLSDASHSRTP
Features Name Client Playback Synchronization Web Interface Graphical user interface iOS SDK Android SDK JavaScript SDK Lyrion Music Server Red5 (open source) VLC media player
See also
Community radio Comparison of video hosting services Content delivery network Digital television E-commerce Internet radio Internet radio device Streaming television IPTV List of Internet radio stations Comparison of music streaming services Multicast P2PTV Protection of Broadcasts and Broadcasting Organizations Treaty Push technology Streaming media IBM Cloud Video Webcast Streaming television
References
External links See the container and protocol of VLC Media Player from here: