Apollo vs Sunshine
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted remote access & vpn options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Sunshine
Self-hosted game-stream host for Moonlight clients
| Feature | Apollo | Sunshine |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 74 · Good | 99 · Excellent |
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | C++ | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,047 | ★ 41,449 |
| First released | 2024 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Steam Remote Play, Parsec | NVIDIA GameStream, Parsec |
What are Apollo and Sunshine?
Apollo
Apollo is a fork of Sunshine that acts as a self-hosted streaming host compatible with Moonlight clients, adding virtual display and multi-user features for remote desktop and game streaming. It runs on your own hardware.
- Moonlight-compatible host
- Virtual display support
- Low-latency streaming
- Multi-user
Sunshine
Sunshine is an open-source, self-hosted game streaming host compatible with Moonlight clients. It streams desktop and games with low latency and hardware encoding.
- Low-latency game streaming
- Hardware encoding
- Moonlight client compatible
- Cross-platform host
Apollo vs Sunshine: key differences
Both projects are written in C++. Sunshine is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Apollo. Sunshine is the more established project (first released 2020), while Apollo arrived in 2024. Sunshine has the considerably larger community, at 41,449 GitHub stars versus 11,047. Sunshine lists first-class Docker deployment; Apollo does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Apollo if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Mature project with 11k GitHub stars
- Written in C++
Choose Sunshine if…
- Low-latency streaming
- Hardware encoding support
- Works with any GPU
Watch out for
- Requires Moonlight clients
- Network tuning often needed
Frequently asked questions
Is Apollo or Sunshine better?
Neither is universally better. Sunshine has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Apollo and Sunshine free and open-source?
Yes. Apollo is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Sunshine under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Apollo and Sunshine with Docker?
Apollo: check the project docs for container support. Sunshine: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Apollo or Sunshine?
Sunshine has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Apollo. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.