Apollo vs Selkies
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted remote access & vpn options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Apollo | Selkies |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 74 · Good | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | C++ | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,061 | ★ 2,194 |
| First released | 2024 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Steam Remote Play, Parsec | Parsec |
What are Apollo and Selkies?
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
Selkies
Selkies is an open-source platform for streaming Linux desktops and apps to a browser over WebRTC with low latency. It supports GPU acceleration for demanding workloads.
- WebRTC desktop streaming
- GPU acceleration support
- Low-latency input
- Kubernetes ready
Apollo vs Selkies: key differences
Apollo is written in C++, while Selkies is built with Python. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Apollo versus MPL-2.0 for Selkies. Apollo is the lighter option, starting around 1,024 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Selkies. Selkies is the more established project (first released 2019), while Apollo arrived in 2024. Apollo has the considerably larger community, at 11,061 GitHub stars versus 2,194. Selkies 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 11.1k GitHub stars
- Written in C++
Choose Selkies if…
- Released under the MPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (2.2k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Apollo or Selkies better?
Apollo is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Selkies if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Apollo and Selkies free and open-source?
Yes. Apollo is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Selkies under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Apollo and Selkies with Docker?
Apollo: check the project docs for container support. Selkies: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Apollo or Selkies?
Apollo has the smaller minimum footprint at 1,024 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Selkies. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.