Cockpit 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.
Not the right match-up?
Cockpit
Web-based graphical interface for Linux servers
VS
Sunshine
Self-hosted game-stream host for Moonlight clients
| Feature | Cockpit | Sunshine |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | LGPL-2.1 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 14,842 | ★ 39,962 |
| First released | 2014 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Webmin | NVIDIA GameStream, Parsec |
Why pick each one
Choose Cockpit if…
- Released under the LGPL-2.1 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 14.8k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
Choose Sunshine if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 40k GitHub stars
- Written in C++
Frequently asked questions
Is Cockpit or Sunshine better?
Neither is universally better. Sunshine has the larger community, while Cockpit is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Cockpit and Sunshine free and open-source?
Yes. Cockpit is licensed under LGPL-2.1 and Sunshine under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cockpit and Sunshine with Docker?
Cockpit: check the project docs for container support. Sunshine: yes.