datarhei Core vs MediaMTX
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted video surveillance options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
MediaMTX
Ready-to-use media server and RTSP/WebRTC proxy
| Feature | datarhei Core | MediaMTX |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 58 · Fair | 96 · Excellent |
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 282 | ★ 20,236 |
| First released | 2022 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Wowza, commercial video servers | Wowza |
What are datarhei Core and MediaMTX?
datarhei Core
datarhei Core is a self-hosted media server that manages and processes video streams using FFmpeg. It can ingest RTSP camera feeds and republish them as HLS, RTMP, or SRT, serving as a backend for surveillance and streaming.
- FFmpeg-based stream processing
- RTSP ingest and republish
- REST API control
- Process management
MediaMTX
MediaMTX, formerly rtsp-simple-server, is a ready-to-use media server and proxy that lets you publish and read live video streams over RTSP, RTMP, HLS, and WebRTC. It is commonly used to relay IP camera feeds for surveillance setups.
- RTSP, RTMP, HLS, WebRTC support
- Stream proxying and relaying
- On-demand publishing
- Single binary deployment
datarhei Core vs MediaMTX: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for datarhei Core versus MIT for MediaMTX. MediaMTX is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for datarhei Core. MediaMTX is the more established project (first released 2019), while datarhei Core arrived in 2022. MediaMTX has the considerably larger community, at 20,236 GitHub stars versus 282.
Why pick each one
Choose datarhei Core if…
- Flexible stream handling
- Good API
Watch out for
- Not a full NVR
- FFmpeg knowledge helps
Choose MediaMTX if…
- Extremely lightweight
- Wide protocol support
Watch out for
- No recording UI
- Not a complete NVR
Frequently asked questions
Is datarhei Core or MediaMTX better?
MediaMTX is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider datarhei Core if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are datarhei Core and MediaMTX free and open-source?
Yes. datarhei Core is licensed under Apache-2.0 and MediaMTX under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run datarhei Core and MediaMTX with Docker?
datarhei Core: yes. MediaMTX: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, datarhei Core or MediaMTX?
MediaMTX has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for datarhei Core. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.