SHSelfHostIndex

Apache Guacamole Lite 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?
AP Apache Guacamole Lite Clientless remote desktop gateway library VS SU Sunshine Self-hosted game-stream host for Moonlight clients
FeatureApache Guacamole LiteSunshine
CategoryRemote Access & VPNRemote Access & VPN
LicenseMITGPL-3.0
LanguageJavaScriptC++
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, sourcedocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 331★ 39,962
First released20162020
ReplacesTeamViewer, CitrixNVIDIA GameStream, Parsec

Why pick each one

Choose Apache Guacamole Lite if…

  • Lightweight alternative
  • Easy to integrate
Apache Guacamole Lite details

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++
Sunshine details

Frequently asked questions

Is Apache Guacamole Lite 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 Apache Guacamole Lite and Sunshine free and open-source?

Yes. Apache Guacamole Lite is licensed under MIT and Sunshine under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Apache Guacamole Lite and Sunshine with Docker?

Apache Guacamole Lite: yes. Sunshine: yes.

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