MediaMTX vs Restreamer
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
VS
Restreamer
Self-hosted streaming server for publishing live video
| Feature | MediaMTX | Restreamer |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 96 · Excellent | 62 · Good |
| Category | Video Surveillance | Video Surveillance |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | HTML |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 20,236 | ★ 5,201 |
| First released | 2019 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Wowza | Wowza |
What are MediaMTX and Restreamer?
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
Restreamer
Restreamer by datarhei is a self-hosted streaming server that ingests video sources such as RTSP camera feeds and publishes them to web pages or platforms like YouTube. It ships as a Docker image with a built-in web UI.
- Ingest and restream RTSP
- Built-in web UI
- Publish to multiple platforms
- Docker-based deployment
MediaMTX vs Restreamer: key differences
MediaMTX is written in Go, while Restreamer is built with HTML. Licensing differs — MIT for MediaMTX versus Apache-2.0 for Restreamer. MediaMTX is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Restreamer. Restreamer is the more established project (first released 2015), while MediaMTX arrived in 2019. MediaMTX has the considerably larger community, at 20,236 GitHub stars versus 5,201.
Why pick each one
Choose MediaMTX if…
- Extremely lightweight
- Wide protocol support
Watch out for
- No recording UI
- Not a complete NVR
Choose Restreamer if…
- Easy to publish camera feeds
- Polished interface
Watch out for
- Restreaming focus
- Not a full NVR with recording rules
Frequently asked questions
Is MediaMTX or Restreamer better?
Neither is universally better. MediaMTX has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are MediaMTX and Restreamer free and open-source?
Yes. MediaMTX is licensed under MIT and Restreamer under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run MediaMTX and Restreamer with Docker?
MediaMTX: yes. Restreamer: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, MediaMTX or Restreamer?
MediaMTX has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Restreamer. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.