Sunshine vs noVNC
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?
Sunshine
Self-hosted game-stream host for Moonlight clients
VS
noVNC
VNC client that runs entirely in the browser
| Feature | Sunshine | noVNC |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | C++ | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | bare-metal, docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 39,962 | ★ 13,911 |
| First released | 2020 | 2010 |
| Replaces | NVIDIA GameStream, Parsec | RealVNC |
Why pick each one
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++
Choose noVNC if…
- Released under the MPL-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 13.9k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Sunshine or noVNC better?
Neither is universally better. Sunshine has the larger community, while noVNC is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Sunshine and noVNC free and open-source?
Yes. Sunshine is licensed under GPL-3.0 and noVNC under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Sunshine and noVNC with Docker?
Sunshine: yes. noVNC: yes.