Sunshine vs trzsz
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
trzsz
File transfer over SSH with progress and resume
| Feature | Sunshine | trzsz |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | C++ | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 39,962 | ★ 1,439 |
| First released | 2020 | 2022 |
| Replaces | NVIDIA GameStream, Parsec | lrzsz, SCP |
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 trzsz if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is Sunshine or trzsz better?
Neither is universally better. Sunshine has the larger community, while trzsz is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Sunshine and trzsz free and open-source?
Yes. Sunshine is licensed under GPL-3.0 and trzsz under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Sunshine and trzsz with Docker?
Sunshine: yes. trzsz: check the project docs for container support.