Sunshine vs WebSSH2
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
WebSSH2
Web-based SSH client using xterm.js and WebSockets
| Feature | Sunshine | WebSSH2 |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | C++ | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 39,962 | ★ 2,766 |
| First released | 2020 | 2017 |
| Replaces | NVIDIA GameStream, Parsec | PuTTY |
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 WebSSH2 if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.8k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Sunshine or WebSSH2 better?
Neither is universally better. Sunshine has the larger community, while WebSSH2 is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Sunshine and WebSSH2 free and open-source?
Yes. Sunshine is licensed under GPL-3.0 and WebSSH2 under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Sunshine and WebSSH2 with Docker?
Sunshine: yes. WebSSH2: yes.