Rygel vs Streama
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Rygel
GNOME UPnP/DLNA media sharing server
VS
Streama
Self-hosted streaming media server with a clean web interface
| Feature | Rygel | Streama |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Media Servers | Media Servers |
| License | LGPL-2.1 | MIT |
| Language | Vala | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 200 | ★ 9,821 |
| First released | 2008 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Plex | Netflix, Plex |
Why pick each one
Choose Rygel if…
- Released under the LGPL-2.1 license
- Written in Vala
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Choose Streama if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 9.8k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Rygel or Streama better?
Neither is universally better. Streama has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Rygel and Streama free and open-source?
Yes. Rygel is licensed under LGPL-2.1 and Streama under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Rygel and Streama with Docker?
Rygel: check the project docs for container support. Streama: yes.