Owncast

A self-hosted live streaming and chat server for one broadcaster, so you can run a Twitch-style channel on your own domain.

11.6k stars, 1.2k forks Go On GitHub since May 2020

Visit website View on GitHub How to run it

Owncast at a glance

Open sourceYes, MITNo paid parts in the repository
Health72 of 100Actively developed
Self-hostingDocker, Linux, macOSSteps in the README
AppsLinux, macOS, including ARMBuilds in GitHub releases
Interface23 languagesIncluding English, German and French
Issue repliesWithin ~15 hoursMedian first reply; 68% of recent issues answered

What is Owncast?

Owncast is a single-user live video server with built-in chat. You point OBS, Streamlabs or any RTMP-capable broadcaster at your instance instead of a commercial platform, and viewers watch and chat on your web page. You decide the look, moderation and audience. The backend is written in Go and the front end in React, with 23 interface languages. The aim is one service that works out of the box.

Good fit if

  • You stream regularly and want your own channel without platform rules or ads.
  • You run streams for a community, church or class and want them on your own site.

Look elsewhere if

  • You need many channels, protocol conversion or larger live setups: SRS or MediaMTX.
  • You want a video-on-demand platform with federation: PeerTube.

Before you adopt it

Owncast is MIT-licensed and contains nothing paid. Only three people committed recently, so it relies on a very small team. Builds exist for Linux and macOS along with a Docker image. Video transcoding needs CPU and outgoing bandwidth in proportion to your viewers.

Drafted with AI from the project's README and repository data, then checked against that data on 31 October 2026. Report a correction

How to run Owncast yourself

Docker
Dockerfile or compose file in the repository
Compose file
None in the repository
Setup effort
Not rated: no compose file to judge from
Kubernetes
No Helm chart in the repository
Desktop and mobile
Builds for Linux, macOS, including ARM in GitHub releases
Interface languages
23 languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Japanese and Korean
Show all 23

Arabic, Bangla, Basque, Chinese, Croatian, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Irish, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Vietnamese

Install instructions: owncast.online or the README on GitHub.

Owncast health: is it still maintained?

72 of 100, actively developed

Release rhythmEvery ~4 months3 releases in 12 months; latest v0.3.0
Issue repliesWithin ~15 hoursMedian first reply; 68% of recent issues answered
Bus factorMedium riskThe most active of 3 authors wrote 63% of recent commits
  • Activity
    161 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 25 October 2026.
    27 / 30
  • Contributors
    3 people wrote the latest 100 commits; the most active wrote 63% of them.
    8 / 20
  • Releases
    3 releases in the last 12 months; the latest, v0.3.0, on 3 September 2026.
    15 / 20
  • Replies to issues
    Maintainers answered 68% of recent issues, with a median first reply after 15 hours.
    17 / 20
  • Security practices
    OpenSSF Scorecard 4.5 of 10.
    5 / 10

Read from GitHub on 5 November 2026. How the score works

Owncast security practices

OpenSSF Scorecard checks how a project is developed and released: reviews, protected branches, pinned dependencies, signed releases. It does not audit the code itself.

OpenSSF Scorecard4.5 of 10How the project is built and released
Security policyYesExplains how to report a vulnerability
Signed releasesNoDownloads cannot be checked against a signature

What each check found

  • Dangerous workflows10 / 10No risky patterns in GitHub Actions
  • License file10 / 10A license file is present
  • Maintained10 / 10Steady commits and issue activity in the last 90 days
  • Security policy10 / 10Explains how to report a vulnerability
  • Binary files8 / 10A few compiled binaries are checked into the repository
  • Static analysis8 / 10Code is scanned for bugs on some changes
  • Branch protection1 / 10Rules on the main branch are partly enforced
  • Best-practices badge0 / 10No OpenSSF Best Practices badge
  • Code review0 / 10Changes are merged without review
  • Fuzzing0 / 10No fuzz testing found
  • Pinned dependencies0 / 10Dependencies are not pinned to fixed versions
  • Signed releases0 / 10Releases are not signed
  • Token permissions0 / 10CI tokens have broad write rights

From the OpenSSF Scorecard of 26 October 2026. Checks that do not apply to Owncast are left out.

Owncast license: is it open source?

Owncast uses MIT, an open-source license approved by the OSI.

  1. May 2020First published on GitHub.
  2. TodayMIT.

Owncast for developers

Written in

  • Go 46%
  • TypeScript 25%
  • CSS 16%
  • JavaScript 6%
  • Shell 4%
  • Other 2%

Getting involved

Contributing guideYesCONTRIBUTING.mdOpen issues154On GitHub
Authors, 90 days3Of the latest 100 commits

Language shares are GitHub’s count of the code in the repository.

Alternatives to Owncast

  • SRSSRS is a simple, high-performance, AI-driven real-time media server supporting RTMP, WebRTC, HLS, HTTP-FLV,… 74 health · MIT · 29.4k stars
  • PeerTubeActivityPub-federated video streaming platform using P2P directly in your web browser 87 health · AGPL-3.0 · 15.4k stars
  • MediaMTXReady-to-use Media-over-QUIC / SRT / WebRTC / RTSP / RTMP / LL-HLS / MPEG-TS / RTP live media server and… 79 health · MIT · 20.6k stars
  • InvidiousInvidious is an alternative front-end to YouTube 75 health · AGPL-3.0 · 25.9k stars
  • NavidromeYour Personal Streaming Service 84 health · GPL-3.0 · 24.5k stars

All 18 projects in Media servers & streaming

Questions about Owncast

Is Owncast open source?

Yes. Owncast is published under MIT, an OSI-approved open-source license.

Is Owncast still maintained?

Its health score is 72 of 100 (actively developed). It had 161 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 25 October 2026, and its latest release came out on 3 September 2026.

How do I run Owncast?

You can run it with Docker, as an app for Linux, macOS, including ARM. The README on GitHub has the exact steps.

What is Owncast written in?

Owncast is written in Go (46% of the code), with TypeScript (25%) and CSS (16%), by GitHub’s count of the repository.

What languages is Owncast available in?

The repository has interface translations for 23 languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish and Russian.

What are the alternatives to Owncast?

Close alternatives in the Media servers & streaming category include SRS, PeerTube, MediaMTX.