What is Sunshine?
Sunshine is a self-hosted game stream host for Moonlight clients. It enables you to stream games and applications from your computer to any device running a Moonlight client, offering low-latency, cloud gaming server capabilities.Sunshine works with any Moonlight client on a variety of devices including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and more.
Key Features
Hardware Encoding
Support for AMD, Intel, and Nvidia GPUs with hardware encoding acceleration. Software encoding is also available as a fallback.
Low Latency
Optimized for minimal latency to provide a smooth gaming experience over local networks or the internet.
Web UI
Comprehensive web interface for configuration, client pairing, and management accessible from any browser.
Multi-Platform
Runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, and FreeBSD with platform-specific optimizations.
System Requirements
Minimum Requirements
GPU- AMD: VCE 1.0 or higher (hardware support)
- Intel:
- FreeBSD/Linux: VAAPI-compatible (hardware support)
- Windows: Skylake or newer with QuickSync encoding support
- Nvidia: NVENC enabled cards (support matrix)
- AMD: Ryzen 3 or higher
- Intel: Core i3 or higher
- 4GB or more
- FreeBSD: 14.3+
- Linux/Debian: 13+ (trixie)
- Linux/Fedora: 41+
- Linux/Ubuntu: 22.04+ (jammy)
- macOS: 14+
- Windows: 11+ (Windows Server does not support virtual gamepads)
- Host: 5GHz, 802.11ac
- Client: 5GHz, 802.11ac
4K Streaming Recommendations
For optimal 4K streaming performance: GPU- AMD: Video Coding Engine 3.1 or higher
- Intel: HD Graphics 510 or higher (FreeBSD/Linux), Skylake or newer (Windows)
- Nvidia: GeForce RTX 2000 series or higher (FreeBSD/Linux), GeForce GTX 1080 or higher (Windows)
- AMD: Ryzen 5 or higher
- Intel: Core i5 or higher
- Both host and client: CAT5e ethernet or better
HDR Streaming Recommendations
For HDR streaming support: GPU- AMD: Video Coding Engine 3.4 or higher
- Intel: HD Graphics 730 or higher
- Nvidia: Pascal-based GPU (GTX 10-series) or higher
- AMD: Ryzen 5 or higher
- Intel: Core i5 or higher
- Both host and client: CAT5e ethernet or better
Platform Feature Support
Sunshine provides different features depending on your platform:GPU Encoding
| GPU Type | FreeBSD | Linux | macOS | Windows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMD/AMF | ✅ (vaapi) | ✅ (vaapi) | ✅ (Video Toolbox) | ✅ |
| Intel QuickSync | ✅ (vaapi) | ✅ (vaapi) | ✅ (Video Toolbox) | ✅ |
| NVIDIA NVENC | ✅ (vaapi) | ✅ (vaapi) | ✅ (Video Toolbox) | ✅ |
Screen Capture
| Method | FreeBSD | Linux | macOS | Windows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DXGI | ➖ | ➖ | ➖ | ✅ |
| KMS | ❌ | ✅ | ➖ | ➖ |
| NVIDIA NvFBC (X11) | ➖ | ✅ | ➖ | ➖ |
| Video Toolbox | ➖ | ➖ | ✅ | ➖ |
| Wayland | ✅ | ✅ | ➖ | ➖ |
| Windows.Graphics.Capture | ➖ | ➖ | ➖ | ✅ |
| X11 | ✅ | ✅ | ➖ | ➖ |
Gamepad Emulation
| Controller Type | FreeBSD | Linux | macOS | Windows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DualShock 4 (PS4) | ➖ | ➖ | ❌ | ✅ |
| DualSense (PS5) | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Nintendo Switch Pro | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Xbox 360 | ➖ | ➖ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Xbox One/Series | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
For a complete feature compatibility reference, see the README.
Next Steps
Ready to get started? Continue to the installation guide:Installation
Learn how to install Sunshine on your platform