Sunshine is a self-hosted game stream host for Moonlight. Offering low-latency, cloud gaming server capabilities with support for AMD, Intel, and Nvidia GPUs for hardware encoding. Software encoding is also available. You can connect to Sunshine from any Moonlight client on a variety of devices. A web UI is provided to allow configuration, and client pairing, from your favorite web browser. Pair from the local server or any mobile device.
LizardByte has the full documentation hosted on Read the Docs
Gamepad Emulation| Feature | FreeBSD | Linux | macOS | Windows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
What type of gamepads can be emulated on the host. Clients may support other gamepads. |
||||
| Generic | 🟡1 | ✅ | ✅2 | ✅3 |
| DualShock / DS4 (PlayStation 4) | 🟡1 | ✅ | ✅2 | ✅3 |
| DualSense / DS5 (PlayStation 5) | 🟡1 | ✅ | ✅2 | ✅3 |
| Nintendo Switch Pro | 🟡1 | ✅ | ✅2 | ✅3 |
| Xbox 360 | 🟡1 | ✅ | ✅2 | ✅3 |
| Xbox One | 🟡1 | ✅ | ✅2 | ✅3 |
| Xbox Series | 🟡1 | ✅ | ✅2 | ✅3 |
Note
1 Missing motion, touchpad input, battery state, RGB LEDs, adaptive triggers, and raw HID output reports. 2 Requires the separately installed and licensed Virtual HID Broker. 3 All profiles are available through the separately installed and licensed Virtual HID Broker. Xbox 360 and DualShock 4 can also use ViGEmBus.
| Encoding API | GPU Vendor | FreeBSD | Linux | macOS | Windows |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMF | AMD | ➖ | ➖ | ➖ | ✅ |
| Media Foundation | Qualcomm | ➖ | ➖ | ➖ | ✅ |
| NVENC | NVIDIA | ➖ | ✅ | ➖ | ✅ |
| QuickSync | Intel | ➖ | ➖ | ➖ | ✅ |
| VAAPI | AMD | ✅ | ✅ | ➖ | ➖ |
| Intel | ✅ | ✅ | ➖ | ➖ | |
| NVIDIA | ➖ | ✅ | ➖ | ➖ | |
| Video Toolbox | Apple | ➖ | ➖ | ✅ | ➖ |
| Intel | ➖ | ➖ | ✅ | ➖ | |
| Vulkan Video | AMD | 🟡 | ✅ | ➖ | ➖ |
| Intel | 🟡 | 🟡 | ➖ | ➖ | |
| NVIDIA | ➖ | 🟡 | ➖ | ➖ | |
| Software | Any | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Capture Method | FreeBSD | Linux | macOS | Windows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DXGI Desktop Duplication | ➖ | ➖ | ➖ | ✅ |
| KMS/DRM | ✅ | ✅ | ➖ | ➖ |
| NvFBC (X11 only) | ➖ | ✅ | ➖ | ➖ |
| ScreenCaptureKit | ➖ | ➖ | ✅ | ➖ |
| Wayland (wlroots) | ✅ | ✅ | ➖ | ➖ |
| Windows.Graphics.Capture | ➖ | ➖ | ➖ | 🟡 |
| ↳ Portable | ➖ | ➖ | ➖ | ✅ |
| ↳ Service | ➖ | ➖ | ➖ | ❌ |
| X11 | ✅ | ✅ | ➖ | ➖ |
| XDG Desktop Portal | ✅ | ✅ | ➖ | ➖ |
| KWin Screencast | ✅ | ✅ | ➖ | ➖ |
| Capture Method | VAAPI | Vulkan Video | NVENC (CUDA) | Software |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KMS/DRM | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| NvFBC | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Wayland (wlroots) | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| X11 | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| XDG Desktop Portal | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| KWin Screencast | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Legend: ✅ Supported | 🟡 Partial Support | ❌ Not Yet Supported | ➖ Not Applicable
Warning
These tables are a work in progress. Do not purchase hardware based on this information.
| Component | Requirement |
|---|---|
| GPU | AMD: VCE 1.0 or higher, see: obs-amd hardware support |
|
Intel: FreeBSD/Linux: VAAPI-compatible, see: VAAPI hardware support Windows: Skylake or newer with QuickSync encoding support |
|
| Nvidia: NVENC enabled cards, see: nvenc support matrix | |
| CPU | AMD: Ryzen 3 or higher |
| Intel: Core i3 or higher | |
| RAM | 4GB or more |
| OS | FreeBSD: 15.1+ |
| Linux/Debian: 13+ (trixie) | |
| Linux/Fedora: 43+ | |
| Linux/Ubuntu: 22.04+ (jammy) | |
| macOS: 14.2+ | |
| Windows: 11+ | |
| Network | Host: 5GHz, 802.11ac |
| Client: 5GHz, 802.11ac |
| Component | Requirement |
|---|---|
| GPU | AMD: Video Coding Engine 3.1 or higher |
|
Intel: FreeBSD/Linux: HD Graphics 510 or higher Windows: Skylake or newer with QuickSync encoding support |
|
|
Nvidia: FreeBSD/Linux: GeForce RTX 2000 series or higher Windows: Geforce GTX 1080 or higher |
|
| CPU | AMD: Ryzen 5 or higher |
| Intel: Core i5 or higher | |
| Network | Host: CAT5e ethernet or better |
| Client: CAT5e ethernet or better |
| Component | Requirement |
|---|---|
| GPU | AMD: Video Coding Engine 3.4 or higher |
| Intel: HD Graphics 730 or higher | |
| Nvidia: Pascal-based GPU (GTX 10-series) or higher | |
| CPU | AMD: Ryzen 5 or higher |
| Intel: Core i5 or higher | |
| Network | Host: CAT5e ethernet or better |
| Client: CAT5e ethernet or better |
Our support methods are listed in our LizardByte Docs.
Thank you to all the contributors who have helped make Sunshine better!