Red5 media server

Free media server for live streaming solutions of all kinds

Visit website

FreeOpen Source2,133 impressions#7 of its week

>log in to comment

Red5 Media Server is an open-source media server for live streaming solutions of all kinds. It is designed to be flexible with a simple plugin architecture that allows for customization of virtually any VOD and live streaming scenario. The open-source Red5 Media Server has been and is being used by thousands of companies, from Amazon to Facebook. In 2005, we worked with a team of developers to reverse-engineer RTMP as an alternative to the Adobe Flash Communication Server. Red5 Media Server is now used for live streaming beyond Flash, including HLS, WebSockets, and RTSP. Red5 Media Server is the core platform that Red5 Pro is built upon. It features the server-side application and plug-in frameworks, as well as the core streaming infrastructure powering our solution.

Open Source

Red5 Media Server is an open-source server for live video, audio, and data streaming with plugin extensibility.

for: Developers building live streaming, VOD, or real-time data applications.
pricing: free
license: Apache-2.0

Red5/red5-server 3.4k 1.0kHTMLupdated 14 days ago

v2.0.462.0.46 Release22 days ago
v2.0.452.0.45 Releasea month ago
v2.0.442.0.44 Releasea month ago

works withWebRTCRTMPRTSPSRTHLSWHIPWHEPFFmpegGStreamerOBS

Key features

6 features of Red5 media server

Plugin Architecture — Simple plugin system lets you customize any VOD or live streaming scenario.
Multi-Protocol Support — Handles RTMP, RTSP, WebRTC, HLS, SRT, WHIP, WHEP and IP camera streams.
Load Testing Tools — Free scripts simulate publishers/subscribers across RTMP, RTSP, WebRTC.
TrueTime Solutions — Plug-and-play tools for multi-view, studio, watch-party and data sync live apps.
React Native Library — Build real-time streaming iOS/Android apps with easy Red5 Pro integration.
Community & Open-Source — Millions of installs, active contributions, and extensive documentation.

Use cases

Live sports broadcasting with low-latency multi-camera feeds
Interactive webinars with real-time video and data sync
Surveillance systems streaming RTSP camera feeds
In-game live streaming for cloud gaming platforms
Collaborative watch-party experiences for remote teams

Red5 media server FAQ

What is the best free streaming software for developers?+

Red5 Media Server is an open-source streaming server that provides flexible, customizable live streaming without licensing fees.

How can I create a free live stream?+

Deploy Red5 Media Server as an RTMP server, then publish streams from tools like OBS or any RTMP-compatible encoder.

Is Red5 Media Server open-source?+

Yes, the core media server is open-source and freely available for self-hosting.

What open-source live streaming tools does Red5 provide?+

Red5 offers the core media server, load-testing bees, a React Native library, and TrueTime Solutions such as MultiView, Studio, WatchParty, and DataSync.

Do I need to pay for hosting or SDKs?+

Red5 Media Server itself is free; hosting costs are paid to your cloud provider, and SDKs are included without extra fees.

Summarized by DevHunt from red5.net · Oct 3, 2026. Details may change; check the official site.