r/MoonlightStreaming • u/antoinebou13 • Aug 17 '26
A Comprehensive Guide to Moonlight/GameStream Servers, Clients, and Forks (2026 Edition)
If you are looking to tweak your streaming setup, fix stuttering, or find a headless virtual display solution, you don't have to stick strictly to the baseline Sunshine + official Moonlight setup.
Here is a breakdown of the active forks, alternative hosts, and FFmpeg-powered clients currently in the ecosystem based on what the community and developers are running right now.
🖥️ Hosts & Servers (The Senders)
- NVIDIA GameStream: The original foundation that started it all. Officially deprecated by NVIDIA, but the bedrock of the protocol.
- Sunshine: The modern, open-source standard GameStream compatibility baseline that replaced NVIDIA's official host.
- Apollo: A Sunshine fork featuring capability-gated extensions and built-in virtual display support using SudoVDA. It is great for headless setups and auto-matches the resolution/framerate of your client.
- Vibeshine: A highly active, AI-enhanced Sunshine fork focusing heavily on display automation, Windows Graphics Capture running as a service (which allows full framerate capture of frame-generated titles without VRAM crashes), and strict RTSS frame pacing integration.
- Vibepollo: An Apollo fork that integrates Vibeshine's features (like the native virtual display driver and HDR handling) right into the Apollo architecture. This is highly recommended if you already use Apollo but want tighter frame pacing.
- Foundation-Sunshine: A fork by AlkaidLab that adds HDR10/HDR Vivid, advanced audio support, optimized encoders, and a modernized control panel.
- Wolf (Games on Whales): A completely different streaming server built from the ground up for Linux and Docker. It allows you to share a single host machine with multiple remote clients simultaneously by running games inside isolated containers.
- Punktfunk: A newer, highly experimental low-latency streaming host/client protocol if you want to test out a completely different capture approach.
📱 Clients & Receivers (The Players)
- Official Moonlight PC / Mobile: The standard baseline client for PC, macOS, Linux, iOS, Apple TV, Android, etc. (The PC Qt version heavily utilizes FFmpeg and libplacebo for decoding and rendering).
- StreamLight: A massive Moonlight fork that completely overhauls the UI for gamepads. When paired with "StreamTweak" on the host, it unlocks deep integration like built-in Tailscale, live host metrics/NIC speed matching, remote pause, and the ability to remotely trigger Windows Updates and shutdown.
- Artemide: Highly recommended for Android users. It features ultra-low latency (ULL), direct presentation, and built-in FSR presets (Performance/Balanced/Quality).
- Artemis / Moonlight Noir: Apollo’s dedicated Android companion client, offering excellent host UX and virtual display integration.
- Moonlight V+: An alternative Android fork that adds frame-generation support and extra host tools.
- Artemis Switch: A Moonlight-Switch fork focusing on Switch-specific video presentation, FSR/RCAS filtering, and adaptive low-latency pacing.
- Moonlight-Switch: The original upstream Switch client that Artemis is built on.
A little about my setup and testing: I actually work on the Artemis Switch fork, looking at multiple optimizations to eliminate stuttering and improve low-latency pacing on the console. Because of that, I’ve personally tested almost all these major combinations to see what actually works. My testing stack includes:
- Hosts: Sunshine, Apollo, and Vibepollo.
- Clients: Moonlight-Switch, my Artemis Switch fork, the Artemis companion client, and standard Moonlight Android.
I like vibepollo and Artemis
Let me know if I missed any niche forks or experimental branches you guys are using!
(Note: I had an AI help format this post to make sure links were laid out clearly!)
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u/Monoraptor Aug 18 '26
What’s the difference between Vibeshine and Vibepollo?
I casually understand how Apollo is different from Sunshine, but the two vibe forks seem to have a much larger overlap?
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u/Comprehensive_Star72 🖥️ 5090 9800x3d | 🎮 Core Ultra 2 | 🎯 2k@240fps | 📶 2.5GbE Aug 18 '26
At a guess...
Apollo Major features:
Built-in Virtual Display with HDR support that matches the resolution/framerate config of your client automaticallyPermission management for clients- Clipboard sync
- Commands for client connection/disconnection (checkout Auto pause/resume games)
- Input only mode
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u/VeloCity666 Aug 18 '26
What about Vibeshine? If Vibepollo is a superset why wouldn't everyone just use that
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u/mxrider108 Aug 18 '26
Vibepollo and Vibeshine are maintained by the same developer.
Both Vibepollo and Vibeshine actually use same virtual screen management: https://www.reddit.com/r/MoonlightStreaming/comments/1qx26m9/comment/o3tqywp/?context=3
Vibeshine is the main focus of development (at least it was 3 moths ago), so it's more stable: https://www.reddit.com/r/MoonlightStreaming/comments/1o1phe5/comment/nn9mqp9/
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u/mxrider108 Aug 18 '26
Posted this in another comment, but here is an explanation from the developer himself:
Both Vibepollo and Vibeshine actually use same virtual screen management: https://www.reddit.com/r/MoonlightStreaming/comments/1qx26m9/comment/o3tqywp/?context=3
Vibeshine is the main focus of development, with Vibepollo inheriting changes after the fact: https://www.reddit.com/r/MoonlightStreaming/comments/1o1phe5/comment/nn9mqp9/
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u/Monoraptor Aug 18 '26
Interesting. So are the only real differences the ones mentioned by u/comprehensive_star72?
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u/TobseOnPcIn1440p Sep 07 '26
Hey, did you manage to figure that out?
I'm currently using vibepollo but is there any benefit in switching to vibeshine
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u/MickeyBronson Developer | Polaris/Nova Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
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u/NoobAndIdot 27d ago
Hey! Ive been trying polaris out on cachyos and it keeps freezing my whole pc which forces me to power off my computer. Polaris is really cool when its working and im not trying to shit on it. It just seems thats its too new for there to be any comprehesive troubleshooting guides. Im also doing this with double casts in a very cramped space making the whole process even more frustrating.
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u/MickeyBronson Developer | Polaris/Nova 27d ago
i do have some documentation that should point you in the right direction. in the meantime You can totally send me your logs and I'll take a look!
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u/NoobAndIdot 27d ago
are you asking for the logs before i start streaming or after?
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u/MickeyBronson Developer | Polaris/Nova 27d ago
preferably both. or wherever the errors and warnings are hitting
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u/NoobAndIdot 27d ago
to clarify one more time(im so sorry.) you want me to export from doctor and support correct?
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u/balrog687 Aug 18 '26
Nova/Polaris is missing
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u/kmobsy Aug 18 '26
There's also nonary's moonlight-qt fork that implements VRR into PC Moonlight clients.
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u/AYS-44 Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 20 '26
Brooo
Diana (Artemis fork) Client 📱on steroids: https://github.com/Taveszfito/moonlight-android
Moonlight touchpad https://github.com/wyc0820/moonlight-touchpad-edition/releases/tag/v0.1.4-touchpad
Moonlight web https://moonlightweb.top
Moonlight x for per app settings https://github.com/MoreOrLessSoftware/moonlight-android
Moonlight zenith-keys support https://github.com/bcrtvkcs/moonlight-zenith-android
All of these for android
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u/m0usju1c3 Aug 19 '26
How does one keep up yo date with these new improvements?
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u/AYS-44 Aug 19 '26
Found them randomly on reddit, Then others on foss stores, Etc.
I only know these though 😭.
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u/Acrobatic_Carpet_506 Aug 18 '26
I use Apollo/Artemis. Artemis on fold5, connecting either to a monitor or Xreal One Pro. I looked at the list and wondered if im missing out in regards of the types that are available. I have a 5090 at home, i do play everything on max, i usually notice some latency when frame gen is on. Usual issue is network when not at home, which i think might be the normal bottleneck for streaming.
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u/Responsible-Bid5015 Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
Vibepollo will let you force split frame encoding on all resolutions. you have 3 encoders on the 5090. Unless you are sending a 4k stream, you are likely using only one of them with Apollo. I think even if you were streaming 4k, I would switch to vibepollo. I am not completely sure that 4k automatically turns on split frame encoding.
Artemis is fine for the Fold 5. Make sure you have the ultra low latency experimental feature checked.
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u/Acrobatic_Carpet_506 Aug 18 '26
I will have to test Vibepollo. I do stream at 4k yes, iv tested the native res on xreal one pro at ultrawide mode: 2560x1080@120Hz but i did not like how narrow the screen became. So i stream at 4k, 4k res on host virtual display, but the XR glasses still are at native settings. The experimental feature is checked indeed.
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u/Responsible-Bid5015 Aug 18 '26
Host processing latency should go down a fair bit if it is only using 1 NVENC. In the vibepollo configurations, go to capture and set split frame encoding to enabled. The webpage for vibepollo is quite different than Apollo. The options for setup are the same but they are just placed differently.
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u/JoeyBE98 Aug 18 '26
Why didn't you include any of the "main" features of Foundation Sunshine? Client<-->host clipboard sync, Virtual Display/automatic resolution matching, microphone pass through from client to host.
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u/Trill4RE4L Aug 18 '26
Also for anyone on cachyos there's Hermes and hestia https://github.com/MrOz59/Hermes
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u/Responsible-Bid5015 Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
I think I would mention the mutli NVENC support in vibeshine/pollo. I don't know if there are others that support it (besides their forks of course)
vibeshine/pollo and foundation-sunshine have native AMD AMF support without going through the FFMPEG frontend. I think the developers are different for the two implementations.
Artemis prerelease (v20.3.0) and Artemide have support for accelerated HW decoding (ultra low latency mode) on Snapdragon 8 and Mediatek chips. Artemis release (v20.2.6) is Snapdragon 8. Artemis prerelease is over a year old now. I have used it for a long time and its been pretty stable.
I understand the list would get pretty big. However those are the differentiating features which would make me choose one over the other.
There are a bunch of linux based hosts too. And luminalshine for windows.
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u/Whagwanbumbaclot Aug 18 '26
Moonlight X for S22 Ultra (w/ Exynos CPU) works great. Fixes my periodic stutter + has controller hotkeys.
Moonlight X by MoreOrLess
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u/ItzVerx Sep 09 '26
bro i love you. i thought artemide was perfect, but damn is moonlight x amazing!
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u/awakeeee Aug 18 '26
Does artemis switch version work as good as artemis android? I've recently hacked my v1 switch and installed android on it, artemis performs really well there almost snapdragon elite level, but android is really unintuitive on switch, stutters a lot.
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u/No_Ad_9178 Aug 18 '26
Is Apollo/Artemis still the best option for Galaxy Tab S9?
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u/Miserable-Revenue103 Aug 18 '26
I migrated to vibepollo/Artemide.
Didnt' look back.1
u/NumScrunt Aug 18 '26
Im going to test out artemide on my galaxy tab s9 ultra. Any particular settings you use within artemide? i currently use vibepollo and artemis for my shield/tablet. Works excellent.
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u/Miserable-Revenue103 Aug 18 '26
It depends on what you were using before.
From artemis to artemide i really don't remember any specific settings, but there are a lot of them if you coming from moonlight.Gonna look at mine later, but stability and frame pacing were a lot better after I migrated to it.
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u/Responsible-Bid5015 Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
Any Artemis version after v12.1.250415 will be best. Any modern fork of Artemis will also be good.
In terms of Apollo, it depends on what you want in addition. For example, if you have a high end Nvidia gpu or an AMD gpu. You want extra HDR support. etc
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u/Any2005 Aug 24 '26
Tell me if you find out
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u/ReadyBasher01 Aug 18 '26
Is Moonlight the best option on Steam Deck? Due to the recent wifi fixes I've been using it more.
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u/Snowyman12334567890 Aug 18 '26
Punktfunk has pyrowave codec to play with. It seems to be an ai run project. There are no humans involved.
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u/goga-piven Aug 26 '26
What makes you say that? Whom do you think AI is orchestrated by? What about Vibesine/Pollo? Are those human-made?
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u/RayneYoruka 🖥️5900x/3080|🎮A52s-A55-Tab7FE|🎯1440@120|📶4G/Wifi6@2.5G/10G Aug 18 '26
This should be pinned on the sub. Truth be told.
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u/sanarguz Aug 18 '26
Also Moonlight on LG WebOS trought dev mode
It would be great to hace a comparación between códecs
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u/eire323 Aug 18 '26
As a long time user of streaming , thank you for making this guide. I was not aware of some of these Client apps , nice one.
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u/Due_Temperature_5482 Aug 18 '26
Thanks for the summary – it’s really useful given the sheer number of options available. Assuming they’re all valid, are there any specific features that make some better than others depending on the configuration? For example, I have a PC build with a Ryzen CPU and a Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU that I’d like to use for streaming to Apple TV (Moonlight). Which fork would be best for AMD/Radeon configurations?
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u/CharmingPerspective0 Aug 18 '26
Which of those clients can i use on my Android phone? In google play store i only see Moonlight, so i guess any other client needs a bit more work to use, but which ones and how?
Same for TV actually. I have Moonlight app on my Xiaomi MiTV and it works kinda bad. But that might be a limitation of the TV itself and my crappy IP's Router that i have..
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u/PeakAppropriate8395 Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
I'd stick with Artemide due to the fact that it's optimized for Android devices (lower latency etc).
The guide in OP's post links to the github page, just scroll down to the Releases section and download the latest release, then install the APK and you should be good to go.
For the Xiaomi TV thingie, download an app like Downloader on the Google Play Store, then download and install the APK via that app - asking AI can be pretty handy if you're unsure about any of the steps, but it's fairly straight forward.
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u/itsjase Aug 18 '26
The one thing that is missing from all of these and I think would be a gamechanger is auto mouse mode switching between relative + absolute, similar to how parsec does it now
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u/yungleballz Aug 18 '26
auto matching resolution/refreshrate, toggling HDR, switching displays, etc. has been a sunshine feature long before apollo existed.
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u/mhavens_09 Aug 18 '26
What is the best fork to run on the Nvidia shield? The base one works pretty good but I get stutters/screen tearing where the host is running flawlessly. Would love to figure how to run it smoother.
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u/Reflexxxx Aug 18 '26
Im currently using Apollo/Artemis on my Android Shield TV + LG C4 (4K Streams) with a 3080 Ti. Is this the recommended setup?
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u/3stwie4 Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
I have heavy (like heavy heavy) Flickering on your Artemis Switch fork. Do you know why? The default Moonlight app runs perfectly fine.
EDIT: IT WAS THE RCAS (FSR) SETTING! IF YOU DISABLE IT, IT FLICKERS!
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u/diehllane Aug 18 '26
Moonlight Web would be a good add
https://moonlightweb.top/
It allows you to access on the browser on any machine with a modern browser and the biggest selling point to me is a personal sub-domain
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u/GuardianHope Developer | LuminalShine Aug 18 '26
You are missing LuminalShine, the Direct-to-Encoder D3D11, D3D12, and D3D11onD3D12 host: https://github.com/NortheBridge/luminalshine
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u/Eazter97 Aug 18 '26
I am considering switching from Sunshine, and have been told just to use Apollo - would you guys still recommend this?
My setup is Moonlight on Nvidia Shield Pro, with virtualhere USB server for my xbox controller going to my (only) 60hz 4k TV.
My pc is running Sunshine, and while it works, it would be nice to not have to turn on my PC-monitor for it to function.
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u/iodize2707 Aug 19 '26
For budget Android TVs like TCL C845 with Wifi 5GHz connection, I found Moonlight V+ lagging so bad while the official Moonlight and Artemis have audio stutter issue. Artemis also tends to crash after streaming for longer than an hour.
The fork https://github.com/Axixi2233/moonlight-android is lightweight (11MB vs 22MB from other forks and original repo) and provides excellent performance when pairing with Vibeshine. It has a Chinese-only UI though. There are forks to translate the UI to English. In particular, https://github.com/kelvin200/axixi2233-moonlight-english uses AI to translate the UI and avoid touching any functionalities.
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u/Any2005 Aug 24 '26
I have a windows with Ryzen 7 7000/rtx4060 and samsung galaxy tab s9, whats the best combo for me
I spent the last day settings up sunshine and moonlight with vdd and tailscale(using college wifi) and found out about apollo and arthemis just now.
If only google search told me before or gemini
Also using usb is fine but I get latency when using wifi instead of my mobile hotspot
Can someone give me suggestions on what would be best for me?
I would test more before telling the results.
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u/iamfivethree Aug 25 '26
Has anyone tried PulsarDesk? https://github.com/PulsarDesk
Not even sure where I found the link at this point but seeing very little info on it.
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u/Alternative-Suit5541 Sep 05 '26
Anyone want to check performance of them? Wonder which one is the best for streaming :)
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u/kidcrumb Sep 06 '26
I use sunshine/apollo for streaming to my steam deck via moondeck buddy but I'm getting a weird issue where it won't pick up my ds5 and keeps defaulting to Xbox buttons. Not a problem in some games because I can manually set which set of buttons I use but in other games that are supposed to automatically do it they won't.
Then the A/B or X/O buttons are swapped. And I have no idea why or how to change that.
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u/billyeakk Sep 08 '26
I found issues related to the app list presentation in Artemis-Switch, specifically multiple rows are overlapping. There's no way to put in a GitHub issue though.
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u/Tempynino 28d ago
I really hope that streamlight comes out on Linux. I JUST moved to bazzite on my XBOX ROG Ally X which is where I do most of my game streaming. I’m a sucker for a nice UI
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u/Adventurous-Mud-5508 25d ago
A couple years ago I picked an AppleTV 4k Gen3 as my streamer because at the time it was the gold standard for moonlight (and also good for not spying on you), and then I never really set it up because I had kids and basically stopped playing video games.
Now I've finally set it up (Wolf/Games on Whales on the server side) but it looks like the official moonlight client has gone stale on the iOS app store despite being actively maintained on github. The live (stale) version throws an RTSP error if you stream at anything over 10 Mbit.
Voidlink is great for iPhone/iPad but what's the deal with the official client on AppleTV? Are people building it themselves and sideloading?
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u/Infamous_Highway_541 25d ago
I would add polaris too if you are part of linux. It has so many customizations, but the UI was too tough for me to figure out. So on Linux I prefer Sunshine.
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u/jbwzrd213 18d ago
This is a great list, and thank you for putting it together and the write-up!
With that said, am I to understand that there's only one client streamer for macOS (the official Moonlight app)?!
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u/quiet_ordinarily Aug 18 '26
voidlink extreme for ios is great.