LibNXbox vs Moonlight Game Streaming
LibNXbox
github.comMoonlight Game Streaming
moonlight-stream.orgSide by side
| Figure | LibNXbox | Moonlight Game Streaming |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 2 |
| Spec score · Game Remote Play Software | 8.4 (#6) | 8.7 (#3) |
Plans
In their own words
LibNXbox
LibNXbox is free GPL-2.0 homebrew software that streams from an Xbox console or Xbox Cloud Gaming to a Nintendo Switch. Download the libnxbox.nro file from GitHub releases and run it in title mode; applet mode crashes. For home streaming, the NRO discovers the console in the same manner as xbox.com/play. The README describes launching cloud titles through a Moonlight Switch NRO forwarder using a game AppID. LibNXboxNROHelper can search the Microsoft Store and create game-art thumbnails plus a titles.txt file containing titles and xCloud AppIDs. Video is listed as 1280×720 H.264 using Tegra X1 NVDEC decoding, with stereo Opus audio at 48 kHz and an approximately 60 ms latency target. Authentication uses Microsoft’s servers and saves a token on the SD card. Queue times and service restrictions are not bypassed.
Moonlight Game Streaming
Moonlight Game Streaming sends games from a gaming PC to supported devices for remote play. It is a free, open-source implementation of NVIDIA's GameStream protocol; the listed plan costs nothing, with no subscriptions or paid versions with extra features. Clients are available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Apple TV, ChromeOS, Steam Link, and Raspberry Pi. On a capable client, Moonlight can stream a full Windows desktop at up to 4K with HDR. Its PC client supports up to 120 FPS and can disable V-Sync for lower latency. Users can host their own gaming server using options such as port forwarding, IPv6, ZeroTier, Tailscale, and NordVPN Meshnet. Moonlight recommends Sunshine as a host; GeForce Experience is also listed as compatible, though NVIDIA is discontinuing its GameStream feature. Wolf can stream games and applications running in Docker containers. There is no pure web client because the protocol requires raw TCP and UDP sockets that browsers do not support. The project began as a 2013 hackathon project by Case Western Reserve University students.