Moonlight Game Streaming vs Pulsar

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.

Pulsar combines remote desktop control and low-latency game streaming in one free, open-source app. It is aimed at gamers and IT or support teams connecting to servers, client machines, or personal computers. Remote desktop tools include ID and one-time-password access, unattended access, file transfer, clipboard sync, session chat, multi-monitor support, and remote restart. Connections try peer-to-peer first and automatically use a relay if needed. For games, Pulsar supports hardware H.265 or AV1 encoding at up to 120 fps, HDR, ultrawide displays, multichannel audio, adaptive bitrate, and Xbox and PlayStation controller mapping. It is available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android; the iOS App Store release is in development. The maker says no account is required and there are no ads or telemetry. Encryption keys are generated on user devices, and users can self-host a relay and device identity server with a Docker command. The plan is free, free forever.