MediaCMS — Self-Hosted Video and Media Platform

Introduction

MediaCMS is a self-hosted media platform built with Django and React that handles video, audio, image, and document hosting. It provides automatic video transcoding via FFmpeg, adaptive streaming with HLS, and a full user management system, making it suitable for organizations that need a private YouTube-like platform.

What MediaCMS Does

• Hosts and streams video content with adaptive bitrate playback via HLS
• Transcodes uploaded videos automatically into multiple resolutions using FFmpeg and Celery workers
• Manages user accounts with channels, playlists, and content permissions
• Supports document and image uploads alongside video content
• Provides an embeddable video player for use on external sites

Architecture Overview

MediaCMS uses Django as its web framework with a PostgreSQL database for metadata storage. Uploaded media is processed by Celery workers backed by Redis as the message broker. FFmpeg handles video transcoding into HLS segments stored on the filesystem or S3-compatible object storage. The frontend is built with React and communicates with the backend via a REST API.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Deploy with Docker Compose which bundles Django, PostgreSQL, Redis, and Celery workers
• Configure storage paths for media files or set S3-compatible object storage credentials
• Set the site name, logo, and branding through the Django admin panel
• Adjust transcoding profiles to control output resolutions and encoding presets
• Enable email settings for user registration and notification workflows

Key Features

• Automatic multi-resolution video transcoding with HLS adaptive streaming
• Full user system with channels, subscriptions, playlists, and content moderation
• REST API for programmatic media uploads and metadata management
• Responsive video player with speed controls, subtitles, and theater mode
• Support for private, unlisted, and public content visibility settings

Comparison with Similar Tools

• PeerTube — federated and decentralized; MediaCMS is a single-instance platform with simpler administration
• Jellyfin — focused on personal media libraries; MediaCMS is designed for multi-user content publishing
• Owncast — live streaming only; MediaCMS handles on-demand video hosting and transcoding
• YouTube — hosted and ad-supported; MediaCMS gives full data ownership with no third-party dependencies

FAQ

Q: What hardware is needed for video transcoding? A: A multi-core CPU is recommended for transcoding. MediaCMS supports hardware acceleration via VAAPI and NVENC for faster encoding.

Q: Can I restrict access to certain content? A: Yes. MediaCMS supports private and unlisted visibility settings, and you can require login for all content.

Q: Does it support live streaming? A: MediaCMS focuses on on-demand video hosting. For live streaming, consider pairing it with Owncast.

Q: How much storage do I need? A: Storage depends on video volume and transcoding profiles. Multi-resolution transcoding multiplies the original file size by 2-4x.

Sources

• https://github.com/mediacms-io/mediacms
• https://mediacms.io