Restreamer — Self-Hosted Live Video Streaming Server

Introduction

Restreamer is an open-source video streaming server built on FFmpeg that turns any camera feed, OBS stream, or media file into a live broadcast. It handles ingest via RTMP and SRT, transcodes on the fly, and publishes to multiple platforms simultaneously without recurring license costs.

What Restreamer Does

• Ingests live video from RTMP, SRT, RTSP, or local camera sources
• Restreams to YouTube Live, Twitch, Facebook Live, Vimeo, and custom RTMP endpoints
• Serves HLS streams directly for embedding in websites and custom players
• Provides a web-based dashboard for managing all streams and monitoring health
• Records live streams to disk with configurable retention and file rotation

Architecture Overview

Restreamer wraps FFmpeg behind a REST API and web UI. The core service manages FFmpeg processes for each configured stream, handling ingest, transcoding, and output routing. A built-in HLS server delivers streams to browsers. The web interface communicates with the backend via a documented REST API, making automation straightforward.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Deploy with Docker or Docker Compose using the official image
• Configure stream sources and output targets entirely through the web UI
• Set hardware acceleration (VAAPI, NVENC) for efficient transcoding on compatible GPUs
• Enable snapshot thumbnails and stream health checks for monitoring
• Back up configuration by mounting the /core/config volume

Key Features

• Multi-destination streaming: push a single input to multiple platforms at once
• Built-in HLS server for direct browser playback without third-party CDNs
• SRT protocol support for low-latency, high-quality ingest over unreliable networks
• Snapshot and thumbnail generation for stream previews
• Fully documented REST API for programmatic stream management

Comparison with Similar Tools

• Owncast — focuses on single-destination self-hosted streaming with chat; Restreamer excels at multi-platform restreaming
• OBS Studio — desktop app for composing streams; Restreamer is a headless server for relaying and distributing
• Nginx-RTMP — requires manual config; Restreamer provides a point-and-click web UI
• Ant Media Server — commercial with open-source community edition; Restreamer is fully free

FAQ

Q: Can I use Restreamer with OBS? A: Yes. Point OBS at the Restreamer RTMP or SRT endpoint and configure outputs in the web UI.

Q: Does it support GPU-accelerated transcoding? A: Yes. Enable VAAPI or NVENC in the Docker configuration for hardware-accelerated encoding.

Q: Can I embed the live stream on my website? A: Yes. Restreamer serves HLS streams with a built-in player widget and embeddable iframe code.

Q: What are the hardware requirements? A: A dual-core CPU handles a single 1080p stream. GPU acceleration is recommended for multiple simultaneous transcodes.

Sources

• https://github.com/datarhei/restreamer
• https://docs.datarhei.com/restreamer