Owncast is a free, self-hosted live streaming server, an open-source alternative to Twitch. See 2026 features, setup basics, and top alternatives.
Owncast gives individual creators and communities the ability to run their own live streaming service, rather than publishing exclusively through a centralized platform like Twitch. It handles video ingest, transcoding, delivery, and chat, so a single server is enough to run a fully functional streaming site.
The project was created by developer Gabe Kangas and grew out of a desire to give creators, especially musicians during the pandemic, more control and ownership over their live streams and audience relationships than mainstream platforms typically allow.
Broadcasters connect to their Owncast server using standard software such as OBS Studio, just as they would with any commercial streaming platform, and Owncast handles transcoding the stream into multiple qualities for viewers.
Alongside video, Owncast includes a built-in, customizable web chat with support for custom emotes and chatbots, an embeddable video player, and ActivityPub-based federation that lets a self-hosted stream be discovered and followed from Mastodon and other Fediverse services.
Owncast itself is completely free and open source under the MIT License, with no subscription fees, feature gating, or usage limits imposed by the software.
The only real cost to running Owncast is infrastructure: a server or cloud VPS with enough bandwidth and CPU to handle video transcoding and viewer traffic. The project itself is funded through donations, sponsorships from companies like Fastly and DigitalOcean, and merchandise sales rather than by charging users.
Owncast is used to run a self-hosted live video streaming and chat server, giving creators an independent alternative to platforms like Twitch or YouTube Live.
Yes, Owncast is completely free and open source under the MIT License; the only cost is the server or hosting infrastructure the user runs it on.
Owncast was created by developer Gabe Kangas, who remains its primary maintainer alongside community contributors.
Owncast accepts standard RTMP streams, so it works with common broadcasting software such as OBS Studio.
Yes, Owncast includes a built-in, customizable web chat with support for custom emotes and chatbot integrations.
Yes, Owncast supports ActivityPub federation, allowing streams and updates to be followed from Mastodon and other Fediverse platforms.
Alternatives include PeerTube for self-hosted video, as well as centralized commercial platforms like Twitch, YouTube Live, and Kick.
The project is funded through donations via Open Collective, sponsorships from companies like Fastly and DigitalOcean, and merchandise sales.