MeTube vs SRS
| Tagline | Web GUI for yt-dlp — download videos from YouTube and hundreds of other sites | High-efficiency real-time video server supporting RTMP, WebRTC, HLS, and SRT |
| Category | Media Servers & Streaming | Media Servers & Streaming |
| Replaces | Netflix | Plex |
| GitHub stars | 14k | 29k |
| Language | Python | Docker |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Self-host difficulty | 2/5 Easy | 3/5 Moderate |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose | Docker Docker Compose Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | today | 20 days ago |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
MeTube
- Downloads files locally; does not stream or manage a media library.
- No scheduling or automatic monitoring of channels/playlists for new content.
- No user authentication by default; must be secured behind a reverse proxy.
- Subject to yt-dlp breakage whenever platforms change their APIs.
SRS
- No built-in media library or VOD management; primarily focused on live ingest and relay.
- English documentation is limited compared to the Chinese-language docs.
- Lacks a polished end-user playback UI; requires pairing with a separate frontend.
- No DRM or subscription/paywall features for commercial content delivery.
Bottom line
Choose MeTube if you want the lower-effort setup; choose SRS for the larger community and ecosystem. MeTube has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.
MeTube
Web GUI for yt-dlp — download videos from YouTube and hundreds of other sites