{"slug": "moonlight", "name": "Moonlight", "category": "media", "category_name": "Media and creative", "description": "Open-source game streaming client for playing PC games remotely from Sunshine or GameStream hosts.", "recommenders": 10, "commenters": 20, "warners": 0, "score": 11.911, "rising": -3.27, "first": "2025-11-19", "latest": "2026-10-13", "why": "Loved as a client for streaming PC games from a desktop to TVs, phones, handhelds and laptops, with many reporting little or no noticeable lag, even at 4K.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 10, "neutral": 10, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 3, 5, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": ["Many client devices", "Low latency"], "caveat": "Needs wired host", "short_quote": "you can get better/more customizable results with Sunshine/Moonlight", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": "github.com/ivanjermakov/moonlight", "official_url": "https://moonlight-stream.org", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["Moonlight", "moonlight"], "verdict": [{"text": "Loved as a client for streaming PC games from a desktop to TVs, phones, handhelds and laptops,", "cites": [{"id": 783610561, "item_id": 48975660, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48975660", "by": "t-3", "date": "2026-07-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Sunshine/Moonlight between my desktop and PS Vita.", "excerpt": "I use Sunshine/Moonlight between my desktop and PS Vita. The key is that your host at least needs to be wired and ideally with low latency to your wireless router, which is hopefully modern and appropriately placed and configured for optimal transmission with the least interference - even in ideal environments wireless connections have much higher error rates (packets needing retransmission), so you only want to use ", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming to handheld", "switched_from": "", "story": "Moonshine: Lets you stream games from your PC to any device running Moonlight"}, {"id": 783596803, "item_id": 48974800, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48974800", "by": "BatteryMountain", "date": "2026-07-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Then I stream with sunshine/moonlight to my phone.", "excerpt": "True, I've played many indies the last 5 years, they can be amazing indeed and feels like actual games, not chores! I've abandoned games that are too complex too (stellaris and friends). Basically only play games that can help me decompress my mind within a two hour space before bed. For what its worth, I use a proxmox server with pcie passthrough to a fedora instance with steam on it. Then I stream with sunshine/moo", "context": "", "use_case": "streaming games to phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "LG monitors silently install software through Windows Update without consent"}, {"id": 783593696, "item_id": 48974606, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48974606", "by": "aliasxneo", "date": "2026-07-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Over Wifi 7 I get basically no discernable lag, which was crazy to me the first time I tried it.", "excerpt": "I use moonlight/apollo. 1. Connect my Dualsense controller to my macbook 2. Open moonlight on my macbook 3. Connect to my gaming desktop in full screen mode 3. Launch my AAA game on Steam 4. Profit Over Wifi 7 I get basically no discernable lag, which was crazy to me the first time I tried it. I also have a Minisforum attached to my large screen TV and the process is identical except I push a different combo on the D", "context": "", "use_case": "streaming PC games to devices", "switched_from": "", "story": "Moonshine: Lets you stream games from your PC to any device running Moonlight"}, {"id": 776658753, "item_id": 48541172, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48541172", "by": "iwhalen", "date": "2026-06-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Then I use Sunshine[1] on my desktop to stream to Moonlight on the Shield.", "excerpt": "If you already have a gaming desktop, I can recommend Shield for both. Streaming services work out of the box of course. Then I use Sunshine[1] on my desktop to stream to Moonlight on the Shield. Both have wired ethernet connections. Latency is not noticeable in most cases. [1]: https://app.lizardbyte.dev/Sunshine/", "context": "has a gaming desktop", "use_case": "game streaming client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fox to Buy Roku Streaming Service in $22B Deal"}, {"id": 798578432, "item_id": 49911152, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49911152", "by": "sleepybrett", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use my appletv with moonlight to stream off my pc", "excerpt": "It's got an A15 in it currently, so 5 years old, but it still runs pretty great a lot of games that you would play are made for ipad and developers tend to assume a lag of at least three years on processors for that market (no one is buying a new ipad every year). I use my appletv with moonlight to stream off my pc and use an 8bitdo controller with it and my switch2 (8bit-do ultimate 2 wireless).", "context": "", "use_case": "streaming PC games to Apple TV", "switched_from": "", "story": "PS5 Relapse Exploit"}]}, {"text": " with many reporting little or no noticeable lag, even at 4K.", "cites": [{"id": 783593696, "item_id": 48974606, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48974606", "by": "aliasxneo", "date": "2026-07-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Over Wifi 7 I get basically no discernable lag, which was crazy to me the first time I tried it.", "excerpt": "I use moonlight/apollo. 1. Connect my Dualsense controller to my macbook 2. Open moonlight on my macbook 3. Connect to my gaming desktop in full screen mode 3. Launch my AAA game on Steam 4. Profit Over Wifi 7 I get basically no discernable lag, which was crazy to me the first time I tried it. I also have a Minisforum attached to my large screen TV and the process is identical except I push a different combo on the D", "context": "", "use_case": "streaming PC games to devices", "switched_from": "", "story": "Moonshine: Lets you stream games from your PC to any device running Moonlight"}, {"id": 779071969, "item_id": 48691998, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48691998", "by": "mrandish", "date": "2026-06-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "streaming dongle running the Moonlight client", "excerpt": "I use Sunshine streaming from my home office gaming PC (4070Ti Super) via 1Gbps Ethernet to a \"Google Chromecast with Google TV\" streaming dongle running the Moonlight client in our dedicated home theater room. The streaming dongle is powered via a USB-C hub that has an Ethernet port and the HDMI output is plugged into a Denon AVR as an input source. The AVR outputs to a ceiling mounted laser projector with 150\" scre", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming client", "switched_from": "", "story": "My Steam Machine Is a 50ft HDMI Cable"}, {"id": 749555520, "item_id": 46847220, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46847220", "by": "bergheim", "date": "2026-02-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Use it for streaming (smarttube, some apps) and moonlight/sunshine. It does 4k with a ps5 controller so well.", "excerpt": "I'm not even sure which one I have, it's old but it's great. Use it for streaming (smarttube, some apps) and moonlight/sunshine. It does 4k with a ps5 controller so well. Love it. I think it was like a 100 bucks 8 years ago? I use my desktop 5090 and basically stopped using ps5 for couch gaming because it looks so much better. Great value! Also, not that this is better probably (it is Google and Nvidia after all), bu", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming to TV", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nvidia's 10-year effort to make the Shield TV the most updated Android device"}, {"id": 778957648, "item_id": 48684853, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48684853", "by": "dmpanch", "date": "2026-06-26", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use similar setup (CachyOS, Apple TV, Moonlight/Sunshine)", "excerpt": "I use similar setup (CachyOS, Apple TV, Moonlight/Sunshine), but I play on a projector instead of a TV, which results in slightly higher latency. With that in mind, I connect gamepad via Bluetooth to my PC rather than to the Apple TV to minimize input latency; all single-player games are fully playable without any noticeable lag.", "context": "plays on a projector", "use_case": "game streaming to projector", "switched_from": "", "story": "My Steam Machine Is a 50ft HDMI Cable"}]}, {"text": " The most common caveat is that it works best with a wired host connection,", "cites": [{"id": 783610561, "item_id": 48975660, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48975660", "by": "t-3", "date": "2026-07-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Sunshine/Moonlight between my desktop and PS Vita.", "excerpt": "I use Sunshine/Moonlight between my desktop and PS Vita. The key is that your host at least needs to be wired and ideally with low latency to your wireless router, which is hopefully modern and appropriately placed and configured for optimal transmission with the least interference - even in ideal environments wireless connections have much higher error rates (packets needing retransmission), so you only want to use ", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming to handheld", "switched_from": "", "story": "Moonshine: Lets you stream games from your PC to any device running Moonlight"}, {"id": 779071969, "item_id": 48691998, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48691998", "by": "mrandish", "date": "2026-06-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "streaming dongle running the Moonlight client", "excerpt": "I use Sunshine streaming from my home office gaming PC (4070Ti Super) via 1Gbps Ethernet to a \"Google Chromecast with Google TV\" streaming dongle running the Moonlight client in our dedicated home theater room. The streaming dongle is powered via a USB-C hub that has an Ethernet port and the HDMI output is plugged into a Denon AVR as an input source. The AVR outputs to a ceiling mounted laser projector with 150\" scre", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming client", "switched_from": "", "story": "My Steam Machine Is a 50ft HDMI Cable"}, {"id": 776658753, "item_id": 48541172, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48541172", "by": "iwhalen", "date": "2026-06-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Then I use Sunshine[1] on my desktop to stream to Moonlight on the Shield.", "excerpt": "If you already have a gaming desktop, I can recommend Shield for both. Streaming services work out of the box of course. Then I use Sunshine[1] on my desktop to stream to Moonlight on the Shield. Both have wired ethernet connections. Latency is not noticeable in most cases. [1]: https://app.lizardbyte.dev/Sunshine/", "context": "has a gaming desktop", "use_case": "game streaming client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fox to Buy Roku Streaming Service in $22B Deal"}]}, {"text": " and setup, Wayland hosts and remote access can take extra effort.", "cites": [{"id": 747249889, "item_id": 46703118, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46703118", "by": "Elaine-01", "date": "2026-01-21", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Setting up Moonlight Sunshine in the early days was such a headache.", "excerpt": "im a remote worker. Your project is cool! Setting up Moonlight Sunshine in the early days was such a headache. I've decided to give it a try. btw, does StarDesk support connecting a digital tablet with pressure sensitivity?", "context": "remote worker", "use_case": "remote desktop streaming", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: I made StarDesk, P2P low latency remote desktop built for game and work"}, {"id": 782564690, "item_id": 48910293, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48910293", "by": "marinhero", "date": "2026-07-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Sunshine/Moonlight work but the input lag is noticeable and there are artifacts in the game", "excerpt": "I moved to OpenSuse and have the same experience/opinion. The only caveat I had in Wayland is Game Streaming. Sunshine/Moonlight work but the input lag is noticeable and there are artifacts in the game. I go back and forth between X11 and Wayland just because X11 better for game streaming but in time I'm sure I'll go full-time into Wayland.", "context": "Linux gamer", "use_case": "game streaming", "switched_from": "", "story": "Measuring Input Latency on Linux: X11 vs. Wayland, VRR, and DXVK"}, {"id": 790827089, "item_id": 49426693, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49426693", "by": "stavros", "date": "2026-08-24", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I really wish Moonlight would use Iroh.", "excerpt": "I really wish Moonlight would use Iroh. I use Tailscale to make it work, but it would be so much easier to just pair a machine and have it always work.", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming", "switched_from": "", "story": "IPFS Maintainers Winding Down"}, {"id": 760549121, "item_id": 47534320, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47534320", "by": "dvratil", "date": "2026-03-26", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Just yesterday I used Jellyfin2Samsung to install Moonlight on my TV.", "excerpt": "Just yesterday I used Jellyfin2Samsung to install Moonlight on my TV. After the installation, the app shown a popup to donate to the author (\"buy me a beer\"). And I figured why not? The software turned a tedious process into a one-click solution, letting me do what I wanted to do (stream games to my TV) rather than spending an evening messing with Tizen Studio. Absolutely worth a few dollars. KDE's Plasma will popup ", "context": "", "use_case": "streaming games to TV", "switched_from": "", "story": "LibreOffice and the Art of Overreacting"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Many client devices", "summary": "Runs on a wide range of clients, including the PS Vita, phones, Android TV boxes, the Shield, Apple TV and Samsung TVs.", "quotes": [{"id": 783610561, "item_id": 48975660, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48975660", "by": "t-3", "date": "2026-07-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Sunshine/Moonlight between my desktop and PS Vita.", "excerpt": "I use Sunshine/Moonlight between my desktop and PS Vita. The key is that your host at least needs to be wired and ideally with low latency to your wireless router, which is hopefully modern and appropriately placed and configured for optimal transmission with the least interference - even in ideal environments wireless connections have much higher error rates (packets needing retransmission), so you only want to use ", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming to handheld", "switched_from": "", "story": "Moonshine: Lets you stream games from your PC to any device running Moonlight"}, {"id": 776658753, "item_id": 48541172, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48541172", "by": "iwhalen", "date": "2026-06-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Then I use Sunshine[1] on my desktop to stream to Moonlight on the Shield.", "excerpt": "If you already have a gaming desktop, I can recommend Shield for both. Streaming services work out of the box of course. Then I use Sunshine[1] on my desktop to stream to Moonlight on the Shield. Both have wired ethernet connections. Latency is not noticeable in most cases. [1]: https://app.lizardbyte.dev/Sunshine/", "context": "has a gaming desktop", "use_case": "game streaming client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fox to Buy Roku Streaming Service in $22B Deal"}, {"id": 798578432, "item_id": 49911152, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49911152", "by": "sleepybrett", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use my appletv with moonlight to stream off my pc", "excerpt": "It's got an A15 in it currently, so 5 years old, but it still runs pretty great a lot of games that you would play are made for ipad and developers tend to assume a lag of at least three years on processors for that market (no one is buying a new ipad every year). I use my appletv with moonlight to stream off my pc and use an 8bitdo controller with it and my switch2 (8bit-do ultimate 2 wireless).", "context": "", "use_case": "streaming PC games to Apple TV", "switched_from": "", "story": "PS5 Relapse Exploit"}]}, {"label": "Low latency", "summary": "Users report little or no noticeable lag, especially on wired or Wi-Fi 7 networks.", "quotes": [{"id": 783593696, "item_id": 48974606, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48974606", "by": "aliasxneo", "date": "2026-07-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Over Wifi 7 I get basically no discernable lag, which was crazy to me the first time I tried it.", "excerpt": "I use moonlight/apollo. 1. Connect my Dualsense controller to my macbook 2. Open moonlight on my macbook 3. Connect to my gaming desktop in full screen mode 3. Launch my AAA game on Steam 4. Profit Over Wifi 7 I get basically no discernable lag, which was crazy to me the first time I tried it. I also have a Minisforum attached to my large screen TV and the process is identical except I push a different combo on the D", "context": "", "use_case": "streaming PC games to devices", "switched_from": "", "story": "Moonshine: Lets you stream games from your PC to any device running Moonlight"}, {"id": 779071969, "item_id": 48691998, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48691998", "by": "mrandish", "date": "2026-06-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "streaming dongle running the Moonlight client", "excerpt": "I use Sunshine streaming from my home office gaming PC (4070Ti Super) via 1Gbps Ethernet to a \"Google Chromecast with Google TV\" streaming dongle running the Moonlight client in our dedicated home theater room. The streaming dongle is powered via a USB-C hub that has an Ethernet port and the HDMI output is plugged into a Denon AVR as an input source. The AVR outputs to a ceiling mounted laser projector with 150\" scre", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming client", "switched_from": "", "story": "My Steam Machine Is a 50ft HDMI Cable"}, {"id": 778957648, "item_id": 48684853, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48684853", "by": "dmpanch", "date": "2026-06-26", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use similar setup (CachyOS, Apple TV, Moonlight/Sunshine)", "excerpt": "I use similar setup (CachyOS, Apple TV, Moonlight/Sunshine), but I play on a projector instead of a TV, which results in slightly higher latency. With that in mind, I connect gamepad via Bluetooth to my PC rather than to the Apple TV to minimize input latency; all single-player games are fully playable without any noticeable lag.", "context": "plays on a projector", "use_case": "game streaming to projector", "switched_from": "", "story": "My Steam Machine Is a 50ft HDMI Cable"}]}, {"label": "High quality", "summary": "Streams up to 4K HDR at 60 fps, with smooth playback even on old hardware.", "quotes": [{"id": 779071969, "item_id": 48691998, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48691998", "by": "mrandish", "date": "2026-06-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "streaming dongle running the Moonlight client", "excerpt": "I use Sunshine streaming from my home office gaming PC (4070Ti Super) via 1Gbps Ethernet to a \"Google Chromecast with Google TV\" streaming dongle running the Moonlight client in our dedicated home theater room. The streaming dongle is powered via a USB-C hub that has an Ethernet port and the HDMI output is plugged into a Denon AVR as an input source. The AVR outputs to a ceiling mounted laser projector with 150\" scre", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming client", "switched_from": "", "story": "My Steam Machine Is a 50ft HDMI Cable"}, {"id": 749555520, "item_id": 46847220, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46847220", "by": "bergheim", "date": "2026-02-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Use it for streaming (smarttube, some apps) and moonlight/sunshine. It does 4k with a ps5 controller so well.", "excerpt": "I'm not even sure which one I have, it's old but it's great. Use it for streaming (smarttube, some apps) and moonlight/sunshine. It does 4k with a ps5 controller so well. Love it. I think it was like a 100 bucks 8 years ago? I use my desktop 5090 and basically stopped using ps5 for couch gaming because it looks so much better. Great value! Also, not that this is better probably (it is Google and Nvidia after all), bu", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming to TV", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nvidia's 10-year effort to make the Shield TV the most updated Android device"}, {"id": 783592641, "item_id": 48974540, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48974540", "by": "BLKNSLVR", "date": "2026-07-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Sunshine/Moonlight was already cake with a fair layer of icing.", "excerpt": "The Sunshine/Moonlight combo allowed me to stream emulated, upscaled SSX Tricky (PS2 game) from my desktop to an (at least 7 year-old) Android streaming box as smooth as silk. The only downside was that the game had to be running, visibly, on the screen of the desktop machine, meaning the desktop is unusable for anything else - ie. if someone else wanted to play the game while I was working on the desktop. This appea", "context": "", "use_case": "streaming emulated games to Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Moonshine: Lets you stream games from your PC to any device running Moonlight"}]}, {"label": "Controller support", "summary": "Works well with gamepads such as DualSense and 8BitDo controllers.", "quotes": [{"id": 749555520, "item_id": 46847220, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46847220", "by": "bergheim", "date": "2026-02-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Use it for streaming (smarttube, some apps) and moonlight/sunshine. It does 4k with a ps5 controller so well.", "excerpt": "I'm not even sure which one I have, it's old but it's great. Use it for streaming (smarttube, some apps) and moonlight/sunshine. It does 4k with a ps5 controller so well. Love it. I think it was like a 100 bucks 8 years ago? I use my desktop 5090 and basically stopped using ps5 for couch gaming because it looks so much better. Great value! Also, not that this is better probably (it is Google and Nvidia after all), bu", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming to TV", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nvidia's 10-year effort to make the Shield TV the most updated Android device"}, {"id": 783593696, "item_id": 48974606, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48974606", "by": "aliasxneo", "date": "2026-07-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Over Wifi 7 I get basically no discernable lag, which was crazy to me the first time I tried it.", "excerpt": "I use moonlight/apollo. 1. Connect my Dualsense controller to my macbook 2. Open moonlight on my macbook 3. Connect to my gaming desktop in full screen mode 3. Launch my AAA game on Steam 4. Profit Over Wifi 7 I get basically no discernable lag, which was crazy to me the first time I tried it. I also have a Minisforum attached to my large screen TV and the process is identical except I push a different combo on the D", "context": "", "use_case": "streaming PC games to devices", "switched_from": "", "story": "Moonshine: Lets you stream games from your PC to any device running Moonlight"}, {"id": 798578432, "item_id": 49911152, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49911152", "by": "sleepybrett", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use my appletv with moonlight to stream off my pc", "excerpt": "It's got an A15 in it currently, so 5 years old, but it still runs pretty great a lot of games that you would play are made for ipad and developers tend to assume a lag of at least three years on processors for that market (no one is buying a new ipad every year). I use my appletv with moonlight to stream off my pc and use an 8bitdo controller with it and my switch2 (8bit-do ultimate 2 wireless).", "context": "", "use_case": "streaming PC games to Apple TV", "switched_from": "", "story": "PS5 Relapse Exploit"}]}, {"label": "Customizable", "summary": "Gives more customizable results than Steam Remote Play and is not tied to Steam.", "quotes": [{"id": 783586786, "item_id": 48974174, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48974174", "by": "Grombobulous", "date": "2026-07-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "you can get better/more customizable results with Sunshine/Moonlight", "excerpt": "I hope you do try again! It's actually become an incredibly wonderful experience ever since the \"turn on the Nvidia (proprietary!) feature\" days. Nvidia's implementation as far as the software experience was convenient but also bad in a lot of ways compared to what we have today. Perhaps the first thing I would recommend is Steam's built-in Remote Play feature along with their apps. This is the most dummy-proof metho", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming", "switched_from": "", "story": "Moonshine: Lets you stream games from your PC to any device running Moonlight"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Needs wired host", "summary": "The host should use wired Ethernet for good results; Wi-Fi is best kept to the client side.", "quotes": [{"id": 783610561, "item_id": 48975660, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48975660", "by": "t-3", "date": "2026-07-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Sunshine/Moonlight between my desktop and PS Vita.", "excerpt": "I use Sunshine/Moonlight between my desktop and PS Vita. The key is that your host at least needs to be wired and ideally with low latency to your wireless router, which is hopefully modern and appropriately placed and configured for optimal transmission with the least interference - even in ideal environments wireless connections have much higher error rates (packets needing retransmission), so you only want to use ", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming to handheld", "switched_from": "", "story": "Moonshine: Lets you stream games from your PC to any device running Moonlight"}, {"id": 779071969, "item_id": 48691998, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48691998", "by": "mrandish", "date": "2026-06-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "streaming dongle running the Moonlight client", "excerpt": "I use Sunshine streaming from my home office gaming PC (4070Ti Super) via 1Gbps Ethernet to a \"Google Chromecast with Google TV\" streaming dongle running the Moonlight client in our dedicated home theater room. The streaming dongle is powered via a USB-C hub that has an Ethernet port and the HDMI output is plugged into a Denon AVR as an input source. The AVR outputs to a ceiling mounted laser projector with 150\" scre", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming client", "switched_from": "", "story": "My Steam Machine Is a 50ft HDMI Cable"}, {"id": 776658753, "item_id": 48541172, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48541172", "by": "iwhalen", "date": "2026-06-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Then I use Sunshine[1] on my desktop to stream to Moonlight on the Shield.", "excerpt": "If you already have a gaming desktop, I can recommend Shield for both. Streaming services work out of the box of course. Then I use Sunshine[1] on my desktop to stream to Moonlight on the Shield. Both have wired ethernet connections. Latency is not noticeable in most cases. [1]: https://app.lizardbyte.dev/Sunshine/", "context": "has a gaming desktop", "use_case": "game streaming client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fox to Buy Roku Streaming Service in $22B Deal"}]}, {"label": "Wayland issues", "summary": "One Linux user saw noticeable input lag and artifacts when streaming from Wayland compared with X11.", "quotes": [{"id": 782564690, "item_id": 48910293, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48910293", "by": "marinhero", "date": "2026-07-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Sunshine/Moonlight work but the input lag is noticeable and there are artifacts in the game", "excerpt": "I moved to OpenSuse and have the same experience/opinion. The only caveat I had in Wayland is Game Streaming. Sunshine/Moonlight work but the input lag is noticeable and there are artifacts in the game. I go back and forth between X11 and Wayland just because X11 better for game streaming but in time I'm sure I'll go full-time into Wayland.", "context": "Linux gamer", "use_case": "game streaming", "switched_from": "", "story": "Measuring Input Latency on Linux: X11 vs. Wayland, VRR, and DXVK"}]}, {"label": "Setup effort", "summary": "Setup used to be a headache, and installing it on Samsung TVs can be tedious without a helper tool.", "quotes": [{"id": 747249889, "item_id": 46703118, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46703118", "by": "Elaine-01", "date": "2026-01-21", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Setting up Moonlight Sunshine in the early days was such a headache.", "excerpt": "im a remote worker. Your project is cool! Setting up Moonlight Sunshine in the early days was such a headache. I've decided to give it a try. btw, does StarDesk support connecting a digital tablet with pressure sensitivity?", "context": "remote worker", "use_case": "remote desktop streaming", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: I made StarDesk, P2P low latency remote desktop built for game and work"}, {"id": 760549121, "item_id": 47534320, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47534320", "by": "dvratil", "date": "2026-03-26", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Just yesterday I used Jellyfin2Samsung to install Moonlight on my TV.", "excerpt": "Just yesterday I used Jellyfin2Samsung to install Moonlight on my TV. After the installation, the app shown a popup to donate to the author (\"buy me a beer\"). And I figured why not? The software turned a tedious process into a one-click solution, letting me do what I wanted to do (stream games to my TV) rather than spending an evening messing with Tizen Studio. Absolutely worth a few dollars. KDE's Plasma will popup ", "context": "", "use_case": "streaming games to TV", "switched_from": "", "story": "LibreOffice and the Art of Overreacting"}]}, {"label": "Remote access", "summary": "Streaming outside the home needs something like Tailscale rather than simple pairing.", "quotes": [{"id": 790827089, "item_id": 49426693, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49426693", "by": "stavros", "date": "2026-08-24", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I really wish Moonlight would use Iroh.", "excerpt": "I really wish Moonlight would use Iroh. I use Tailscale to make it work, but it would be so much easier to just pair a machine and have it always work.", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming", "switched_from": "", "story": "IPFS Maintainers Winding Down"}]}, {"label": "Host screen occupied", "summary": "With Sunshine, the game runs visibly on the host desktop, so the host can't be used for anything else.", "quotes": [{"id": 783592641, "item_id": 48974540, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48974540", "by": "BLKNSLVR", "date": "2026-07-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Sunshine/Moonlight was already cake with a fair layer of icing.", "excerpt": "The Sunshine/Moonlight combo allowed me to stream emulated, upscaled SSX Tricky (PS2 game) from my desktop to an (at least 7 year-old) Android streaming box as smooth as silk. The only downside was that the game had to be running, visibly, on the screen of the desktop machine, meaning the desktop is unusable for anything else - ie. if someone else wanted to play the game while I was working on the desktop. This appea", "context": "", "use_case": "streaming emulated games to Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Moonshine: Lets you stream games from your PC to any device running Moonlight"}]}, {"label": "Limited peripherals", "summary": "Mouse use on Apple TV is awkward, and the Xbox wireless adapter needed a custom fork.", "quotes": [{"id": 779070560, "item_id": 48691910, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48691910", "by": "armsaw", "date": "2026-06-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it works in the Moonlight client well enough to click through prompts etc.", "excerpt": "I haven't had luck with mouse, but you can actually connect a bluetooth keyboard to the Apple TV. I use a little handheld unit from Rii and it works great. For mouse, if you have an iOS device you can use the \"Remote\" widget on your phone as a mouse, and it works in the Moonlight client well enough to click through prompts etc.", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming client", "switched_from": "", "story": "My Steam Machine Is a 50ft HDMI Cable"}, {"id": 789522801, "item_id": 49345175, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49345175", "by": "nullify88", "date": "2026-08-18", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use moonlight on my Android TV to stream video games from my computer", "excerpt": "On a similar experience, I use moonlight on my Android TV to stream video games from my computer in another room. I use my own fork from an unmerged PR which enables me to use an Xbox One Wireless adapter so I can play with my pad wirelessly. These pads have a 3.5mm jack on them which on Windows and Linux enables me to route audio from the game to headphones connected to the pad. Moonlight and the xow driver it bundl", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming", "switched_from": "", "story": "Claude writing a macOS driver for my obscure HP printer built only for Windows"}]}], "who": [{"by": "marinhero", "context": "Linux gamer", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48910293", "date": "2026-07-14"}, {"by": "dmpanch", "context": "plays on a projector", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48684853", "date": "2026-06-26"}, {"by": "iwhalen", "context": "has a gaming desktop", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48541172", "date": "2026-06-15"}, {"by": "Elaine-01", "context": "remote worker", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46703118", "date": "2026-01-21"}], "tags": ["for couch gaming", "pairs with Sunshine", "for Apple TV", "for Android TV", "for Linux hosts"], "use_cases": ["game streaming", "game streaming client", "streaming pc games to apple tv", "game streaming to handheld", "streaming games to phone", "streaming pc games to devices"], "compared": [{"slug": "sunshine", "name": "Sunshine", "co": 11, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "windows", "name": "Windows", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "tailscale", "name": "Tailscale", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "apollo", "name": "Apollo", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [{"id": 776666912, "item_id": 48541682, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48541682", "by": "ivanjermakov", "date": "2026-06-15", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Me too, but in TS/WebGPU", "excerpt": "Me too, but in TS/WebGPU: https://github.com/ivanjermakov/moonlight Very fun! Packing data for GPU-side BVH was quite tricky.", "context": "", "use_case": "ray tracer", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: I wrote a C++ ray tracer from scratch without AI"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48972970", "title": "Moonshine: Lets you stream games from your PC to any device running Moonlight", "mentions": 4}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48648550", "title": "My Steam Machine Is a 50ft HDMI Cable", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50071310", "title": "New Apple TV 4K", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50051530", "title": "Will Linux phones become a viable alternative to the Android/iOS duopoly?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49895304", "title": "PS5 Relapse Exploit", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49700661", "title": "Steam Frame starts at $1059", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-03": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 1}, "2026-07": {"neutral": 1, "recommend": 5}, "2026-08": {"neutral": 2}, "2026-09": {"neutral": 2}, "2026-10": {"neutral": 2}}, "quotes": [{"id": 801275889, "item_id": 50079743, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50079743", "by": "mikefrancesa", "date": "2026-10-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "They just updated the moonlight client which I\u2019m sure you\u2019re on should be more reliable", "excerpt": "They just updated the moonlight client which I\u2019m sure you\u2019re on should be more reliable and I highly recommend https://github.com/Nonary/Vibepollo fork of Apollo", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming client", "switched_from": "", "story": "New Apple TV 4K"}, {"id": 800835841, "item_id": 50052240, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50052240", "by": "hamsterbase", "date": "2026-10-12", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "the streaming software I often use", "excerpt": "There are already 100 million HarmonyOS devices in China, so you could say it's now a three-way rivalry. The apps I use every day basically all have native HarmonyOS versions, including even foreign apps like Tesla and Sam's Club. I've actually been using HarmonyOS for half a year now, and it feels pretty good \u2014 the notifications and system smoothness are on par with iOS. The reason I don't use an iPhone is that I ne", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming", "switched_from": "", "story": "Will Linux phones become a viable alternative to the Android/iOS duopoly?"}, {"id": 798578432, "item_id": 49911152, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49911152", "by": "sleepybrett", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use my appletv with moonlight to stream off my pc", "excerpt": "It's got an A15 in it currently, so 5 years old, but it still runs pretty great a lot of games that you would play are made for ipad and developers tend to assume a lag of at least three years on processors for that market (no one is buying a new ipad every year). I use my appletv with moonlight to stream off my pc and use an 8bitdo controller with it and my switch2 (8bit-do ultimate 2 wireless).", "context": "", "use_case": "streaming PC games to Apple TV", "switched_from": "", "story": "PS5 Relapse Exploit"}, {"id": 795341648, "item_id": 49708853, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49708853", "by": "krzyk", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "my headless linux gaming rig that I use for Game on Whales/Moonlight playing on my 3060ti card", "excerpt": "I was wondering, what could I play with it. But besides Half-Life Alyx (never played any of HF games), No Man's Sky and Elite: Dangerous, I couldn't find anything bigger (well, there is also SUPERHOT: VR). I wonder why there are not that many 3D shooters, or 3D RPGs that use VR. The idea sounds great. Never used any of VR headsets and I was wondering if I should try out Steam Frame and if I don't like it I assume I c", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming", "switched_from": "", "story": "Steam Frame starts at $1059"}, {"id": 790827089, "item_id": 49426693, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49426693", "by": "stavros", "date": "2026-08-24", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I really wish Moonlight would use Iroh.", "excerpt": "I really wish Moonlight would use Iroh. I use Tailscale to make it work, but it would be so much easier to just pair a machine and have it always work.", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming", "switched_from": "", "story": "IPFS Maintainers Winding Down"}, {"id": 789522801, "item_id": 49345175, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49345175", "by": "nullify88", "date": "2026-08-18", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use moonlight on my Android TV to stream video games from my computer", "excerpt": "On a similar experience, I use moonlight on my Android TV to stream video games from my computer in another room. I use my own fork from an unmerged PR which enables me to use an Xbox One Wireless adapter so I can play with my pad wirelessly. These pads have a 3.5mm jack on them which on Windows and Linux enables me to route audio from the game to headphones connected to the pad. Moonlight and the xow driver it bundl", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming", "switched_from": "", "story": "Claude writing a macOS driver for my obscure HP printer built only for Windows"}, {"id": 783610561, "item_id": 48975660, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48975660", "by": "t-3", "date": "2026-07-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Sunshine/Moonlight between my desktop and PS Vita.", "excerpt": "I use Sunshine/Moonlight between my desktop and PS Vita. The key is that your host at least needs to be wired and ideally with low latency to your wireless router, which is hopefully modern and appropriately placed and configured for optimal transmission with the least interference - even in ideal environments wireless connections have much higher error rates (packets needing retransmission), so you only want to use ", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming to handheld", "switched_from": "", "story": "Moonshine: Lets you stream games from your PC to any device running Moonlight"}, {"id": 783596803, "item_id": 48974800, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48974800", "by": "BatteryMountain", "date": "2026-07-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Then I stream with sunshine/moonlight to my phone.", "excerpt": "True, I've played many indies the last 5 years, they can be amazing indeed and feels like actual games, not chores! I've abandoned games that are too complex too (stellaris and friends). Basically only play games that can help me decompress my mind within a two hour space before bed. For what its worth, I use a proxmox server with pcie passthrough to a fedora instance with steam on it. Then I stream with sunshine/moo", "context": "", "use_case": "streaming games to phone", "switched_from": "", "story": "LG monitors silently install software through Windows Update without consent"}, {"id": 783593696, "item_id": 48974606, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48974606", "by": "aliasxneo", "date": "2026-07-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Over Wifi 7 I get basically no discernable lag, which was crazy to me the first time I tried it.", "excerpt": "I use moonlight/apollo. 1. Connect my Dualsense controller to my macbook 2. Open moonlight on my macbook 3. Connect to my gaming desktop in full screen mode 3. Launch my AAA game on Steam 4. Profit Over Wifi 7 I get basically no discernable lag, which was crazy to me the first time I tried it. I also have a Minisforum attached to my large screen TV and the process is identical except I push a different combo on the D", "context": "", "use_case": "streaming PC games to devices", "switched_from": "", "story": "Moonshine: Lets you stream games from your PC to any device running Moonlight"}, {"id": 783592641, "item_id": 48974540, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48974540", "by": "BLKNSLVR", "date": "2026-07-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Sunshine/Moonlight was already cake with a fair layer of icing.", "excerpt": "The Sunshine/Moonlight combo allowed me to stream emulated, upscaled SSX Tricky (PS2 game) from my desktop to an (at least 7 year-old) Android streaming box as smooth as silk. The only downside was that the game had to be running, visibly, on the screen of the desktop machine, meaning the desktop is unusable for anything else - ie. if someone else wanted to play the game while I was working on the desktop. This appea", "context": "", "use_case": "streaming emulated games to Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Moonshine: Lets you stream games from your PC to any device running Moonlight"}, {"id": 783586786, "item_id": 48974174, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48974174", "by": "Grombobulous", "date": "2026-07-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "you can get better/more customizable results with Sunshine/Moonlight", "excerpt": "I hope you do try again! It's actually become an incredibly wonderful experience ever since the \"turn on the Nvidia (proprietary!) feature\" days. Nvidia's implementation as far as the software experience was convenient but also bad in a lot of ways compared to what we have today. Perhaps the first thing I would recommend is Steam's built-in Remote Play feature along with their apps. This is the most dummy-proof metho", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming", "switched_from": "", "story": "Moonshine: Lets you stream games from your PC to any device running Moonlight"}, {"id": 782564690, "item_id": 48910293, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48910293", "by": "marinhero", "date": "2026-07-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Sunshine/Moonlight work but the input lag is noticeable and there are artifacts in the game", "excerpt": "I moved to OpenSuse and have the same experience/opinion. The only caveat I had in Wayland is Game Streaming. Sunshine/Moonlight work but the input lag is noticeable and there are artifacts in the game. I go back and forth between X11 and Wayland just because X11 better for game streaming but in time I'm sure I'll go full-time into Wayland.", "context": "Linux gamer", "use_case": "game streaming", "switched_from": "", "story": "Measuring Input Latency on Linux: X11 vs. Wayland, VRR, and DXVK"}, {"id": 779071969, "item_id": 48691998, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48691998", "by": "mrandish", "date": "2026-06-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "streaming dongle running the Moonlight client", "excerpt": "I use Sunshine streaming from my home office gaming PC (4070Ti Super) via 1Gbps Ethernet to a \"Google Chromecast with Google TV\" streaming dongle running the Moonlight client in our dedicated home theater room. The streaming dongle is powered via a USB-C hub that has an Ethernet port and the HDMI output is plugged into a Denon AVR as an input source. The AVR outputs to a ceiling mounted laser projector with 150\" scre", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming client", "switched_from": "", "story": "My Steam Machine Is a 50ft HDMI Cable"}, {"id": 779070560, "item_id": 48691910, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48691910", "by": "armsaw", "date": "2026-06-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it works in the Moonlight client well enough to click through prompts etc.", "excerpt": "I haven't had luck with mouse, but you can actually connect a bluetooth keyboard to the Apple TV. I use a little handheld unit from Rii and it works great. For mouse, if you have an iOS device you can use the \"Remote\" widget on your phone as a mouse, and it works in the Moonlight client well enough to click through prompts etc.", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming client", "switched_from": "", "story": "My Steam Machine Is a 50ft HDMI Cable"}, {"id": 778957648, "item_id": 48684853, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48684853", "by": "dmpanch", "date": "2026-06-26", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use similar setup (CachyOS, Apple TV, Moonlight/Sunshine)", "excerpt": "I use similar setup (CachyOS, Apple TV, Moonlight/Sunshine), but I play on a projector instead of a TV, which results in slightly higher latency. With that in mind, I connect gamepad via Bluetooth to my PC rather than to the Apple TV to minimize input latency; all single-player games are fully playable without any noticeable lag.", "context": "plays on a projector", "use_case": "game streaming to projector", "switched_from": "", "story": "My Steam Machine Is a 50ft HDMI Cable"}, {"id": 776658753, "item_id": 48541172, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48541172", "by": "iwhalen", "date": "2026-06-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Then I use Sunshine[1] on my desktop to stream to Moonlight on the Shield.", "excerpt": "If you already have a gaming desktop, I can recommend Shield for both. Streaming services work out of the box of course. Then I use Sunshine[1] on my desktop to stream to Moonlight on the Shield. Both have wired ethernet connections. Latency is not noticeable in most cases. [1]: https://app.lizardbyte.dev/Sunshine/", "context": "has a gaming desktop", "use_case": "game streaming client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Fox to Buy Roku Streaming Service in $22B Deal"}, {"id": 760549121, "item_id": 47534320, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47534320", "by": "dvratil", "date": "2026-03-26", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Just yesterday I used Jellyfin2Samsung to install Moonlight on my TV.", "excerpt": "Just yesterday I used Jellyfin2Samsung to install Moonlight on my TV. After the installation, the app shown a popup to donate to the author (\"buy me a beer\"). And I figured why not? The software turned a tedious process into a one-click solution, letting me do what I wanted to do (stream games to my TV) rather than spending an evening messing with Tizen Studio. Absolutely worth a few dollars. KDE's Plasma will popup ", "context": "", "use_case": "streaming games to TV", "switched_from": "", "story": "LibreOffice and the Art of Overreacting"}, {"id": 749555520, "item_id": 46847220, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46847220", "by": "bergheim", "date": "2026-02-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Use it for streaming (smarttube, some apps) and moonlight/sunshine. It does 4k with a ps5 controller so well.", "excerpt": "I'm not even sure which one I have, it's old but it's great. Use it for streaming (smarttube, some apps) and moonlight/sunshine. It does 4k with a ps5 controller so well. Love it. I think it was like a 100 bucks 8 years ago? I use my desktop 5090 and basically stopped using ps5 for couch gaming because it looks so much better. Great value! Also, not that this is better probably (it is Google and Nvidia after all), bu", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming to TV", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nvidia's 10-year effort to make the Shield TV the most updated Android device"}, {"id": 747249889, "item_id": 46703118, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46703118", "by": "Elaine-01", "date": "2026-01-21", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Setting up Moonlight Sunshine in the early days was such a headache.", "excerpt": "im a remote worker. Your project is cool! Setting up Moonlight Sunshine in the early days was such a headache. I've decided to give it a try. btw, does StarDesk support connecting a digital tablet with pressure sensitivity?", "context": "remote worker", "use_case": "remote desktop streaming", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: I made StarDesk, P2P low latency remote desktop built for game and work"}, {"id": 735833843, "item_id": 45989615, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45989615", "by": "MegaThorx", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "via Moonlight and Sunshine, and it works perfectly", "excerpt": "About two months ago, I switched from Windows to Chrome OS, and I haven't missed Windows at all. The only thing that needed some adjustment was my audio setup. I have virtual channels for the system, music, chat, and games. These are then mapped to my Rodecaster Pro II. With Pipewire, this setup was not too difficult and works reliably. Gaming works perfectly fine. The only application I miss is ShareX for taking scr", "context": "", "use_case": "game streaming from Windows PC", "switched_from": "", "story": "Gaming on Linux has never been more approachable"}]}