Element Call
Element Call starts moving to new LiveKit transports and falls back to remote SFUs when needed.
Comparison · Meetings
rtpengine vs SRS
A side-by-side editorial comparison of rtpengine and SRS — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:webrtc
rtpengine vs SRS: at a glance
What is rtpengine?
rtpengine opens the mr26.3 branch with a rollback message and leaner call state.
Sipwise's rtpengine media proxy opened a new mr26.3 branch on October 19. Its first build, mr26.3.1.1, carries everything from mr26.2.1.5 plus a rollback NG control message, relaxed loop detection for duplicate packets arriving over a second apart or from endpoints no longer local, ICE agent teardown when a peer drops ICE, inject-audio mixing fixes, and a long run of "lightweight string" refactors across call IDs, tags, SDP and recording fields. Three days earlier, a hardening batch went to four branches, followed by compile-fix releases.
What is SRS?
SRS opens a 7.0 line built on a Go proxy tier, and drops features it no longer wants to carry.
SRS shipped the stable 6.0 line's first release on 12 August and, three hours later, the first development build of 7.0. The 6.0 line is now in pure maintenance — the r1 changelog is seven merges of DVR, WebRTC and edge fixes. Everything new is in 7.0-d0: RTSP playback, RTMPS, IPv6 across every protocol, HEVC in both directions between RTMP and WebRTC, and HLS fMP4 segments for HEVC and LL-HLS.
rtpengine vs SRS: editorial side-by-side
rtpengine
5.0MEETINGS
rtpengine opens the mr26.3 branch with a rollback message and leaner call state.
◆ Current state
Sipwise's rtpengine media proxy opened a new mr26.3 branch on October 19. Its first build, mr26.3.1.1, carries everything from mr26.2.1.5 plus a rollback NG control message, relaxed loop detection for duplicate packets arriving over a second apart or from endpoints no longer local, ICE agent teardown when a peer drops ICE, inject-audio mixing fixes, and a long run of "lightweight string" refactors across call IDs, tags, SDP and recording fields. Three days earlier, a hardening batch went to four branches, followed by compile-fix releases.
◆ Where it's heading
Development continues on two levels: correctness fixes backported across every supported branch, and newer work, such as the rollback message and memory-lighter call state, landing on the newest line. Opening mr26.3 adds a fifth maintained branch, so the backport load grows.
◆ Prediction
Expect mr26.3.1.x point builds and continued synchronized backports to mr12.5 through mr26.2. The entries don't show when older branches stop receiving fixes.
SRS
6.3MEETINGS
SRS opens a 7.0 line built on a Go proxy tier, and drops features it no longer wants to carry.
◆ Current state
SRS shipped the stable 6.0 line's first release on 12 August and, three hours later, the first development build of 7.0. The 6.0 line is now in pure maintenance — the r1 changelog is seven merges of DVR, WebRTC and edge fixes. Everything new is in 7.0-d0: RTSP playback, RTMPS, IPv6 across every protocol, HEVC in both directions between RTMP and WebRTC, and HLS fMP4 segments for HEVC and LL-HLS.
◆ Where it's heading
The project is trading breadth of legacy surface for a narrower, better-covered core. 7.0-d0 removes the embedded GB28181 SIP server, multi-threading, Cygwin, and most configuration hot reload, while introducing a Go proxy server and origin-cluster architecture alongside the C++ media core. Protocol coverage keeps generalizing — each release makes a codec or an address family a property of the server rather than of one delivery path.
◆ Prediction
Expect the 7.0 line to run a long alpha and beta train the way 6.0 did, with the Go proxy and origin clustering carrying most of the remaining work and 6.0 continuing to receive backported fixes in parallel.
Alternatives to rtpengine and SRS
Other Meetings products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either rtpengine or SRS.
JW Player
JW Player moves CMAF VOD into the dashboard, adds AV1, and opens Broadcast Live to audio-only feeds.
Fourwaves
Fourwaves follows its participant inbox with a week of admin fixes and security hardening.
HOMER
HOMER 11.0.369 fixes S3 auth on Ceph-based storage and stops compaction memory growth.
Nextcloud Talk Desktop
Nextcloud Talk Desktop 2.3.3 adds accessibility options and bundles Talk v25.0.6.
Nextcloud Talk
Nextcloud Talk patches v22 and v23 while v25 stable sits five weeks past its last RC.
See all rtpengine alternatives → · See all SRS alternatives →
Recent activity from rtpengine and SRS
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 8d agortpengineFirst mr26.3 build adds rollback message, lighter call state
- 11d agortpenginemr13.5.1.30 fixes a compile error in the previous build
- 11d agortpenginemr26.0.1.26 fixes a compile error in the previous build
- 11d agortpenginemr26.2.1.5 fixes a compile error in the previous build
- 11d agortpenginemr26.0.1.25: SDP state, DTX and parsing-safety fixes
- 11d agortpenginemr13.5.1.29 backports a runaway-recursion guard
- 2mo agoSRSSRS 7.0-d0: Go proxy tier, RTSP playback, IPv6 across protocols ⚡
- 2mo agoSRS6.0-r1: DVR, WebRTC and edge fixes on the stable line
- 10mo agoSRSSRS 6.0 goes stable with H.265 across RTMP, HLS, TS and SRT ⚡
- 11mo agoSRS6.0-b3: use-after-free and HLS cleanup fixes
- 1y agoSRS6.0-b2: configurable SRT stream IDs and a WHIP transcoding fix
- 1y agoSRS6.0-b1: RTC crash fixes, Windows binary dropped
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between rtpengine and SRS?
Both compete on the same themes — webrtc — within Meetings. SRS is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is rtpengine better than SRS?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. SRS is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Meetings products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to rtpengine?
Top rtpengine alternatives in Meetings are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "rtpengine alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/rtpengine for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to SRS?
Top SRS alternatives in Meetings are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "SRS alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/srs for the full list with editorial commentary on each.