Moonlight
Open source game streaming client
Install with Homebrew
brew install --cask moonlight
Moonlight — Official Website
Quick Take: Moonlight
Moonlight plus Sunshine is still the best free way to turn a powerful PC into a private game-streaming server for Mac clients. Client release schedule is slower than Sunshine’s host updates, but the stack is mature, widely praised for LAN 4K play and costs $0 in software licenses.
Best For
- •Mac users with a powerful gaming PC on the LAN
- •People avoiding cloud gaming subscriptions
- •Living-room or handheld streaming of a desktop library
What is Moonlight?
August 2026 status: Moonlight remains the free open-source GameStream-compatible client; NVIDIA’s proprietary GameStream host path is long dead. The practical host is Sunshine (LizardByte), with latest host releases in the 2026.5xx series (e.g. v2026.516.143833 in May 2026). Moonlight PC (moonlight-qt) stable client sits at v6.1.0, with community pressure for a newer 6.2 train while nightlies absorb fixes. Apollo exists as an alternate host but 2026 community threads note development pauses,Sunshine is the default recommendation. Users on X still report excellent LAN 4K60/120 experiences to TVs, handhelds and other clients. Moonlight is an open-source game streaming client that lets you play PC games on your Mac by streaming them from a Windows gaming PC over your network. Your gaming PC renders the game at full quality, encodes the video using its NVIDIA GPU (or any GPU with the Sunshine host) and streams the video to your Mac. Your Mac decodes and displays the stream while sending your keyboard, mouse and controller inputs back to the PC. The result: play AAA PC games on a MacBook, Mac Mini, iPad, or any other device that runs Moonlight. Moonlight started as a third-party implementation of NVIDIA's GameStream protocol. NVIDIA built GameStream into its GeForce Experience software, allowing streaming from NVIDIA GPUs to NVIDIA Shield devices. Moonlight reverse-engineered the protocol and brought it to every platform,macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, Windows, Raspberry Pi, ChromeOS and more. When NVIDIA discontinued GameStream in early 2023, the community created Sunshine, an open-source host that replaces NVIDIA's server component and works with any GPU (NVIDIA, AMD, Intel). The streaming quality is impressive when your network is good. On a wired gigabit LAN, Moonlight streams 4K at 120fps with hardware-accelerated H.265/HEVC encoding. Input latency is 15-30ms on a local network,noticeable in competitive shooters but perfectly playable for single-player games, RPGs and most genres. On a 5GHz Wi-Fi connection, quality is good at 1080p/60fps. Over the internet (with proper port forwarding or a VPN), it works but adds latency proportional to your ping to the host PC. For Mac users, Moonlight solves a real problem: most AAA games don't run natively on macOS. Instead of maintaining a separate gaming PC at your desk, you can put the gaming PC in a closet (or use a friend's) and stream games to your Mac wherever you are. Combined with a controller connected to your Mac via Bluetooth, it's a legitimate gaming setup that doesn't require Apple to port games to macOS.
Closer look: How Game Streaming Actually Works
The technical pipeline from PC GPU rendering to playable game on your Mac.
History & Background
NVIDIA launched GameStream in 2013 as a feature of GeForce Experience, designed to stream games from NVIDIA GPUs to NVIDIA Shield devices. The Moonlight project started as a reverse-engineering effort to bring GameStream to other platforms,first Android, then iOS, macOS, Linux and more. When NVIDIA discontinued GameStream in February 2023 (to push users toward GeForce NOW, their cloud service), the open-source community created Sunshine as a drop-in replacement host. Sunshine works with any GPU, removing the NVIDIA lock-in that limited GameStream. Today, the Moonlight + Sunshine combination is the standard for self-hosted game streaming.
How It Works
The streaming pipeline: (1) The game renders frames on the host GPU. (2) The GPU's hardware encoder (NVENC, AMF, or QuickSync) compresses each frame to H.264 or H.265 in real-time,this takes 1-3ms per frame. (3) The encoded frame is packetized and sent over the network using a low-latency RTP-based protocol. (4) The Moonlight client receives packets, decodes them using hardware video decoding (VideoToolbox on macOS) and displays the frame. (5) Input events (controller buttons, mouse movements, keyboard presses) are sent from the client to the host over a separate low-latency channel. The total pipeline latency (render + encode + network + decode + display) is 15-30ms on a good local network.
Ecosystem & Integrations
Self-hosted game streaming competes with cloud gaming services (GeForce NOW, Xbox Cloud Gaming, PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming) and local streaming alternatives (Steam Link, Parsec). Moonlight's advantage is cost (free), flexibility (any game, any GPU via Sunshine) and quality (configurable up to 4K/120fps/HDR). Cloud gaming's advantage is no host PC required,just a subscription and internet connection. The two approaches serve different users.
Future Development
With GameStream gone for good, ecosystem health is the Sunshine release train plus client nightlies. Mac users should track both repos: host fixes often matter more than client point releases for stutter and HDR issues.
Key Features
High-Resolution, High-Framerate Streaming
Moonlight supports streaming at up to 4K resolution at 120fps, depending on your host GPU's encoding capabilities and your network bandwidth. On a local network with a modern NVIDIA GPU (RTX 3060 or later), 4K/120 streaming uses NVENC hardware encoding with negligible performance impact on the host. H.265 (HEVC) encoding delivers better quality at lower bitrates than H.264, reducing network bandwidth requirements. Adaptive bitrate adjusts quality in real-time based on network conditions.
HDR Support
Moonlight supports HDR streaming on compatible displays. If your host PC is playing a game in HDR and your Mac's display supports HDR (MacBook Pro with XDR display, or an external HDR monitor), Moonlight can stream the HDR signal. The result is wider color gamut and higher contrast in supported games. HDR streaming requires an NVIDIA GPU with NVENC and Sunshine or GeForce Experience (legacy) as the host.
Controller, Keyboard & Mouse Support
Connect controllers to your Mac via Bluetooth or USB,Xbox Wireless Controller, PS5 DualSense, Nintendo Switch Pro Controller and MFi controllers all work. Moonlight maps controller inputs to the host PC as if the controller was connected directly. Keyboard and mouse work natively. For trackpad users, Moonlight can emulate mouse input from trackpad gestures. Multi-controller support allows local multiplayer,connect four controllers to your Mac for couch co-op games streamed from your PC.
Sunshine Host Compatibility
After NVIDIA discontinued GameStream, the open-source Sunshine project became the standard host application. Sunshine runs on Windows (any GPU), Linux and macOS (as a host). It provides hardware-accelerated encoding via NVENC (NVIDIA), AMF (AMD), or QuickSync (Intel). This means you're no longer limited to NVIDIA GPUs,any modern gaming PC can serve as a Moonlight host. Sunshine is actively maintained and adds features faster than NVIDIA's legacy GameStream.
Surround Sound Audio
Moonlight streams audio from the host PC, supporting up to 7.1 surround sound. Audio is compressed using Opus codec for low latency. If your Mac is connected to a surround sound system or spatial audio headphones (AirPods Pro with spatial audio), the surround mix is preserved. Audio sync stays tight with video,latency is typically under 5ms between audio and video streams.
WAN Streaming (Over the Internet)
Moonlight works over the internet, not just local networks. Configure port forwarding on your router (or use a VPN like Tailscale or ZeroTier for easier setup) and you can stream from your home PC to your Mac anywhere with a decent internet connection. A stable 50 Mbps connection supports 1080p/60fps streaming. 100+ Mbps supports 4K. Latency depends on your ping to the host,under 30ms for a good experience, under 50ms for playable.
High-Refresh HDR Streaming
Moonlight clients target up to 4K with high frame rates and HDR when host encode and network allow, with controller, keyboard and mouse support. LAN performance is the sweet spot; WAN play needs solid upload and realistic bitrate caps.
Who Should Use Moonlight?
1Mac User Who Wants PC Gaming
A developer uses a MacBook Pro for work but wants to play PC games in the evening. They set up a gaming PC (or repurpose an old one with a decent GPU) running Sunshine, connect both machines to their home network and use Moonlight on the MacBook to stream games. An Xbox controller connects via Bluetooth. They play Elden Ring, Baldur's Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 on their MacBook with controller in hand,games that will never run natively on macOS.
2Couch Gamer
A gamer has a desktop PC in their office but wants to play on the living room TV. They connect a Mac Mini (or Apple TV with Moonlight via TestFlight) to the TV, pair a controller and stream games from the office PC over their home network. The gaming PC doesn't need to be near the TV,it just needs to be on the same network. The living room becomes a gaming setup without moving hardware.
3Traveler with Cloud Gaming Alternative
A frequent traveler sets up Tailscale VPN on both their gaming PC and MacBook. From a hotel, they connect to their home PC via Tailscale and stream games through Moonlight. The experience depends on hotel internet quality (50+ Mbps recommended), but for turn-based games, RPGs and anything that doesn't require frame-perfect inputs, it works well. It's a self-hosted alternative to GeForce NOW or Xbox Cloud Gaming.
How to Install Moonlight on Mac
Moonlight requires a host PC running Sunshine (or legacy GeForce Experience with GameStream) and the Moonlight client on your Mac.
Set Up the Host PC
On your Windows gaming PC, download and install Sunshine from github.com/LizardByte/Sunshine. Sunshine runs as a service and provides the streaming host. Alternatively, if you have an NVIDIA GPU, you can use GeForce Experience with GameStream enabled (legacy, being deprecated).
Install Moonlight on Mac
Run brew install --cask moonlight. This installs the Moonlight client to your Applications folder.
Pair Your Mac with the Host
Open Moonlight on your Mac. It should discover your host PC on the local network automatically. Click the host and enter the PIN shown on your Mac into the Sunshine web interface (https://localhost:47990 on the host). Pairing is one-time.
Start Streaming
After pairing, your host PC's game library appears in Moonlight. Click a game to launch it. Moonlight starts the game on the host PC and begins streaming video to your Mac. Connect a controller, grab a keyboard and mouse and play.
Pro Tips
- • Use a wired Ethernet connection on both the host PC and Mac for the lowest latency and most stable stream. 5GHz Wi-Fi works but introduces variability.
- • Set streaming to H.265 (HEVC) in Moonlight settings for better quality at lower bitrates. Most modern NVIDIA GPUs support HEVC encoding with minimal performance impact.
- • For internet streaming, use Tailscale instead of port forwarding,it creates a secure mesh VPN without opening ports on your router.
Configuration Tips
Optimize for Lowest Latency
Use a wired Ethernet connection on both host and client. Set Moonlight to 1080p/120fps instead of 4K,higher framerate reduces perceived input lag more than higher resolution improves visuals. Set bitrate to 40-60 Mbps for 1080p/120. Enable 'Frame pacing' in Moonlight settings for smoother frame delivery.
Set Up Tailscale for Internet Streaming
Install Tailscale on both your gaming PC and Mac. Both devices join the same Tailscale network. In Moonlight, add your gaming PC's Tailscale IP as a manual host. This avoids port forwarding, works through NAT and provides encrypted streaming. Tailscale is free for personal use with up to 100 devices.
Alternatives to Moonlight
Game streaming options include both self-hosted and cloud-based services.
Steam Link
Steam Link is free and simplest inside Steam’s library. Moonlight+Sunshine generally wins latency, bitrate control and non-Steam desktop/app streaming.
GeForce NOW
NVIDIA’s cloud gaming service removes the need for a home host but adds subscription cost, queues and library limitations. Moonlight streams your PC.
Parsec
Parsec focuses on low-latency desktop and game streaming with polished multiplayer hosting. Free tier available; team features paid. Moonlight remains fully open and Sunshine-centric.
Apollo (host)
Apollo is an alternate host discussed in 2026 communities, but development has been reported as paused,Sunshine remains the actively updated default host.
Pricing
Moonlight is free and open source (GPL v3). Sunshine is also free and open source. There are no subscriptions for the client or the recommended host. Your only costs are the gaming PC hardware and the network path.
Pros
- ✓Completely free open-source client and host stack
- ✓Excellent LAN latency for 4K high-refresh play when hardware allows
- ✓Works beyond Steam libraries,full desktop and any GPU vendor via Sunshine
- ✓Wide client ecosystem (Mac, mobile, TV, embedded)
- ✓No cloud queues or subscription metering
- ✓Active Sunshine host development through 2026
Cons
- ✗Requires a powered host PC and non-trivial first-time setup
- ✗moonlight-qt stable releases are less frequent than some users want
- ✗Internet streaming quality depends heavily on upload and NAT setup
- ✗Troubleshooting encode/bitrate issues has a learning curve
- ✗Some alternate hosts (e.g. Apollo) lag in maintenance
Community & Support
Moonlight is maintained by Cameron Gutman and contributors on GitHub (moonlight-stream). The project has 10,000+ stars and an active issue tracker. The Moonlight Discord server is the primary community hub,users share configurations, troubleshoot streaming issues and discuss optimal settings. The Sunshine project (LizardByte/Sunshine) has its own active Discord and GitHub community. Reddit's r/cloudygamer, r/moonlight and r/gamestreaming communities discuss Moonlight setups, network optimization and hardware recommendations. Documentation on the Moonlight wiki covers setup guides for every platform.
Video Tutorials
Getting Started with Moonlight
More Tutorials
Sunshine+Moonlight Setup #cloudgaming #linuxgaming #steamdeck #moonlightgaming
TheBlackDon • 123.7K views
Setting up Moonlight Streaming for MacOSX
Michael Fuller • 21.8K views
Goodbye Sunshine & Moonlight, Hello Apollo & Artemis (Setup Guide)
Joey's Retro Handhelds • 496.0K views
Frequently Asked Questions about Moonlight
About the Author
Creative Software Expert
Expert Tips for Moonlight
Users in 2026 repeatedly describe Sunshine+Moonlight as Steam Link but better for LAN living-room play, including non-traditional clients.
Host software churn matters more than client polish,Sunshine’s active releases keep the stack modern despite a quieter moonlight-qt stable schedule.
Related Technologies & Concepts
Related Topics
Sources & References
Fact-CheckedLast verified: Aug 9, 2026
Key Verified Facts
- Sunshine is the recommended open-source host for Moonlight after NVIDIA GameStream’s discontinuation.[cite-ml-site, cite-sun]
- Moonlight PC v6.1.0 is the published latest stable client on GitHub releases.[cite-ml-rel]
- Sunshine continued shipping 2026 releases (e.g. May 2026 tagged builds).[cite-sun-rel]
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
Research queries: Moonlight game streaming Mac 2026