Owncast
A self-hosted live streaming website and open-source video server for running independent streams, web chat, fediverse discovery, and creator-owned broadcasting.
What Owncast is
Owncast official site presents Owncast as a free and open-source live video and web chat server that works with existing broadcasting software. It is designed for people who want to run a livestream on infrastructure they control instead of relying only on a centralized streaming platform.
Who uses Owncast
Owncast is used by independent streamers, open-source communities, educators, artists, event organizers, podcasters, small media projects, and technical users who want a self-hosted livestream with chat, branding control, and fewer dependencies on a large platform owner.
How the website works
The public website explains Owncast, links to quickstart material, documentation, releases, troubleshooting help, a public directory, community chat, donations, and the source repository. It is the project website, while actual live streams run on individual Owncast servers.
Streaming and chat
An Owncast server receives a stream from broadcasting software and publishes it through a web player with built-in chat. The chat can include custom emotes and bots, giving streamers a community space that lives alongside the video instead of requiring a separate third-party chat service.
Self-hosting and control
Self-hosting is central to Owncast. Running the server gives the streamer control over the domain, page design, moderation, community rules, uptime choices, and data handling. It also means the operator is responsible for server capacity, updates, bandwidth, and abuse handling.
Fediverse reach
Owncast supports fediverse features so a live stream can be followed and shared from compatible services such as Mastodon. This gives self-hosted streamers a discovery path beyond one central streaming directory while still keeping the stream on their own server.
Strengths and limits
Owncast is strong for creator control, community ownership, lightweight live streaming, and open-source transparency. Its limits include technical setup, bandwidth costs, fewer built-in discovery mechanics than large platforms, and the need for streamers to handle moderation and reliability themselves.
Why it matters
Live streaming often depends on a few centralized platforms that set the rules, interface, discovery systems, and monetization options. Owncast matters because it gives streamers another route: a self-hosted channel that can still interact with wider social networks and viewer communities.
WHOIS domain data
Data pulled: May 24, 2026View current WHOIS record
- Domain
- owncast.online
- IP address
- 185.199.110.153
- Registrar
- Tucows Domains Inc.
- WHOIS server
- whois.tucows.com
- Referral URL
- https://opensrs.com/
- Created
- June 3, 2020
- Updated
- June 2, 2025
- Expires
- June 3, 2026
- Nameservers
- ns1.hover.com (216.40.47.26); ns2.hover.com (64.98.148.13)
- Domain status
- clientTransferProhibited; clientUpdateProhibited
- DNSSEC
- unsigned
- Contact privacy
- Registrant contact is listed as Contact Privacy Inc. Customer 0158195824 in the visible Who.is record.