# Sunshine 55 Hacker News commenters recommended Sunshine and 16 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Free host that streams your PC's games and desktop to devices running Moonlight, with low latency and good image quality. Common caveat: setup takes fiddling, especially on Linux. ## Why people recommend it - Low latency and good image quality (4 comments): "by using modern game streaming protocols you can actually get great image quality, low latency and 60+ fps" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46458861)) "I've played remotely from a different country with unnoticeable input lag" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48911649)) "We run games at 4K HDR10 / 60 fps with no latency I can detect" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48691998)) - Works with Moonlight clients on many devices (4 comments): "Pair this with Moonlight+Sunshine and you can game without issues on any remote client" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47501716)) "Then I use Sunshine[1] on my desktop to stream to Moonlight on the Shield." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48541172)) "I use similar setup (CachyOS, Apple TV, Moonlight/Sunshine)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48684853)) - Easy to set up (3 comments): "I set up Sunshine and Moonlight in about... 5 minutes? And it "just worked". And worked well." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48974619)) "It works on Linux (Ubuntu desktop) for me out of the box" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48979657)) "sunshine streaming headless to my laptop without issues" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48978224)) - Works with headless machines (4 comments): "I have a headless sever with Sunshine and a Wayland desktop and can stream it remotely with great quality and minimal latency." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48031755)) "I do it with basic sunshine connecting to a headless display, though." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48975124)) "which is plenty low enough to stream the desktop to the laptop via Sunshine+Moonlight" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50279097)) ## What people warn about - Needs an HDMI dummy plug (2 comments): "The downside is that you need an HDMI dummy plug to turn off your desktop's monitor without putting the GPU into standby." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48337623)) "it didn't require hdmi connector that simulated a monitor" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48974945)) - Setup is fiddly and hard (3 comments): "it took me a couple days of fiddling to get a stream to work at all through sunshine, and it is choppy" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48230518)) "It was way too difficult to figure out how to make it work the last time I tried and I gave up" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48974040)) "it was too much pain and not so effortless" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48976906)) - Input lag is noticeable (2 comments): "Sunshine/Moonlight work but the input lag is noticeable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48910293)) "sunshine introduces a lot of input lag on NVIDIA" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46228972)) - Linux and HDR support lacking (3 comments): "frustration with Sunshine's many flaws on Linux" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48977872)) "Sunshine can't do any resolution on Linux." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48986922)) "trying to properly set up HDR in Sunshine was rough" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50073946)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Moonlight](https://hackerapproved.com/p/moonlight.md): 68 recommend - [Sunshine and Moonlight](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sunshine-and-moonlight.md): 18 recommend - [Parsec](https://hackerapproved.com/p/parsec.md): 16 recommend - [Steam Remote Play](https://hackerapproved.com/p/steam-remote-play.md): 10 recommend - [Wolf game streaming server](https://hackerapproved.com/p/wolf.md): 5 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Sunshine", https://hackerapproved.com/p/sunshine/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).