Getting to know xplex

xplex is your personal, open source, multi-streaming server to simultaneously stream to as many platforms as you want to.

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What does it do?

xplex acts as a bridge between your streaming software (e.g. OBS, XSplit etc.) and the streaming services (e.g. Twitch, YouTube etc.). It takes the stream from your streaming software and goes live on all of the streaming services you’ve confiugured it to—all at once!

Think of it this way…

Imagine xplex is an HDMI splitter. You connect your streaming software to xplex (like you connect your HDMI source to the splitter), and xplex forwards the stream to multiple streaming services (like the splitter forwards the video to multiple screens).

Who is it for?

xplex is for content creators who want to reach a wider audience by simultaneously streaming to multiple platforms, without costly subscriptions or complicated setups, while retaining full control of the choice, flexibility, extensibility & the data.

For now, it takes running at least an oneliner command in a terminal to make it work; so you could say it’s for technically adept streamers.

Stay tuned!

We are working on getting the need for CLI commands down to zero. At which point, xplex is for anybody wanting to multi-stream without a headache.

Where does it run?

Ideally you would want to setup xplex on a cloud server with good network bandwidth, so it can handle multiple streams. You can also run it on your local machine, or on a homelab server, but you should avoid running it on your main workstation.

This reference on host selection goes a bit deeper to explain the reasoning behind this.

Compute & Complexity

There’s no transcoding involved, so not only the stream quality remains the same as what you’re sending from your streaming software, but there’s no significant overhead on the server either. You can run xplex even on the lowest-end VM/VPS that cloud providers have to offer.

How much does it cost?

xplex is free and open source software. You can run it on your own home server, or use a cloud server to host it. The only cost you would incur is the server cost; and the exact value depends on your cloud provider and their pricing of the compute unit of your choice.

The reference for choosing cloud providers has cost comparison for basic estimation. It also has referral sign up links with free credits for you to get started with the evaluation.

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Hopefully you now have a good idea of what to expect from xplex as a user. But, if you’re still curious to know more about its internal details, let’s dive in a bit deeper…