# Sunshine vs Understudy

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | Sunshine | Understudy |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 84/100 ✓ | 48/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 22 in Remote Desktop | #110 of 209 in AI Agents |
| GitHub stars | 42 758 ✓ | 465 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 242 ✓ | +0 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 86 ✓ | 0 |
| Latest release | v2026.1028.122642 · 28 Oct 2026 | — |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Main language | C | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

Sunshine scores 84/100 against 48/100 for Understudy, so it is the safer default.

Sunshine ships more often: 86 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for Understudy.

If you want the quickest setup, Sunshine is easier to run; Understudy needs more configuration.

Sunshine is growing faster right now (+1 242 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Sunshine](https://selfhost.directory/project/sunshine) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/sunshine.md)
- [Understudy](https://selfhost.directory/project/understudy) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/understudy.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/sunshine-vs-understudy