Parsec vs Sunshine (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Parsec and Sunshine share a 2.6 GPA, both have a free plan, and Sunshine has no paid plan to buy, against $8.33 a month for each person for Parsec.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Parsec grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. Sunshine grades higher on value for money and the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Parsec
Low-latency remote desktop for games and creative work
Which one is for you
Pick Parsec if
- Fits if you want to play games on your own gaming PC from the sofa or a laptop
- Works for studios inviting playtesters onto a machine, at $25 per outside guest
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you use it for work, since that needs Teams at $30 a user a month, or $45 on Enterprise
- Skip it if you want to connect from an iPhone or iPad, as there's no iOS app
- Not for you if the computer you want to reach runs Linux, as only Windows and Mac can host
- Tight if you stay free: one monitor, 60 FPS, and no 4:4:4 color, privacy mode or Wacom pressure
- Watch out: outside guests cost $25 an invitation on Teams, there are no volume discounts, and Enterprise is yearly only
Pick Sunshine if
- Fits if you want free game streaming from your own PC using Moonlight
- Works for people comfortable with setting up ports and encoders themselves
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need a client, as Sunshine is a host only and needs Moonlight
- Not for you if you want support sessions or unattended admin, since it targets game streaming
- Watch out: the README says its hardware requirement tables are unfinished and should not drive purchases
- Watch out: gamepad support is partial on FreeBSD, and macOS needs a separately licensed Virtual HID Broker
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAParsecGood | 2.6GPASunshineGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CGaming at home is free, and Warp, the personal plan with extra monitors and 4:4:4 colour, is $8.33 a month billed annually. Any work use needs Teams at $30 a user a month, though, well above what Splashtop's Performance plan and Jump Desktop's Teams Enterprise charge for the same creative job. | AFree and open source under GPL-3.0, with no cloud subscription, and you run it on your own PC. |
| Free plan and trial | BPersonal Use is free for gaming and other non-commercial use, with 60 FPS, controllers and link sharing, and one person can live on that. It's one monitor only, no 4:4:4 colour and no work use at all; Teams has a 14-day trial. | AFree outright with no cap listed, and no account or cloud service to pay for. |
| Features | CLow-latency streaming at up to 4K and 240 frames per second, controllers, Wacom pressure, shared sessions and guest access. The gaps it lists itself: only Windows and Mac computers can be hosts, there's no iOS app, and outside guests cost $25 an invitation. | DIt is a host only: you also need a Moonlight client to use it, so it needs another product to be useful. |
| Ease of use | BNo App Store rating on record. Install it on the computer you want to reach and the one you're sitting at, and connect. There's nothing to configure for a game at home. | CNo store rating on record. It has a browser-based management page, but you configure encoders, ports and pairing yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWindows, Mac, Linux, Android and a Chrome browser client, with a Teams API on Enterprise. There's no iPhone or iPad app, and Linux, Android and the browser can only connect, not host. | CHosts run on Windows, macOS and Linux, and clients come through Moonlight. No phone host or web client is listed. |
| Best for | streaming games and creative work from a PC | a free game-stream host for your own PC |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Parsec and Sunshine. How we grade
Price against what you get
Parsec starts at $8.33 a month for each person and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Sunshine has no paid plan and scores 1.7.
Parsec scores higher, and starts $8.33 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other remote desktop apps on the chart, 2 score higher than Parsec for less, and none scores higher than Sunshine for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Sunshine is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
At a glance
| Parsec | Sunshine | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $8.33 per user / month, billed annually ($9.99 billed monthly) | Free |
| Free plan | Personal Use is free for non-commercial use: low-latency 60 FPS desktop capture, link sharing, keyboard, mouse and gamepad support and encrypted peer-to-peer connections, on one monitor. | Free and open source with no cloud subscription; released under the GPL-3.0 license. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of Teams and Enterprise | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Unity Technologies SF | LizardByte |
| Price read from | parsec.app | sunshine.lizardbyte.dev |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Parsec
- The free and Individuals plans are for personal, non-commercial use only; any work use needs Teams or Enterprise.
- Only Windows 10+ and macOS 10.15+ computers can be hosts; Linux, Android and the Chrome web client can only connect. There is no iOS app.
- Guest access for external users costs $25 per invitation on top of the Teams plan.
- Parsec does not offer volume discounts, and Enterprise is sold with annual billing only.
Sunshine
- It is a host only; you also need a Moonlight client on the device you play on.
- The README warns that its hardware requirement tables are a work in progress and should not drive purchases.
- Gamepad support is partial on FreeBSD, and macOS needs a separately licensed Virtual HID Broker for emulated pads.
- It targets game streaming, not support sessions or unattended administration of other people's computers.
Key features
Parsec
- Low-latency streaming
- Up to 4K resolution and up to 240 frames per second (60 at 4K), with 4:4:4 color on paid plans, over direct peer-to-peer connections.
- Controllers and Wacom tablets
- Keyboard, mouse and gamepad input on every plan; paid plans add pressure- and tilt-sensitive Wacom tablet support.
- Shared sessions
- Share a link so someone can watch or take control of your computer, for co-op games, live reviews or working on something together.
- Team computers
- Teams can provision computers on demand to a team member or group, and block computers inside the network from hosting connections.
- Guest access
- Invite outside people into a Teams computer for up to five days, for playtests, events or user research, using separately bought credits.
- Enterprise relay and API
- Enterprise adds a high-performance relay that sits in your firewall, a Teams API for automating deployment, SCIM and role-based admin roles.
Sunshine
- Hardware encoding
- Streams with AMD, Intel or NVIDIA hardware encoding for low latency, with software encoding available on all supported systems.
- Works with Moonlight clients
- Sunshine is the host half of the pair; you install a Moonlight client on a laptop, phone, TV or handheld and pair it.
- Browser-based management
- A web interface lets you choose applications, adjust streaming settings and pair devices, from the host or from a mobile device.
- Gamepad emulation
- The README lists emulation of generic, DualShock, DualSense, Switch Pro and Xbox controllers, with limits on FreeBSD and macOS.
- Several host systems
- The site lists Windows, Linux, macOS and FreeBSD hosts, each with its own supported capture and encoding methods.
Plans
Parsec
Personal Use$0
Free for gaming and other non-commercial use. No multi-monitor streaming, 4:4:4 color, privacy mode or Wacom pressure support.
Individuals (Warp)$8.33
per user / month, billed annually ($9.99 billed monthly)
Personal, non-commercial use with up to 3 monitors, 4:4:4 color, virtual monitors, privacy mode and Wacom pressure and tilt.
Teams$30
per user / month, billed annually ($35 billed monthly)
Licensed for work: admin panel, SAML single sign-on, team-managed computers and groups, 7 days of audit logs and paid guest access.
Enterprise$45
per user / month, billed annually only
Adds the high-performance relay server, Teams API, role-based access, SCIM provisioning, full audit logs and usage analytics.
Sunshine
Sunshine$0
Free and open source, run on your own hardware. The site has a Donate link for voluntary support.
Ways to pay less
Parsec
- Annual discount
Annual billing saves up to about 17%
Individuals is $8.33 a month paid annually against $9.99 monthly, about 17% less; Teams is $30 against $35, about 14% less.
Sunshine
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Parsec or Sunshine?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Sunshine is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $8.33 a month for each person for Parsec. Parsec starts at $8.33 per user / month, billed annually ($9.99 billed monthly), and Sunshine is free.
Which has a free plan, Parsec or Sunshine?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Parsec and Sunshine have a free plan.
Which platforms do Parsec and Sunshine run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Parsec lists a web app and an Android app. Both list macOS, Windows and Linux apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.