What is Nestri?
Learn about Nestri, an open-source, self-hostable cloud gaming platform that gives you full control over your gaming server, streaming, and setup.
Nestri is a self-hosted cloud gaming platform that enables you to spin up dedicated gaming sessions remotely and play your own games from any device with a browser. Unlike remote desktop solutions like Parsec, which focus on streaming a desktop environment, Nestri is designed specifically for cloud gaming. It works similarly to services like NVIDIA GeForce Now, allowing you to enjoy high-performance gaming without needing to be physically near your gaming PC.
The key difference with Nestri is that it’s open-source and can be self-hosted, so you have full control over the server, the games you install, and the entire setup. Nestri is ideal for gamers who prioritize privacy, flexibility, and control, offering a way to manage your own gaming infrastructure rather than relying on third-party services. As long as you have a stable internet connection and access to a web browser, you can game from virtually anywhere.
Nestri Architecture
Nestri is composed of the following key components:
Nestri Node
The Nestri Node (also referred to as Instance) is the core of your Nestri setup. It acts as the game server where you install and run your games. The Nestri Node streams gameplay from the machine it’s installed on, allowing you to access your games remotely. It runs on most Linux-based systems and major vendor's GPUs (Intel, AMD, NVIDIA).
Nestri Node runs within a container, which isolates it from the host system, keeping the host environment clean and secure. This containerization also allows for easy updates, management and recovery of your gaming environment.
Nestri Relay
The Nestri Relay is responsible for taking the audio-video stream from your Nestri Node and sending that forward to the device you're gaming on with minimal latency. This is essentially a WebRTC SFU (Selective Forwarding Unit) that splits single incoming stream to multiple potential players, allowing multiple devices to connect to the same game session without overwhelming the Nestri Node with multiple outgoing streams.
Nestri Relay runs within a container, similar to the Nestri Node, and can be deployed on the same machine or a different one.