Self-Hosted vs Managed Pixel Streaming

 Choosing Between Managed Pixel Streaming & Self Hosted Infrastructure

Hi, I’m Shrenik, Founder and CEO of Streampixel — the most efficient pixel streaming platform for high-end 3D applications. We built Streampixel to remove the complexity behind streaming Unreal Engine projects, allowing developers and enterprises to go live in seconds, not months.

Now, while I run a managed platform myself, this post aims to be as unbiased (well, mostly!) as possible. Let’s explore whether building your own pixel streaming stack using Epic Games’ open-source infrastructure makes sense, or if you’re better off going with a plug-and-play service like ours.

Before We Start: What Are Your Options?

When it comes to pixel streaming, you typically have two main options:

1. Self-host the entire stack – This means taking full control of the infrastructure. You'll need to set up and manage everything from the signaling server to the streaming containers. You can either run this on public cloud providers like AWS, GCP, or Azure, or deploy it on your own physical machines or data center servers.

2. Use a managed pixel streaming provider – In this case, you simply upload your packaged Unreal Engine .exe, and the service takes care of the rest: scaling, performance, and streaming.

So, You Found the Epic Games Pixel Streaming Repo…

If you’ve ever searched for "Unreal Engine pixel streaming," you’ve likely seen a video or doc that walks you through setting up the signaling server using a PowerShell script — typically something like Start_WithTURN_SignallingServer.ps1.

Then, you create a shortcut to your Unreal .exe and add launch arguments like

PixelStreamingIP=localhost -PixelStreamingPort=8888

It feels like you're up and running — and technically, you are. But once real users start accessing the experience concurrently, the limitations quickly become obvious.

And sure, spinning up one session is relatively easy.

But once we needed to support multiple users, handle networking, manage ports, deal with WebRTC edge cases, and scale things — it quickly became clear that the open-source infrastructure is just a starting point, not a production-grade solution.

TL;DR: Why Most Teams Avoid DIY

While it’s possible to build your own pixel streaming system, it comes with significant overhead — orchestration, cloud quotas, TURN server scaling, session management, and more. What starts as a simple script quickly turns into building an entire platform.

Want the full breakdown? Keep reading.

Turns Out, That Repo Isn’t Enough

Epic’s Pixel Streaming Infrastructure acts as a great starting point — it's designed to help you understand the basics of WebRTC-based streaming and quickly prototype with Unreal Engine. But once you want scalability, concurrency, monitoring, security, and global access, you’re no longer spinning up a quick test — you’re building a full platform.

Here’s a more realistic picture of what’s required for a production-ready deployment:

🧱 Core Components You’ll Need to Build & Manage

• Custom WebSocket Layer – for signaling and real-time communication

• TURN/STUN Servers – to handle NAT traversal and relay traffic when peer-to-peer fails

• Load Balancing Logic – to route traffic to the correct container or machine

• Orchestration Layer – to launch and terminate app instances based on demand

• Session & User Management – for multi-user access, session tokens, cleanup, etc.

• Crash Handling & Auto-Restarts – ensuring high availability

• Logging, Monitoring, and Metrics – to track performance, health, and resource usage

• Build Managers – to upload, version, and sync builds across servers

• Databases – for storing metadata, config, launch states, and user sessions

  
  

☁️ Cloud-Specific Challenges

If you're deploying to the cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure), additional challenges include:

• Higher Application Load Times – Provisioning virtual machines, pulling the correct build, and starting the app can introduce delays. Expect longer startup times compared to pre-warmed or managed infrastructure.

• Dynamic VM lifecycle – Spin up and shut down machines when users join or leave

• Build syncing – Keeping the latest .exe or packaged builds updated across instances

• GPU Quota Management – Even with autoscaling configured, GPU instance limits can delay launches.

  
  

🌐 Universal Challenges (Cloud or On-Prem)

Regardless of where you deploy, you’ll need:

• Custom Frontend/UI – To trigger streams and manage sessions

• Session Routing & Management – Unique IDs to track sessions, not separate signaling servers for each

• SSL/TLS Setup – For secure communication over WebRTC

• TURN Server Scaling – TURN uses heavy bandwidth; you'll need autoscaling or a third-party service

• Custom Launch Configs – Launch arguments based on app or user input

• NVENC Session Management – Respect GPU encoder limits (e.g., 2–8 streams per GPU)

• Network Optimization – For stable low-latency video

  
  

At this point, you're not just deploying a UE app — you're building a high-performance streaming backend, with all the complexity that comes with it.

Where Will You Run It? Cloud or On-Prem?

Even after building the stack, you’ll need serious compute:

• Cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP): Flexible but expensive for GPU workloads

• On-Prem Servers: Cost-efficient if you scale, but complex in terms of networking, cooling, security, and failover

  
  

Either way, you’re investing heavily in infrastructure, time, and DevOps expertise.

What You’re Really Choosing

Feature	Self-Hosted (Your Servers)	Managed Platform (e.g., Streampixel)	Cloud Hosting (AWS/GCP)
Setup Time	Longer setup, full control	Fast — ready out of the box	Moderate — easier with cloud tools
Initial Cost	High upfront hardware cost	Subscription-based, predictable pricing or pay as you go	Pay-as-you-go, no capital required
Scalability	Moderate — depends on local infra	Built-in autoscaling	High — but subject to quota approvals
GPU Availability	Full control, limited to owned hardware	Pre-provisioned, enterprise-grade GPUs	Depends on region and quota
Maintenance	Full responsibility	Minimal — fully managed	Medium — platform handles infra, you your streaming stack
Flexibility & Control	Highest — you own the stack	Moderate — some abstraction	High — depends on provider limits
Performance Optimization	Fully customizable	Pre-optimized for most use cases	Tunable, region-specific latency
Security	Full manual setup	Pre-configured SSL, token auth	Cloud-grade security features
Session Management	Requires custom dev	Built-in	Requires custom backend
Build Deployment	Manual or scripted	One-click upload	Sync or AMI-based workflows
Staying Updated with Epic’s Changes	Manual updates & repo tracking required	Handled by platform — stays in sync	Manual unless automated with CI/CD
Best Fit For	Custom deployments, niche infra use	Fast launch, low overhead, product-focused teams	Teams with cloud experience, global reach needs

Some Deal Breakers to Consider

Even if you manage to create your own stack of services — hats off! That’s a huge achievement. But that’s only half the battle. Once you're past the infrastructure setup, a different class of challenges begins: performance tuning, compatibility, and network optimization.

You’ll need to fine-tune bandwidth limits, QP values, adaptive bitrate settings, and codec configurations. These optimizations are highly dependent on your user’s device, location, and connection type — and usually require extensive hit-and-trial to get right.

If you're planning to host on a hyperscaler and your app is resource-intensive, here’s another roadblock: many cloud providers simply don’t offer high-performance GPUs ideal for real-time rendering. For example, AWS G4 instances use Tesla T4 GPUs — which aren’t nearly as powerful as modern RTX 40-series or enterprise-grade workstation GPUs like RTX ADA series.

Final Thoughts: What Should You Choose?

Here’s a simplified framework to help you decide:

🟩 Managed Service:

• You want peace of mind

• You need scalability from day one

• You want to focus on app development, not infrastructure

• Global reach depends on provider’s server presence — better if the provider operates in multiple regions

  
  

🟨 Self-Hosted (Your Own Servers):

• You want lower long-term costs

• You have in house network and hardware engineers

• You’re okay with limited scalability

• You want full control over your hardware and environment

  
  

🟥 Cloud Hosting (AWS/GCP/etc.):

• You lack upfront capital for hardware

• You don’t have in-house networking expertise

• You need global reach, but expect some GPU quota and performance limitations

In Closing

Pixel streaming is one of the most transformative ways to deliver interactive 3D content — but only when the infrastructure powering it is reliable, scalable, and tuned for performance.

If you’re just experimenting, building your own stack can be a great learning experience. But if you’re trying to deliver polished, enterprise-ready experiences to real users, Stream

pixel gives you a head start — without the maintenance burden.

Your audience doesn’t care how complex your backend is. They just want low latency, stunning visuals, and zero friction.

Let us handle the complexity — so you can focus on the experience.

➡️ Start Your First Stream Today

#pixelstreaming #unrealengineforweb #unrealengineonbrowser #streampixel #pixelstream #ueonweb #ue5 #metaverse #immersiveweb #virtualreality