Both do the same basic job: take audio from your studio or AutoDJ and send it to listeners. The difference is in how the stream is published and which formats and tools fit around it.
Neither is better in every situation. It depends on your presenters, your software and the formats you want to use.
A long-standing name in internet radio. SHOUTcast works with a wide range of radio software and players, and identifies your station with a stream ID.
Choose SHOUTcast if your presenters and software already work that way, or if you want the familiar setup that many internet radio tools expect.
An open-source streaming server. Icecast identifies streams with mount points and supports open formats such as Ogg Vorbis and Opus alongside MP3 and AAC.
Choose Icecast if open formats matter to you, or if your tools and workflows are built around Icecast.
The format is how your audio is encoded. The bitrate is how much data is used to carry it.
| Format | SHOUTcast | Icecast |
|---|---|---|
| MP3 | Supported | Supported |
| AAC | Supported | Supported |
| Ogg Vorbis | Not typically used | Supported |
| Opus | Not typically used | Supported |
Internet radio streams commonly run somewhere between 64 kbps and 320 kbps. A lower bitrate uses less data, which suits listeners on mobile connections; a higher bitrate gives more detail for listeners who can use it.
The right choice depends on your format, your audience and how they listen. There is no single answer that suits every station, so we will help you pick something sensible.
MP3 and AAC are the most widely understood formats. Ogg Vorbis and Opus are open alternatives, supported on Icecast, that can sound good at lower bitrates.
A mount point is the named address a player connects to for a stream. With Icecast, it is part of the stream URL, so a player might connect to a name such as /stream. SHOUTcast uses a stream ID rather than a mount point.
In practice, your listeners do not need to know any of this. They click a link or press play in an app, and the player takes care of the address. The mount point is plumbing you set up once.
Internet radio is a standard stream, so there are several general ways to listen:
The exact options depend on the app or device. The stream itself is ordinary internet radio, which is what makes it easy to carry across different players.
One thing we will not do: promise numbers we cannot stand behind. This page explains the technology in general terms; your setup is discussed with you directly.
Tell us about your station and we will recommend the setup that fits.