Membrane Framework
Multimedia streaming framework for Elixir built on the BEAM. Membrane provides a composable pipeline model for processing audio/video streams — ingest from RTMP/WebRTC/HLS, transcode, mix, and output to multiple targets. Uses the same GenStage-inspired pipeline model as Broadway but for multimedia. Supports WebRTC peer connections, RTMP ingest (for OBS-style streaming), HLS output, MP4/Matroska muxing, Opus/AAC audio, and H264/H265 video. Used by Jellyfish (WebRTC conferencing server) and VideoRoom.
Score Breakdown
⚙ Agent Friendliness
🔒 Security
WebRTC DTLS-SRTP for media encryption. RTMP over TLS via nginx fronting. Application-layer auth responsibility. BEAM process isolation prevents cross-pipeline data leakage.
⚡ Reliability
Best When
You're building real-time audio/video processing pipelines in Elixir — WebRTC conferencing, live streaming, or AI-powered media analysis — and want composable, supervised pipeline architecture.
Avoid When
You need simple format conversion (use FFmpeg) or you're not in an Elixir stack. Membrane's value is in composable real-time pipelines, not one-off transcoding.
Use Cases
- • Build real-time agent audio processing pipelines in Elixir — transcribe speech, detect emotions, or extract features from live audio streams using Membrane's composable pipeline
- • Create WebRTC-based agent communication channels for voice/video AI interactions using Membrane's WebRTC plugin without external media servers
- • Process recorded video/audio files for agent analysis — extract audio tracks, transcode formats, or split into segments using Membrane's file source/sink plugins
- • Implement HLS streaming for agent-generated video content using Membrane's HLS plugin for adaptive bitrate delivery to web clients
- • Build RTMP ingest servers for agent media processing — accept streams from OBS or broadcasting software and route through AI processing pipelines
Not For
- • Non-Elixir stacks — use GStreamer (C/Rust), FFmpeg pipelines, or LiveKit (Go) for media processing in other ecosystems
- • Simple audio/video format conversion — ffmpeg CLI is faster for one-off transcoding; Membrane shines for production streaming pipelines
- • Teams without Elixir/BEAM knowledge — the pipeline and element model requires understanding BEAM process supervision and Elixir concurrency
Interface
Authentication
Membrane is a library — auth for WebRTC/RTMP endpoints handled at application level. WebRTC signaling auth via application server.
Pricing
Membrane Framework is open source (Apache 2.0) maintained by Software Mansion. Free for all use. Jellyfish (built on Membrane) has commercial support options.
Agent Metadata
Known Gotchas
- ⚠ Membrane has many separate hex packages — membrane_core + individual plugins (membrane_webrtc_plugin, membrane_hls_plugin, membrane_file_plugin); version compatibility between plugins must be managed carefully in mix.exs
- ⚠ WebRTC signaling is NOT included — Membrane handles media pipeline but signaling (SDP offer/answer exchange) must be implemented separately via Phoenix Channels, WebSocket, or similar
- ⚠ Native dependencies required — membrane_h264_ffmpeg_plugin and similar require libav/FFmpeg C libraries; Docker images or Nix environments simplify setup but add build complexity
- ⚠ Element callback architecture — handle_process/4, handle_buffer/4, handle_event/4 must be implemented correctly; buffer timestamps and stream format negotiation between elements requires understanding Membrane's pad system
- ⚠ Membrane 1.0 broke compatibility with pre-1.0 elements — many community plugins may still be on older API; check hex.pm for 1.x compatible versions before adding plugins
- ⚠ Memory pressure from large video buffers — Membrane passes binary buffers between elements via BEAM process messages; large frames (4K video) create GC pressure; tune GC and buffer pool settings for high-resolution pipelines
Alternatives
Full Evaluation Report
Detailed scoring breakdown, competitive positioning, security analysis, and improvement recommendations for Membrane Framework.
Scores are editorial opinions as of 2026-03-06.