{"id":12616,"date":"2026-04-08T06:55:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T13:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/i-hope-nvidias-legal-team-lets-this-slide-im-entering-opennow-the-trending-open-source-geforce-now-alternative-to-cloud-gaming-for-good-reason\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T21:25:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T04:25:03","slug":"i-hope-nvidias-legal-team-lets-this-slide-im-entering-opennow-the-trending-open-source-geforce-now-alternative-to-cloud-gaming-for-good-reason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/08\/i-hope-nvidias-legal-team-lets-this-slide-im-entering-opennow-the-trending-open-source-geforce-now-alternative-to-cloud-gaming-for-good-reason\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;I hope NVIDIA&#8217;s legal team lets this slide&#8221;: I&#8217;m entering OpenNOW, the trending open source GeForce Now alternative to cloud gaming &#8211; for good reason"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p id=\"elk-0be962ac-b3e1-4819-b5c1-c314101eb117\">A free, open source GitHub project called <strong>Open NOW<\/strong><strong> <\/strong>is getting a lot of attention in the PC gaming community as an alternative to the native NVIDIA GeForce Now app.<\/p>\n<p>OpenNOW, developed and maintained by the OpenCloud community, is designed for use with it <strong>Windows <\/strong>(ARM64 support included), <strong>macOS<\/strong>again <strong>Linux<\/strong> (x64 or ARM64), and as its creators say, &#8220;<em>aims to provide players with a transparent, customizable path to the official client without hiding technical components from contributors.<\/em>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<aside data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\" class=\"hawk-root\"\/>\n<p id=\"elk-0be962ac-b3e1-4819-b5c1-c314101eb117-2\" class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">NVIDIA GeForce Now is a cloud gaming service that rivals Xbox Cloud Gaming in reach and appeal, allowing gamers who don&#8217;t really have a powerful PC to enjoy games running on high-end hardware.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"article-continues-below block py-2 text-sm\">The article continues below <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"inline-block w-2.5 h-2.5 ml-2\" fill=\"currentColor\" preserveaspectratio=\"xMidYMid meet\" viewbox=\"0 0 1000 1000\"><path d=\"M1000 100L500 900 0 100h1000z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pb-0 pt-2 mb-4\">\n        <span class=\"&#10;            flex&#10;            after:content-[''] after:flex-1 after:ml-4 after:my-[0.7rem] after:border-t after:border-solid after:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            before:content-[''] before:flex-1 before:mr-4 before:my-[0.7rem] before:border-t before:border-solid before:border-t-[#ccc]&#10;            font-article-heading pb-0 !text-base uppercase sm:text-sm font-bold&#10;        \"><\/p>\n<p>            You might like it<br \/>\n        <\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\">Unfortunately, not all GeForce Now subscribers like the native operating system offered by NVIDIA. Those users now have this alternative, assuming NVIDIA&#8217;s legal team doesn&#8217;t get involved.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"why-is-opennow-getting-so-much-attention-as-a-geforce-now-alternative-3\">Why is OpenNOW getting so much attention as an alternative to GeForce Now?<\/h2>\n<div class=\"youtube-video youtube-facade\" data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"elk-N2X7VBKp4jg\">\n<div class=\"video-aspect-box\">\n<div class=\"watch-on-iframe-N2X7VBKp4jg\" data-yt-video-token=\"N2X7VBKp4jg\" title=\"OpenNOW V0.3 | Ball X Pit | Linux | Controller Mode - YouTube\">\n<span class=\"youtube-video-title\">OpenNOW V0.3 | Ball X Hole | Linux | Controller mode &#8211; YouTube<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"play-button\" viewbox=\"0 0 234.67 165.33\"><path fill=\"red\" d=\"M229.763 25.817c-2.699-10.162-10.65-18.165-20.748-20.881C190.716 0 117.333 0 117.333 0S43.951 0 25.651 4.936C15.553 7.652 7.6 15.655 4.903 25.817 0 44.236 0 82.667 0 82.667s0 38.429 4.903 56.85C7.6 149.68 15.553 157.681 25.65 160.4c18.3 4.934 91.682 4.934 91.682 4.934s73.383 0 91.682-4.934c10.098-2.718 18.049-10.72 20.748-20.882 4.904-18.421 4.904-56.85 4.904-56.85s0-38.431-4.904-56.85\"\/><path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"m93.333 117.559 61.333-34.89-61.333-34.894z\"\/><\/svg><\/p>\n<p>Watch it open <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"youtube-logo\" viewbox=\"0 0 507.9 113.39\"><g fill=\"#fff\"><path d=\"M64.792 80.99V32.396l42.082 24.297zm93.803-63.285a20.285 20.285 0 0 0-14.32-14.32C131.642 0 80.99 0 80.99 0S30.337 0 17.705 3.385a20.286 20.286 0 0 0-14.32 14.32C0 30.338 0 56.693 0 56.693S0 83.049 3.385 95.68A20.285 20.285 0 0 0 17.705 110c12.632 3.386 63.285 3.386 63.285 3.386s50.652 0 63.285-3.386a20.284 20.284 0 0 0 14.32-14.32c3.385-12.632 3.385-38.988 3.385-38.988s0-26.355-3.385-38.988m94.473 74.326c.887-2.314 1.332-6.098 1.332-11.35V58.556c0-5.097-.445-8.822-1.332-11.178-.888-2.355-2.452-3.533-4.69-3.533-2.163 0-3.69 1.178-4.577 3.533-.888 2.356-1.332 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1.469.116 2.548 0 6.565-1.795 11.47-5.387 14.712-3.589 3.242-8.669 4.865-15.232 4.865-7.876 0-13.398-2.47-16.564-7.414-3.168-4.94-4.75-12.586-4.75-22.935V63.589c0-10.657 1.641-18.436 4.924-23.342 3.281-4.903 8.9-7.355 16.854-7.355 5.482 0 9.691 1.004 12.626 3.012 2.933 2.01 5 5.137 6.197 9.383 1.197 4.247 1.796 10.117 1.796 17.607v12.163h-26.757m-284.953-1.33-18.187-65.68h15.869l6.37 29.77c1.623 7.339 2.82 13.594 3.591 18.766h.464c.54-3.706 1.738-9.922 3.591-18.65l6.603-29.886h15.869l-18.417 65.68v31.51h-15.754v-31.51M322.115 34.23v71.007h-12.511l-1.39-8.688h-.347c-3.399 6.564-8.496 9.845-15.291 9.845-4.71 0-8.185-1.543-10.425-4.633-2.24-3.087-3.359-7.915-3.359-14.48V34.23h15.985v52.126c0 3.168.348 5.426 1.043 6.776.695 1.353 1.853 2.027 3.475 2.027 1.39 0 2.722-.423 3.996-1.275 1.274-.849 2.22-1.928 2.838-3.241V34.229h15.986m81.995.001v71.007h-12.511l-1.391-8.688h-.345c-3.402 6.564-8.498 9.845-15.292 9.845-4.711 0-8.186-1.543-10.426-4.633-2.24-3.087-3.358-7.915-3.358-14.48V34.23h15.985v52.126c0 3.168.347 5.426 1.041 6.776.696 1.353 1.855 2.027 3.476 2.027 1.391 0 2.723-.423 3.996-1.275 1.275-.849 2.22-1.928 2.839-3.241V34.229h15.985\"\/><path d=\"M365.552 20.908h-15.87v84.329h-15.637v-84.33h-15.869V8.05h47.376v12.858m76.811 53.636c0 5.174-.215 9.229-.639 12.162-.424 2.937-1.139 5.021-2.143 6.255-1.004 1.236-2.357 1.854-4.053 1.854a7.404 7.404 0 0 1-3.65-.927c-1.12-.618-2.026-1.544-2.722-2.78V50.796c.54-1.93 1.467-3.513 2.78-4.749 1.313-1.234 2.74-1.853 4.285-1.853 1.623 0 2.876.637 3.766 1.91.886 1.275 1.505 3.418 1.853 6.43.348 3.011.523 7.297.523 12.857zm14.652-28.964c-.967-4.478-2.531-7.721-4.692-9.73-2.163-2.007-5.136-3.011-8.919-3.011-2.935 0-5.676.83-8.224 2.49a16.926 16.926 0 0 0-5.908 6.545h-.117l.001-37.416h-15.405v100.777h13.204l1.622-6.717h.347c1.235 2.393 3.088 4.285 5.56 5.675 2.47 1.39 5.213 2.085 8.225 2.085 5.404 0 9.382-2.491 11.931-7.471 2.548-4.982 3.823-12.76 3.823-23.341V64.23c0-7.953-.484-14.17-1.448-18.65\"\/><\/g><\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"elk-7a2c2dfb-2f08-4874-94d9-20617544cc84\">It is expressly stated that you must use your GeForce Now account through OpenNOW; this is not a specific way to earn subscription money. So why is OpenNOW getting so much attention? Although it has been around and is under development since late 2025, it has now taken 1.5K stars on GitHub.<\/p>\n<p>The biggest advantage for many gamers is the lack of AFK limitations. You know how GeForce Now will kick you out of a game if you walk away and get distracted for more than a few minutes? That doesn&#8217;t happen in OpenNOW.<\/p>\n<p>It is also clearly stated on the OpenNOW GitHub page that the app does not collect any kind of telemetry. Verification of your GeForce Now account is all done through NVIDIA servers, and game settings and any media you download stay on your PC.<\/p>\n<hr id=\"elk-3de15bab-71c5-492d-9023-a51da087bca3\"\/>\n<p id=\"elk-4f6106e8-c50d-46c2-bb87-941aa547df9f\">Despite privacy and telemetry concerns, OpenNOW is easy to use. It offers a robust set of streaming controls that you can use to adjust performance and graphics. It has built-in performance monitoring and diagnostic tools. Search is made for your games and secret games. And the app handles capture, audio, and controller navigation.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the best part is that it is open source. That means experienced developers can fork their version and apply changes as they see fit.<\/p>\n<p>The website for the OpenNOW app shows that it is working on adding features like voice chat, instant playback, themes, and custom scripts and extensions, and at the rate the app is currently being updated, I don&#8217;t expect these features to be around for too long.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"nvidia-geforce-now-vs-opennow-which-one-should-you-use-3\">NVIDIA GeForce Now vs. OpenNOW: Which one should you use?<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check=\"\" id=\"elk-034e6073-d637-42be-933a-7266d8f8912f\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\" style=\"max-width:1918px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.31%;\"> <picture data-new-v2-image=\"true\"><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/VMQ6ZQLJyKTJ75DSikqLNL-1200-80.jpg.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/VMQ6ZQLJyKTJ75DSikqLNL-1024-80.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/VMQ6ZQLJyKTJ75DSikqLNL-970-80.jpg.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/VMQ6ZQLJyKTJ75DSikqLNL-650-80.jpg.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/VMQ6ZQLJyKTJ75DSikqLNL-480-80.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/VMQ6ZQLJyKTJ75DSikqLNL-320-80.jpg.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Steam Deck console with NvIdia GeForce Now interface on screen\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/VMQ6ZQLJyKTJ75DSikqLNL-1200-80.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/VMQ6ZQLJyKTJ75DSikqLNL-1024-80.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/VMQ6ZQLJyKTJ75DSikqLNL-970-80.jpg 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/VMQ6ZQLJyKTJ75DSikqLNL-650-80.jpg 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/VMQ6ZQLJyKTJ75DSikqLNL-480-80.jpg 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/VMQ6ZQLJyKTJ75DSikqLNL-320-80.jpg 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/VMQ6ZQLJyKTJ75DSikqLNL.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/VMQ6ZQLJyKTJ75DSikqLNL.jpg\" class=\"inline expandable\"\/>\n<\/picture><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"caption-text\">GeForce Now streams games to Steam Deck. <\/span><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Photo credit: Jennifer Young &#8211; Windows Central)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"elk-c629f231-6490-48a5-af07-96bb97da1b98\">OpenNOW has some limitations compared to its official NVIDIA counterpart, and I&#8217;m sure that many PC gamers will not want to give up features such as Discord integration or Android compatibility. Not to mention HOTAS for all the flight sim enthusiasts out there.<\/p>\n<p>Still, OpenNOW should be a good choice for anyone with privacy and advanced streaming controls. For those looking for a more targeted experience with official support, GeForce Now is still the go-to option.<\/p>\n<hr id=\"elk-9ba88e30-c6e6-4be6-98d2-890df1c8320d\"\/>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure pull-left inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check=\"\">\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\" style=\"max-width:1672px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:29.96%;\"> <picture data-new-v2-image=\"true\"><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/rX94E5y9uUKpUAhcKF7Ruj-1200-80.png.webp 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/rX94E5y9uUKpUAhcKF7Ruj-1024-80.png.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/rX94E5y9uUKpUAhcKF7Ruj-970-80.png.webp 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/rX94E5y9uUKpUAhcKF7Ruj-650-80.png.webp 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/rX94E5y9uUKpUAhcKF7Ruj-480-80.png.webp 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/rX94E5y9uUKpUAhcKF7Ruj-320-80.png.webp 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Click to join us on r\/WindowsCentral\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/rX94E5y9uUKpUAhcKF7Ruj-1200-80.png 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/rX94E5y9uUKpUAhcKF7Ruj-1024-80.png 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/rX94E5y9uUKpUAhcKF7Ruj-970-80.png 970w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/rX94E5y9uUKpUAhcKF7Ruj-650-80.png 650w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/rX94E5y9uUKpUAhcKF7Ruj-480-80.png 480w, https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/rX94E5y9uUKpUAhcKF7Ruj-320-80.png 320w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 970px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/rX94E5y9uUKpUAhcKF7Ruj.png\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/rX94E5y9uUKpUAhcKF7Ruj.png\" class=\"pull-leftinline\"\/>\n<\/picture><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p id=\"elk-e17ca77a-84fe-45ce-8019-7639cc6e6e73\"><em>Join us <\/em><em>Reddit at r\/WindowsCentral <\/em><em>to share your information and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr id=\"elk-3aeb3d77-d1bb-4f5e-818d-a8ab1f9a865f\"\/>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A free, open source GitHub project called Open NOW is getting a lot of attention in the PC gaming community as an alternative to the native NVIDIA GeForce Now app. OpenNOW, developed and maintained by the OpenCloud community, is designed for use with it Windows (ARM64 support included), macOSagain Linux (x64 or ARM64), and as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12617,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12616","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-how-to-tips"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12616"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12618,"href":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12616\/revisions\/12618"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runwayritz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}