diff --git a/server/internal/capture/broadcast.go b/server/internal/capture/broadcast.go
index 2ded2cd0..0b056c02 100644
--- a/server/internal/capture/broadcast.go
+++ b/server/internal/capture/broadcast.go
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ type BroacastManagerCtx struct {
 	pipelinesActive  prometheus.Gauge
 }
 
-func broadcastNew(pipelineFn func(url string) (string, error), defaultUrl string) *BroacastManagerCtx {
+func broadcastNew(pipelineFn func(url string) (string, error), defaultUrl string, autostart bool) *BroacastManagerCtx {
 	logger := log.With().
 		Str("module", "capture").
 		Str("submodule", "broadcast").
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ func broadcastNew(pipelineFn func(url string) (string, error), defaultUrl string
 		logger:     logger,
 		pipelineFn: pipelineFn,
 		url:        defaultUrl,
-		started:    defaultUrl != "",
+		started:    defaultUrl != "" && autostart,
 
 		// metrics
 		pipelinesCounter: promauto.NewCounter(prometheus.CounterOpts{
diff --git a/server/internal/capture/manager.go b/server/internal/capture/manager.go
index 2a71485e..f4d004c0 100644
--- a/server/internal/capture/manager.go
+++ b/server/internal/capture/manager.go
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ func New(desktop types.DesktopManager, config *config.Capture) *CaptureManagerCt
 					"! x264enc threads=4 bitrate=%d key-int-max=15 byte-stream=true tune=zerolatency speed-preset=%s "+
 					"! mux.", url, config.AudioDevice, config.BroadcastAudioBitrate*1000, config.Display, config.BroadcastVideoBitrate, config.BroadcastPreset,
 			), nil
-		}, config.BroadcastUrl),
+		}, config.BroadcastUrl, config.BroadcastAutostart),
 		screencast: screencastNew(config.ScreencastEnabled, func() string {
 			if config.ScreencastPipeline != "" {
 				// replace {display} with valid display
diff --git a/server/internal/config/capture.go b/server/internal/config/capture.go
index 6e23b4a8..9f870dc5 100644
--- a/server/internal/config/capture.go
+++ b/server/internal/config/capture.go
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ type Capture struct {
 	BroadcastPreset       string
 	BroadcastPipeline     string
 	BroadcastUrl          string
+	BroadcastAutostart    bool
 
 	ScreencastEnabled  bool
 	ScreencastRate     string
@@ -102,6 +103,11 @@ func (Capture) Init(cmd *cobra.Command) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	cmd.PersistentFlags().Bool("capture.broadcast.autostart", true, "automatically start broadcasting when neko starts and broadcast_url is set")
+	if err := viper.BindPFlag("capture.broadcast.autostart", cmd.PersistentFlags().Lookup("capture.broadcast.autostart")); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	// screencast
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().Bool("capture.screencast.enabled", false, "enable screencast")
 	if err := viper.BindPFlag("capture.screencast.enabled", cmd.PersistentFlags().Lookup("capture.screencast.enabled")); err != nil {
@@ -227,6 +233,7 @@ func (s *Capture) Set() {
 	s.BroadcastPreset = viper.GetString("capture.broadcast.preset")
 	s.BroadcastPipeline = viper.GetString("capture.broadcast.pipeline")
 	s.BroadcastUrl = viper.GetString("capture.broadcast.url")
+	s.BroadcastAutostart = viper.GetBool("capture.broadcast.autostart")
 
 	// screencast
 	s.ScreencastEnabled = viper.GetBool("capture.screencast.enabled")