Ampache vs Black Candy
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Ampache | Black Candy |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 88 · Excellent | 89 · Excellent |
| Category | Media Servers | Media Servers |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,832 | ★ 4,418 |
| First released | 2001 | None |
| Replaces | Spotify | Spotify, Apple Music |
What are Ampache and Black Candy?
Ampache
Ampache is a web-based audio and video streaming application and file manager that lets you access your music from anywhere. It supports the Subsonic API, sharing, and a wide range of clients.
- Subsonic API support
- Audio and video streaming
- Sharing and playlists
- Many client apps
Black Candy
A self hosted music streaming server. Contribute to blackcandy-org/blackcandy development by creating an account on GitHub.
- Personal music streaming
- Responsive web player
- Multi-user accounts
- PWA support
Ampache vs Black Candy: key differences
Ampache is written in PHP, while Black Candy is built with Ruby. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Ampache versus MIT for Black Candy.
Why pick each one
Choose Ampache if…
- Long-established project
- Flexible catalog options
Watch out for
- Configuration can be complex
- Dated areas of the UI
Choose Black Candy if…
- Clean modern interface
- Simple to deploy
Watch out for
- Music only
- Smaller ecosystem
Frequently asked questions
Is Ampache or Black Candy better?
Neither is universally better. Black Candy has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Ampache and Black Candy free and open-source?
Yes. Ampache is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Black Candy under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ampache and Black Candy with Docker?
Ampache: yes. Black Candy: yes.