Amperfy vs Koel
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Koel
Personal music streaming server with an elegant interface
| Feature | Amperfy | Koel |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 84 · Excellent | 95 · Excellent |
| Category | Media Servers | Media Servers |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Swift | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,761 | ★ 17,262 |
| First released | 2021 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Spotify, Apple Music | Spotify |
What are Amperfy and Koel?
Amperfy
Amperfy is a free and open-source iOS music streaming app that connects to Ampache and Subsonic-compatible servers. It supports offline playback, playlists, and CarPlay for self-hosted music libraries.
- Ampache and Subsonic support
- Offline playback
- CarPlay integration
- Playlist sync
Koel
Koel is a personal music streaming server with a focus on a clean, modern web interface. It supports smart playlists, last.fm scrobbling, and streaming your own collection from any browser.
- Elegant web player
- Smart playlists
- Last.fm scrobbling
- Mobile companion app
Amperfy vs Koel: key differences
Amperfy is written in Swift, while Koel is built with PHP. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Amperfy versus MIT for Koel. Amperfy is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Koel. Koel is the more established project (first released 2016), while Amperfy arrived in 2021. Koel has the considerably larger community, at 17,262 GitHub stars versus 1,761. Koel lists first-class Docker deployment; Amperfy does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Amperfy if…
- Native iOS experience
- Supports two server APIs
Watch out for
- iOS only
- Music only
Choose Koel if…
- Beautiful interface
- Active community
Watch out for
- Needs a separate database
- Limited transcoding options
Frequently asked questions
Is Amperfy or Koel better?
Neither is universally better. Koel has the larger community, while Amperfy is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Amperfy and Koel free and open-source?
Yes. Amperfy is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Koel under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Amperfy and Koel with Docker?
Amperfy: check the project docs for container support. Koel: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Amperfy or Koel?
Amperfy has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Koel. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.