Emby vs Koel
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options
— licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one
replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Compare Emby with
choose an app… Jellyfin qBittorrent SRS Navidrome Kodi Jackett Beets PeerTube Transmission Stash Stremio Web Streama Tautulli Ombi Dim Plex Universal Media Server Gonic Kyoo Fladder Reiverr Gerbera Stremio Server Olaris MiniDLNA Rygel tinyMediaManager
Compare Koel with
choose an app… Free Programming Books Immich Jellyfin Paperless-ngx PhotoPrism qBittorrent SRS KOReader Ente Photos Koodo Reader Calibre DeepFace Readest Navidrome Kodi Ebook2audiobook gallery-dl Calibre-Web Jackett Beets DeDRM Tools PeerTube Transmission Sonarr MeTube Radarr Audiobookshelf Color Thief darktable Stash Stremio Web Seerr Owncast Kavita Thumbor Streama Feishin Ladder Wikidpad Notes Mopidy Tube Archivist LibrePhotos Snapcast Prowlarr Tautulli Photoview imaginary Google Photos Takeout Helper Jellyfin Media Player Lidarr Pinchflat Streamyfin MediaCMS Overseerr musikcube Ant Media Server Community Edition Jellyfin for Android TV Black Candy Sonus Note - Black Candy Qui Tdarr Findroid Bazarr Finamp Ombi Dim Swiftfin Plex AzuraCast Strawberry Music Player Ampache Dispatcharr Headphones Moodist Ryot Tvheadend Yamtrack OvenMediaEngine Wizarr SABnzbd Music Assistant ytdl-sub ErsatzTV Flood TubeSync mpd Polaris Funkwhale Universal Media Server NymphCast yt-dlp Web UI OwnTone Profilarr Tunarr Gonic Kyoo Fladder Unmanic Jellystat mStream Reiverr Jellyfin MPV Shim Broadcast Box Supersonic xTeVe Tempo Maintainerr Recyclarr Airsonic Swing Music Podgrab Sonixd Musicn Maloja Lyrion Music Server Quod Libet Jellyfin Vue Threadfin Amperfy LMS CyTube Cross-Seed ViewTube WatchYourLAN Note - CineMatic Watcharr Fireshare Airsonic-Advanced moOde audio player Gerbera nefarious Mopidy-Iris Meelo multi-scrobbler MyTube Whisparr Castopod PinePods LibreTime Rapidbay Karaoke Eternal Audioserve CodeX.docs Movary Cinemataztic Note Webtrees-no Kitsu Self-Hosted Reaparr Stretto Icecast Lidify ympd myMPD Lidarr on Steroids LinkStack MistServer Ultrasonic PodFetch Airsonic-Refix Downtify SyncTube vod2pod-rss LidaTube Deleterr ChannelTube Stremio Server YoutubeDL-Server gpodder.net (mygpo) Olaris Supysonic AntennaPod gpodder Sync Server Nextcloud GPodder ydl_api_ng Jellyfin for Roku RompR MiniDLNA Rygel Submariner cmyflix Cantata Stream Master OctoStream Note - mediarr OliveTin-no ClipBucket Snapweb BotWave Audinaut Sublime Music NextPVR Volumio MKVPriority Podverse TrackWatch tinyMediaManager Vibin Note - Beatbump alt Murmur-no Channels DVR Server Deemix Deluge Just. Download. Sickchill Stalwart Mail Subsonic Tube VideoLAN Client (VLC) üWave
Feature Emby Koel Category Media Servers Media Servers License Proprietary MIT Language C# PHP Setup difficulty Easy Medium Min. RAM 512 MB 512 MB Deployment docker, bare-metal docker, bare-metal GitHub stars ★ 4,945 ★ 17,208 First released 2015 2016 Replaces Plex, Netflix Spotify
Why pick each one
Choose Emby if… Polished interface Good device coverage Stable and mature Emby details Choose Koel if… Beautiful interface Active community Koel details
Frequently asked questions Is Emby or Koel better? Neither is universally better. Koel has the larger community, while Emby is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Emby and Koel free and open-source? Yes. Emby is licensed under Proprietary and Koel under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Emby and Koel with Docker? Emby: yes. Koel: yes.