Fladder vs Stash
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Fladder | Stash |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 87 · Excellent | 92 · Excellent |
| Category | Media Servers | Media Servers |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Dart | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,599 | ★ 13,007 |
| First released | 2024 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Plex, Emby Theater | Plex |
What are Fladder and Stash?
Fladder
Fladder is a cross-platform Jellyfin client built with Flutter, supporting Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, and the web. It provides library browsing, media playback, and downloads in a single unified codebase.
- One codebase for all platforms
- MPV-based playback
- Offline downloads
- SyncPlay support
Stash
Stash is a self-hosted media organizer that catalogs video and image collections with rich metadata, tagging, and scraping. It targets users who want a deeply organized personal media archive. It is deployed via Docker or a single binary.
- Rich metadata and tagging
- Scraper and plugin system
- Built-in web player
- SQLite-backed storage
Fladder vs Stash: key differences
Fladder is written in Dart, while Stash is built with Go. Licensing differs — MIT for Fladder versus AGPL-3.0 for Stash. Stash is the more established project (first released 2019), while Fladder arrived in 2024. Stash has the considerably larger community, at 13,007 GitHub stars versus 2,599. Stash lists first-class Docker deployment; Fladder does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Fladder if…
- Truly cross-platform
- Lightweight
Watch out for
- Younger project
- Requires Jellyfin server
Choose Stash if…
- Powerful organization
- Extensible via plugins
- Easy to deploy
Watch out for
- Single-user focused
- Niche feature set
Frequently asked questions
Is Fladder or Stash better?
Neither is universally better. Stash has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Fladder and Stash free and open-source?
Yes. Fladder is licensed under MIT and Stash under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Fladder and Stash with Docker?
Fladder: check the project docs for container support. Stash: yes.