Funkwhale vs Swing Music
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Funkwhale
Federated music streaming and sharing platform
VS
Swing Music
Self-hosted music player with a modern interface
| Feature | Funkwhale | Swing Music |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Media Servers | Media Servers |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,700 | ★ 2,070 |
| First released | 2017 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Spotify | Spotify, Apple Music |
What are Funkwhale and Swing Music?
Funkwhale
Funkwhale is a self-hosted, federated music server for streaming and sharing audio, including support for podcasts and community libraries. It targets musicians and communities wanting a social music platform. It is deployed via Docker.
- ActivityPub federation
- Music and podcast streaming
- Subsonic API compatibility
- Community libraries
Swing Music
Swing Music is a beautiful, self-hosted music player and streaming server for your local audio collection. It automatically organizes albums, artists, and folders and includes a polished web player.
- Modern web player
- Automatic library organization
- Folder browsing
- Single binary option
Funkwhale vs Swing Music: key differences
Both projects are written in Python. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Funkwhale versus MIT for Swing Music. Swing Music is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Funkwhale. Funkwhale is the more established project (first released 2017), while Swing Music arrived in 2022.
Why pick each one
Choose Funkwhale if…
- Federated and social
- Subsonic client support
- Podcast support
Watch out for
- Heavier setup
- Federation adds complexity
Choose Swing Music if…
- Attractive interface
- Easy to deploy
Watch out for
- Younger project
- No multi-user roles yet
Frequently asked questions
Is Funkwhale or Swing Music better?
Neither is universally better. Funkwhale has the larger community, while Swing Music is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Funkwhale and Swing Music free and open-source?
Yes. Funkwhale is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Swing Music under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Funkwhale and Swing Music with Docker?
Funkwhale: yes. Swing Music: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Funkwhale or Swing Music?
Swing Music has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Funkwhale. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.