Funkwhale vs Transmission

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?
FeatureFunkwhaleTransmission
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseAGPL-3.0GPL-3.0
LanguagePythonC++
Setup difficultyHardMedium
Min. RAM1,024 MB50 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metalbare-metal
GitHub stars★ 2,700★ 15,047
First released20172023
ReplacesSpotifyµTorrent

Why pick each one

Choose Funkwhale if…

  • Federated and social
  • Subsonic client support
  • Podcast support
Funkwhale details

Choose Transmission if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • Mature project with 15k GitHub stars
  • Written in C++
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Transmission details

Frequently asked questions

Is Funkwhale or Transmission better?

Transmission is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Funkwhale if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Funkwhale and Transmission free and open-source?

Yes. Funkwhale is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Transmission under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Funkwhale and Transmission with Docker?

Funkwhale: yes. Transmission: check the project docs for container support.

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