Streamyfin vs Koel

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

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FeatureStreamyfinKoel
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseMPL-2.0MIT
LanguageTypeScriptPHP
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentbinary, sourcedocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 5,097★ 17,208
First released20242016
ReplacesInfuse, Plex mobile appSpotify

Why pick each one

Choose Streamyfin if…

  • Modern mobile UI
  • Active development
Streamyfin details

Choose Koel if…

  • Beautiful interface
  • Active community
Koel details

Frequently asked questions

Is Streamyfin or Koel better?

Neither is universally better. Koel has the larger community, while Streamyfin is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Streamyfin and Koel free and open-source?

Yes. Streamyfin is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Koel under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Streamyfin and Koel with Docker?

Streamyfin: check the project docs for container support. Koel: yes.

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