Gonic vs Olaris
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Gonic | Olaris |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Media Servers | Media Servers |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,555 | ★ 300 |
| First released | 2019 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Spotify, Plex | Plex |
What are Gonic and Olaris?
Gonic
Gonic is a fast, lightweight music streaming server compatible with the Subsonic API. Written in Go, it works well on low-power hardware and supports podcasts and multiple music folders.
- Subsonic API compatible
- Very low resource use
- Podcast support
- Multiple music folders
Olaris
Olaris is an open-source media manager and transcoding server for organizing and streaming movies and TV shows. It scrapes metadata automatically and serves content over a GraphQL API.
- Automatic metadata scraping
- GraphQL API
- On-the-fly transcoding
- Movie and TV organization
Gonic vs Olaris: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Gonic versus AGPL-3.0 for Olaris. Gonic is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Olaris. Gonic has the considerably larger community, at 2,555 GitHub stars versus 300.
Why pick each one
Choose Gonic if…
- Runs on Raspberry Pi easily
- Works with many Subsonic clients
Watch out for
- No built-in web player polish
- Minimal admin UI
Choose Olaris if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Go
Watch out for
- Development stalled
- Limited client apps
Frequently asked questions
Is Gonic or Olaris better?
Gonic is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Olaris if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Gonic and Olaris free and open-source?
Yes. Gonic is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Olaris under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Gonic and Olaris with Docker?
Gonic: yes. Olaris: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Gonic or Olaris?
Gonic has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Olaris. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.