Gonic vs OwnTone
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?
Gonic
Lightweight Subsonic-compatible music streaming server
VS
OwnTone
Media server with AirPlay, Chromecast and Spotify support
| Feature | Gonic | OwnTone |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Media Servers | Media Servers |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | C |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,496 | ★ 2,535 |
| First released | 2019 | 2009 |
| Replaces | Spotify, Plex | Spotify, Apple Music |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Gonic or OwnTone better?
Neither is universally better. OwnTone has the larger community, while Gonic is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Gonic and OwnTone free and open-source?
Yes. Gonic is licensed under GPL-3.0 and OwnTone under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Gonic and OwnTone with Docker?
Gonic: yes. OwnTone: yes.