SHSelfHostIndex

Gonic vs Polaris

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?
GO Gonic Lightweight Subsonic-compatible music streaming server VS Polaris Music streaming server focused on speed and simplicity
FeatureGonicPolaris
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score86 · Excellent75 · Good
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseGPL-3.0MIT
LanguageGoRust
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM128 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, binarydocker, binary, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 2,555★ 2,731
First released20192017
ReplacesSpotify, PlexSpotify

What are Gonic and Polaris?

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

Read the full Gonic guide →

Polaris

Polaris is a self-hosted music streaming application written in Rust, designed to be fast and easy to set up. It lets you browse and stream your music collection from a clean web interface or compatible clients.

  • Written in Rust for speed
  • Simple setup
  • Last.fm integration
  • Collection browsing

Read the full Polaris guide →

Gonic vs Polaris: key differences

Gonic is written in Go, while Polaris is built with Rust. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Gonic versus MIT for Polaris. Polaris is the more established project (first released 2017), while Gonic arrived in 2019.

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
Gonic details

Choose Polaris if…

  • Low resource usage
  • Single binary deployment

Watch out for

  • Smaller ecosystem
  • Fewer client options
Polaris details

Frequently asked questions

Is Gonic or Polaris better?

Neither is universally better. Polaris has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Gonic and Polaris free and open-source?

Yes. Gonic is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Polaris under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Gonic and Polaris with Docker?

Gonic: yes. Polaris: yes.

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