Jellyfin Vue 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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FeatureJellyfin VueKoel
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseGPL-3.0MIT
LanguageVuePHP
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM128 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 1,690★ 17,208
First released20202016
ReplacesPlex WebSpotify

Why pick each one

Choose Jellyfin Vue if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (1.7k GitHub stars)
Jellyfin Vue details

Choose Koel if…

  • Beautiful interface
  • Active community
Koel details

Frequently asked questions

Is Jellyfin Vue or Koel better?

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

Are Jellyfin Vue and Koel free and open-source?

Yes. Jellyfin Vue is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Koel under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Jellyfin Vue and Koel with Docker?

Jellyfin Vue: yes. Koel: yes.

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