Koel vs Maloja

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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FeatureKoelMaloja
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseMITGPL-3.0
LanguagePHPPython
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 17,208★ 1,767
First released20162018
ReplacesSpotifyLast.fm

Why pick each one

Choose Koel if…

  • Beautiful interface
  • Active community
Koel details

Choose Maloja if…

  • Owns your listening data
  • Lightweight
Maloja details

Frequently asked questions

Is Koel or Maloja better?

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

Are Koel and Maloja free and open-source?

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

Can I run Koel and Maloja with Docker?

Koel: yes. Maloja: yes.

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