Koel vs MeTube

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?
FeatureKoelMeTube
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseMITAGPL-3.0
LanguagePHPPython
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker
GitHub stars★ 17,208★ 14,359
First released20162021
ReplacesSpotifyYouTube Premium

Why pick each one

Choose Koel if…

  • Beautiful interface
  • Active community
Koel details

Choose MeTube if…

  • Very easy to use
  • Lightweight container
MeTube details

Frequently asked questions

Is Koel or MeTube better?

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

Are Koel and MeTube free and open-source?

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

Can I run Koel and MeTube with Docker?

Koel: yes. MeTube: yes.

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