Koel vs Tautulli

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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FeatureKoelTautulli
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseMITGPL-3.0
LanguagePHPPython
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 17,208★ 6,559
First released20162015
ReplacesSpotifyPlex

Why pick each one

Choose Koel if…

  • Beautiful interface
  • Active community
Koel details

Choose Tautulli if…

  • Great Plex insights
  • Flexible notifications
  • Lightweight
Tautulli details

Frequently asked questions

Is Koel or Tautulli better?

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

Are Koel and Tautulli free and open-source?

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

Can I run Koel and Tautulli with Docker?

Koel: yes. Tautulli: yes.

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