Koel vs Tempo
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Koel
Personal music streaming server with an elegant interface
VS
Tempo
Material You Subsonic music client for Android
| Feature | Koel | Tempo |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 95 · Excellent | 20 · At risk |
| Category | Media Servers | Media Servers |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 17,262 | ★ 2,240 |
| First released | 2016 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Spotify | Spotify, Plexamp |
What are Koel and Tempo?
Koel
Koel is a personal music streaming server with a focus on a clean, modern web interface. It supports smart playlists, last.fm scrobbling, and streaming your own collection from any browser.
- Elegant web player
- Smart playlists
- Last.fm scrobbling
- Mobile companion app
Tempo
Tempo is a free and open-source music streaming client for Subsonic-compatible servers such as Navidrome and Airsonic. It features a Material You interface, offline downloads, and Android Auto support.
- Subsonic API support
- Material You theming
- Android Auto
- Offline downloads
Koel vs Tempo: key differences
Koel is written in PHP, while Tempo is built with Java. Licensing differs — MIT for Koel versus GPL-3.0 for Tempo. Tempo is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Koel. Koel is the more established project (first released 2016), while Tempo arrived in 2022. Koel has the considerably larger community, at 17,262 GitHub stars versus 2,240. Koel lists first-class Docker deployment; Tempo does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Koel if…
- Beautiful interface
- Active community
Watch out for
- Needs a separate database
- Limited transcoding options
Choose Tempo if…
- Modern Android design
- Works with multiple servers
Watch out for
- Android only
- No video support
Frequently asked questions
Is Koel or Tempo better?
Neither is universally better. Koel has the larger community, while Tempo is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Koel and Tempo free and open-source?
Yes. Koel is licensed under MIT and Tempo under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Koel and Tempo with Docker?
Koel: yes. Tempo: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Koel or Tempo?
Tempo has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Koel. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.