Koel vs tinyMediaManager

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?
FeatureKoeltinyMediaManager
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseMITApache-2.0
LanguagePHPJava
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal, binary
GitHub stars★ 17,208★ 8
First released20162012
ReplacesSpotifyPlex

Why pick each one

Choose Koel if…

  • Beautiful interface
  • Active community
Koel details

Choose tinyMediaManager if…

  • Excellent organization tools
  • Headless mode available
tinyMediaManager details

Frequently asked questions

Is Koel or tinyMediaManager better?

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

Are Koel and tinyMediaManager free and open-source?

Yes. Koel is licensed under MIT and tinyMediaManager under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Koel and tinyMediaManager with Docker?

Koel: yes. tinyMediaManager: yes.

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