Koel vs Tube Archivist

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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FeatureKoelTube Archivist
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseMITGPL-3.0
LanguagePHPPython
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker
GitHub stars★ 17,208★ 8,342
First released20162021
ReplacesSpotifyYouTube

Why pick each one

Choose Koel if…

  • Beautiful interface
  • Active community
Koel details

Choose Tube Archivist if…

  • Great for archiving channels
  • Powerful search
Tube Archivist details

Frequently asked questions

Is Koel or Tube Archivist better?

Neither is universally better. Koel has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Koel and Tube Archivist free and open-source?

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

Can I run Koel and Tube Archivist with Docker?

Koel: yes. Tube Archivist: yes.

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