Koel vs Yamtrack

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?
FeatureKoelYamtrack
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseMITAGPL-3.0-or-later
LanguagePHPPython
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB200 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metalbare-metal
GitHub stars★ 17,208★ 3,306
First released20162026
ReplacesSpotifyGoodreads, IMDB, MyAnimeList

Why pick each one

Choose Koel if…

  • Beautiful interface
  • Active community
Koel details

Choose Yamtrack if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0-or-later license
  • Active community (3.3k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Python
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 200 MB RAM
Yamtrack details

Frequently asked questions

Is Koel or Yamtrack 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 Yamtrack free and open-source?

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

Can I run Koel and Yamtrack with Docker?

Koel: yes. Yamtrack: check the project docs for container support.

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