Kyoo vs Stash
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Kyoo
Open-source media browser for movies and TV shows
VS
Stash
Self-hosted media organizer and server
| Feature | Kyoo | Stash |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 92 · Excellent |
| Category | Media Servers | Media Servers |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,527 | ★ 13,007 |
| First released | 2020 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Plex, Netflix | Plex |
What are Kyoo and Stash?
Kyoo
Kyoo is a self-hosted media browser and streaming application for movies, TV shows, and anime. It automatically fetches metadata and offers a modern web and mobile interface for your library.
- Automatic metadata scraping
- Modern web UI
- Anime support
- Multi-user accounts
Stash
Stash is a self-hosted media organizer that catalogs video and image collections with rich metadata, tagging, and scraping. It targets users who want a deeply organized personal media archive. It is deployed via Docker or a single binary.
- Rich metadata and tagging
- Scraper and plugin system
- Built-in web player
- SQLite-backed storage
Kyoo vs Stash: key differences
Kyoo is written in TypeScript, while Stash is built with Go. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Kyoo versus AGPL-3.0 for Stash. Stash is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Kyoo. Stash has the considerably larger community, at 13,007 GitHub stars versus 2,527.
Why pick each one
Choose Kyoo if…
- Clean modern design
- Good anime handling
Watch out for
- Smaller community
- Still maturing
Choose Stash if…
- Powerful organization
- Extensible via plugins
- Easy to deploy
Watch out for
- Single-user focused
- Niche feature set
Frequently asked questions
Is Kyoo or Stash better?
Stash is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Kyoo if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Kyoo and Stash free and open-source?
Yes. Kyoo is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Stash under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kyoo and Stash with Docker?
Kyoo: yes. Stash: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Kyoo or Stash?
Stash has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Kyoo. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.