Lidarr vs Sonus Note - Black Candy
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?
Lidarr
Music collection manager and download automation tool
VS
Sonus Note - Black Candy
Self-hosted Ruby on Rails music streaming server
| Feature | Lidarr | Sonus Note - Black Candy |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Media Servers | Media Servers |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | C# | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,531 | ★ 4,337 |
| First released | 2017 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Spotify | Spotify, Apple Music |
Why pick each one
Choose Sonus Note - Black Candy if…
- Clean modern interface
- Simple to deploy
Frequently asked questions
Is Lidarr or Sonus Note - Black Candy better?
Neither is universally better. Lidarr has the larger community, while Sonus Note - Black Candy is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Lidarr and Sonus Note - Black Candy free and open-source?
Yes. Lidarr is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Sonus Note - Black Candy under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Lidarr and Sonus Note - Black Candy with Docker?
Lidarr: yes. Sonus Note - Black Candy: yes.