Lidarr vs OwnTone
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Lidarr
Music collection manager and download automation tool
VS
OwnTone
Media server with AirPlay, Chromecast and Spotify support
| Feature | Lidarr | OwnTone |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 84 · Excellent | 87 · Excellent |
| Category | Media Servers | Media Servers |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C# | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,679 | ★ 2,560 |
| First released | 2017 | 2009 |
| Replaces | Spotify | Spotify, Apple Music |
What are Lidarr and OwnTone?
Lidarr
Lidarr is the music collection manager for the *arr suite, automating searches and downloads for your favorite artists. It monitors releases and integrates with download clients and media servers.
- Automated music collection management
- Release monitoring
- Download client integration
- Quality profiles
OwnTone
OwnTone is a media server that streams music to AirPlay and Chromecast devices, with support for Spotify and internet radio. It serves your local library through DAAP and the Subsonic API.
- AirPlay and Chromecast output
- Spotify integration
- Internet radio
Lidarr vs OwnTone: key differences
Lidarr is written in C#, while OwnTone is built with C. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Lidarr versus GPL-2.0 for OwnTone. OwnTone is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Lidarr. OwnTone is the more established project (first released 2009), while Lidarr arrived in 2017. Lidarr has the considerably larger community, at 5,679 GitHub stars versus 2,560.
Why pick each one
Choose Lidarr if…
- Part of the popular *arr suite
- Strong automation
Watch out for
- Metadata accuracy varies
- Companion to a media server
Choose OwnTone if…
- Excellent AirPlay support
- Low footprint
Watch out for
- Web UI is minimal
- Configuration via files
Frequently asked questions
Is Lidarr or OwnTone better?
Neither is universally better. Lidarr has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Lidarr and OwnTone free and open-source?
Yes. Lidarr is licensed under GPL-3.0 and OwnTone under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Lidarr and OwnTone with Docker?
Lidarr: yes. OwnTone: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Lidarr or OwnTone?
OwnTone has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Lidarr. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.