LMS vs Mopidy
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | LMS | Mopidy |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 85 · Excellent | 92 · Excellent |
| Category | Media Servers | Media Servers |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | C++ | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,680 | ★ 8,587 |
| First released | 2014 | 2010 |
| Replaces | Spotify | Spotify |
What are LMS and Mopidy?
LMS
LMS is a lightweight, self-hosted music streaming server with a focus on performance and a built-in recommendation engine. It exposes the Subsonic API for compatibility with a wide range of clients.
- Subsonic API compatible
- Music recommendations
- Low resource use
- Scrobbling support
Mopidy
Mopidy is an extensible music server written in Python that plays music from local disk, Spotify, SoundCloud, and other sources. It is controlled through MPD and web clients and is popular for DIY music players.
- Plays from multiple backends
- MPD protocol compatible
- Rich plugin ecosystem
- Web client support
LMS vs Mopidy: key differences
LMS is written in C++, while Mopidy is built with Python. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for LMS versus Apache-2.0 for Mopidy. LMS is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Mopidy. Mopidy is the more established project (first released 2010), while LMS arrived in 2014. Mopidy has the considerably larger community, at 8,587 GitHub stars versus 1,680.
Why pick each one
Choose LMS if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
Watch out for
- Smaller community
- Web UI is functional but plain
Choose Mopidy if…
- Highly extensible
- Great for Raspberry Pi projects
Watch out for
- No native UI
- Requires plugins for most features
Frequently asked questions
Is LMS or Mopidy better?
Neither is universally better. Mopidy has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are LMS and Mopidy free and open-source?
Yes. LMS is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Mopidy under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run LMS and Mopidy with Docker?
LMS: yes. Mopidy: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, LMS or Mopidy?
LMS has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Mopidy. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.