LMS vs PeerTube

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

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FeatureLMSPeerTube
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageC++TypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumHard
Min. RAM128 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 1,654★ 15,236
First released20142018
ReplacesSpotifyYouTube, Vimeo

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++
LMS details

Choose PeerTube if…

  • Reduces bandwidth via P2P
  • Federates with the Fediverse
PeerTube details

Frequently asked questions

Is LMS or PeerTube better?

Neither is universally better. PeerTube has the larger community, while LMS is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are LMS and PeerTube free and open-source?

Yes. LMS is licensed under GPL-3.0 and PeerTube under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run LMS and PeerTube with Docker?

LMS: yes. PeerTube: yes.

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