Mopidy-Iris vs ympd
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Mopidy-Iris | ympd |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 69 · Good | 11 · At risk |
| Category | Media Servers | Media Servers |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,238 | ★ 545 |
| First released | 2016 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Sonos app | Sonos app |
What are Mopidy-Iris and ympd?
Mopidy-Iris
Iris is a polished web-based frontend extension for the Mopidy music server. It provides a responsive interface for browsing, searching, and playing music from local files, Spotify, and other Mopidy backends.
- Modern Mopidy web UI
- Multi-backend browsing
- Snapcast integration
- Queue management
ympd
ympd is a lightweight standalone web-based MPD client written in C that provides a responsive web interface for the Music Player Daemon. It bundles everything needed and requires no external dependencies to host.
- Standalone web MPD client
- No external dependencies
- Responsive interface
- Tiny footprint
Mopidy-Iris vs ympd: key differences
Mopidy-Iris is written in JavaScript, while ympd is built with C. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Mopidy-Iris versus GPL-2.0 for ympd. Ympd is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Mopidy-Iris. Ympd is the more established project (first released 2014), while Mopidy-Iris arrived in 2016. Mopidy-Iris has the considerably larger community, at 1,238 GitHub stars versus 545.
Why pick each one
Choose Mopidy-Iris if…
- Attractive interface
- Active development
Watch out for
- Requires Mopidy server
- Configuration needed
Choose ympd if…
- Extremely lightweight
- Easy to deploy
Watch out for
- Predecessor to myMPD
- Minimal active development
Frequently asked questions
Is Mopidy-Iris or ympd better?
Neither is universally better. Mopidy-Iris has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Mopidy-Iris and ympd free and open-source?
Yes. Mopidy-Iris is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ympd under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Mopidy-Iris and ympd with Docker?
Mopidy-Iris: check the project docs for container support. ympd: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Mopidy-Iris or ympd?
ympd has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Mopidy-Iris. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.