Sonus Note - Black Candy vs OwnTone
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?
Sonus Note - Black Candy
Self-hosted Ruby on Rails music streaming server
VS
OwnTone
Media server with AirPlay, Chromecast and Spotify support
| Feature | Sonus Note - Black Candy | OwnTone |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Media Servers | Media Servers |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Ruby | C |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,337 | ★ 2,535 |
| First released | 2018 | 2009 |
| Replaces | Spotify, Apple Music | Spotify, Apple Music |
Why pick each one
Choose Sonus Note - Black Candy if…
- Clean modern interface
- Simple to deploy
Frequently asked questions
Is Sonus Note - Black Candy or OwnTone better?
Sonus Note - Black Candy is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider OwnTone if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Sonus Note - Black Candy and OwnTone free and open-source?
Yes. Sonus Note - Black Candy is licensed under MIT and OwnTone under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Sonus Note - Black Candy and OwnTone with Docker?
Sonus Note - Black Candy: yes. OwnTone: yes.