Olaris vs tinyMediaManager
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Olaris | tinyMediaManager |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Media Servers | Media Servers |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 300 | ★ 8 |
| First released | 2019 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Plex | Plex |
What are Olaris and tinyMediaManager?
Olaris
Olaris is an open-source media manager and transcoding server for organizing and streaming movies and TV shows. It scrapes metadata automatically and serves content over a GraphQL API.
- Automatic metadata scraping
- GraphQL API
- On-the-fly transcoding
- Movie and TV organization
tinyMediaManager
tinyMediaManager is a media library manager that scrapes metadata, artwork, and trailers for movies and TV shows so files are organized for Kodi, Plex, or Jellyfin. It can rename, clean up, and enrich large collections in bulk.
- Metadata and artwork scraping
- Bulk file renaming
- Kodi and Plex NFO export
- Trailer downloads
Olaris vs tinyMediaManager: key differences
Olaris is written in Go, while tinyMediaManager is built with Java. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Olaris versus Apache-2.0 for tinyMediaManager. TinyMediaManager is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Olaris. TinyMediaManager is the more established project (first released 2012), while Olaris arrived in 2019. Olaris has the considerably larger community, at 300 GitHub stars versus 8.
Why pick each one
Choose Olaris if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Go
Watch out for
- Development stalled
- Limited client apps
Choose tinyMediaManager if…
- Excellent organization tools
- Headless mode available
Watch out for
- Advanced features need a license
- Not a streaming server
Frequently asked questions
Is Olaris or tinyMediaManager better?
Neither is universally better. Olaris has the larger community, while tinyMediaManager is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Olaris and tinyMediaManager free and open-source?
Yes. Olaris is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and tinyMediaManager under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Olaris and tinyMediaManager with Docker?
Olaris: yes. tinyMediaManager: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Olaris or tinyMediaManager?
tinyMediaManager has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Olaris. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.