OwnTone vs PeerTube

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?
FeatureOwnTonePeerTube
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseGPL-2.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageCTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumHard
Min. RAM128 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 2,535★ 15,236
First released20092018
ReplacesSpotify, Apple MusicYouTube, Vimeo

Why pick each one

Choose OwnTone if…

  • Excellent AirPlay support
  • Low footprint
OwnTone details

Choose PeerTube if…

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

Frequently asked questions

Is OwnTone or PeerTube better?

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

Are OwnTone and PeerTube free and open-source?

Yes. OwnTone is licensed under GPL-2.0 and PeerTube under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run OwnTone and PeerTube with Docker?

OwnTone: yes. PeerTube: yes.

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