OwnTone vs Polaris
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?
OwnTone
Media server with AirPlay, Chromecast and Spotify support
VS
Polaris
Music streaming server focused on speed and simplicity
| Feature | OwnTone | Polaris |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Media Servers | Media Servers |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | C | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,535 | ★ 2,715 |
| First released | 2009 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Spotify, Apple Music | Spotify |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is OwnTone or Polaris better?
Polaris 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 OwnTone and Polaris free and open-source?
Yes. OwnTone is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Polaris under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OwnTone and Polaris with Docker?
OwnTone: yes. Polaris: yes.