PeerTube vs Swiftfin

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?
FeaturePeerTubeSwiftfin
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseAGPL-3.0MPL-2.0
LanguageTypeScriptSwift
Setup difficultyHardEasy
Min. RAM2,048 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metalbinary, source
GitHub stars★ 15,236★ 4,070
First released20182021
ReplacesYouTube, VimeoInfuse, Plex for Apple TV

Why pick each one

Choose PeerTube if…

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

Choose Swiftfin if…

  • Smooth Apple TV experience
  • Official Jellyfin project
Swiftfin details

Frequently asked questions

Is PeerTube or Swiftfin better?

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

Are PeerTube and Swiftfin free and open-source?

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

Can I run PeerTube and Swiftfin with Docker?

PeerTube: yes. Swiftfin: check the project docs for container support.

Related comparisons