Pinchflat vs Tube

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?
FeaturePinchflatTube
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseAGPL-3.0MIT
LanguageElixir
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM512 MB50 MB
Deploymentdockerbare-metal
GitHub stars★ 5,215
First released20242023
ReplacesYouTubeDailymotion, Vimeo, YouTube

Why pick each one

Choose Pinchflat if…

  • Plays nicely with Plex and Jellyfin
  • Clean modern UI
Pinchflat details

Choose Tube if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Tube details

Frequently asked questions

Is Pinchflat or Tube better?

Neither is universally better. Pinchflat has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Pinchflat and Tube free and open-source?

Yes. Pinchflat is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Tube under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Pinchflat and Tube with Docker?

Pinchflat: yes. Tube: check the project docs for container support.

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