SABnzbd vs SRS

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?
FeatureSABnzbdSRS
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseGPL-2.0MIT
LanguagePythonC++
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM200 MB512 MB
Deploymentbare-metaldocker
GitHub stars★ 3,049★ 29,105
First released20252025
Replaces

Why pick each one

Choose SABnzbd if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • Active community (3k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Python
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 200 MB RAM
SABnzbd details

Choose SRS if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 29.1k GitHub stars
  • Written in C++
SRS details

Frequently asked questions

Is SABnzbd or SRS better?

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

Are SABnzbd and SRS free and open-source?

Yes. SABnzbd is licensed under GPL-2.0 and SRS under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run SABnzbd and SRS with Docker?

SABnzbd: check the project docs for container support. SRS: yes.

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