Swing Music vs Tempo
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Swing Music
Self-hosted music player with a modern interface
VS
Tempo
Material You Subsonic music client for Android
| Feature | Swing Music | Tempo |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 84 · Excellent | 20 · At risk |
| Category | Media Servers | Media Servers |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, bare-metal | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,070 | ★ 2,240 |
| First released | 2022 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Spotify, Apple Music | Spotify, Plexamp |
What are Swing Music and Tempo?
Swing Music
Swing Music is a beautiful, self-hosted music player and streaming server for your local audio collection. It automatically organizes albums, artists, and folders and includes a polished web player.
- Modern web player
- Automatic library organization
- Folder browsing
- Single binary option
Tempo
Tempo is a free and open-source music streaming client for Subsonic-compatible servers such as Navidrome and Airsonic. It features a Material You interface, offline downloads, and Android Auto support.
- Subsonic API support
- Material You theming
- Android Auto
- Offline downloads
Swing Music vs Tempo: key differences
Swing Music is written in Python, while Tempo is built with Java. Licensing differs — MIT for Swing Music versus GPL-3.0 for Tempo. Tempo is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Swing Music. Swing Music lists first-class Docker deployment; Tempo does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Swing Music if…
- Attractive interface
- Easy to deploy
Watch out for
- Younger project
- No multi-user roles yet
Choose Tempo if…
- Modern Android design
- Works with multiple servers
Watch out for
- Android only
- No video support
Frequently asked questions
Is Swing Music or Tempo better?
Neither is universally better. Tempo has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Swing Music and Tempo free and open-source?
Yes. Swing Music is licensed under MIT and Tempo under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Swing Music and Tempo with Docker?
Swing Music: yes. Tempo: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Swing Music or Tempo?
Tempo has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Swing Music. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.