Koel
A self-hosted personal music streaming server with a web interface and mobile apps.
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About Koel
Koel lets you host your own music collection on a server and stream it from a browser. Beyond playback it supports lossless audio, playback sync across devices, favourites, smart playlists, multiple users, an equalizer, visualizers, and radio and podcast support.
The web interface also handles library management: uploading and deleting tracks, editing metadata such as artist, album and disc, compilation albums, artwork, genres and playlist folders. Mobile apps exist for iOS and Android, and a paid Koel Plus edition adds further features.
Strengths
- Multi-user support with smart playlists and favourites
- Metadata editing and uploads from the web interface
- Radio and podcast support
- Mobile apps for iOS and Android
Limitations
- Some features are reserved for the paid Koel Plus edition
- Requires running and maintaining your own server
Details
- Pricing
- FreemiumThe open-source server is free; Koel Plus is a paid edition with extra features.
- License
- Open source, license not stated
- Developer
- The Koel contributors
- Platforms
- Android, iOS, Web, Self-hosted
- How it runs
- Downloadable app, Self-hosted
- Best suited for
- Households or individuals streaming their own music library from a home server
- Categories
- Audio tools, Media servers
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Facts checked against the developer's own pages and store listings, 1 sources on file.
Alternatives to Koel
Compare allSoftware that can replace Koel for an important use case, and what changes if you switch.
Navidrome
A tiny music server for your own collection that works with dozens of existing phone apps.
Navidrome is fully free under GPL-3.0 and relies on existing Subsonic phone apps instead of official mobile apps, running as a single small binary.
Ampache
A self-hosted web application for managing and streaming a music and video collection.
Ampache is a free AGPL-3.0 web application that also handles video and supports external client apps, with no paid edition.
Funkwhale
A self-hosted, federated platform for storing, streaming and sharing music and podcasts.
Funkwhale is free and adds federation, library sharing and Subsonic client support, with more administration than a personal server.
gonic
A lightweight self-hosted music streaming server that implements the Subsonic API.
Gonic is a free lightweight Subsonic server with scrobbling and podcasts, but has no bundled player, so a Subsonic client app is needed.
mStream
A self-hosted music streaming server for playing your own collection from anywhere, with web and mobile players.
mStream is free with web and Android players, remote access without port forwarding and uncompressed lossless streaming, and runs on a Raspberry Pi.
Swing Music
A self-hosted music player and streaming server for your own local audio files, used through a web interface.
Swing Music offers a streaming-service style web player with Docker and AppImage packaging, has no mobile apps listed, and license terms are not stated.
Polaris
A self-hosted music streaming server with a web client for listening from any computer or phone.
Polaris is a free Rust music server with a web client and API and no paid tier, without Koel's official mobile apps.
Jellyfin
A free media server for your own films, shows and music, with no premium tier and no account.
Jellyfin is a free GPL-2.0 server covering music along with films, shows and live TV, heavier than a music-only server.
Koel as an alternative
Listings that name Koel as an alternative.
Plexamp
A music player from Plex for listening to and exploring the music library on a Plex server.
Koel replaces both the Plex server and player with an open-source self-hosted streaming server, web interface and mobile apps, though some features need the paid Koel Plus edition.
Supysonic
A Python server implementing the Subsonic API for streaming your own music collection.
Koel is a freemium music server with its own web interface and iOS and Android apps, but some features are reserved for the paid Koel Plus edition.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
Finamp
An open-source music player app that streams and plays music from a Jellyfin server.
Lidarr
Music collection manager that watches artists and fetches new albums automatically.
Audiobookshelf
A self-hosted server for audiobooks and podcasts that keeps your place in a book across every device.
Music Assistant
Bring music libraries, streaming sources and players into a shared music server.
Mopidy
An extensible Python music server that plays local files, Internet radio and streaming services.
