# Carbon vs Universal Media Server

> Two self-hosted [Plex alternatives](https://selfhost.directory/alternative-to/plex), compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | Carbon | Universal Media Server |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 60/100 | 62/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #7 of 14 in ERP | #24 of 118 in Media Server |
| GitHub stars | 2 778 ✓ | 2 668 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +29 ✓ | +14 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 0 | 11 ✓ |
| Latest release | — | 15.9.0 · 5 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | Other | GPL-2.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Java |

## Which one should you pick?

Universal Media Server scores 62/100 against 60/100 for Carbon, so it is the safer default.

Universal Media Server ships more often: 11 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for Carbon.

If you want the quickest setup, Universal Media Server is easier to run; Carbon needs more configuration.

Carbon is growing faster right now (+29 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Carbon](https://selfhost.directory/project/carbon) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/carbon.md)
- [Universal Media Server](https://selfhost.directory/project/universal-media-server) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/universal-media-server.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/carbon-vs-universal-media-server