# koel vs qm-music

> Two self-hosted [Music Streaming projects](https://selfhost.directory/music-streaming), compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | koel | qm-music |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 75/100 ✓ | 51/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 59 in Music Streaming | #20 of 59 in Music Streaming |
| GitHub stars | 17 320 ✓ | 588 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +58 | — |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 22 ✓ | 11 |
| Latest release | v9.15.0 · 28 Sept 2026 ✓ | v2.5.0 · 10 Sept 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | PHP | Java |

## Which one should you pick?

koel scores 75/100 against 51/100 for qm-music, so it is the safer default.

koel ships more often: 22 stable releases in the past year, against 11 for qm-music.

If you want the quickest setup, qm-music is easier to run; koel needs more configuration.

koel is growing faster right now (+58 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [koel](https://selfhost.directory/project/koel) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/koel.md)
- [qm-music](https://selfhost.directory/project/qm-music) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/qm-music.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/koel-vs-qm-music