# koel vs Swing Music

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

| | koel | Swing Music |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 75/100 ✓ | 49/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 59 in Music Streaming | #23 of 59 in Music Streaming |
| GitHub stars | 17 321 ✓ | 2 084 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +59 ✓ | +14 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 22 ✓ | 7 |
| Latest release | v9.15.0 · 28 Sept 2026 ✓ | v3.0.0 · 12 Jun 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | PHP | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

koel scores 75/100 against 49/100 for Swing Music, so it is the safer default.

koel ships more often: 22 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for Swing Music.

If you want the quickest setup, Swing Music is easier to run; koel needs more configuration.

koel is growing faster right now (+59 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

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