koelvsWriteFreely
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| koel | WriteFreely | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 75/100 | 65/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 59 in Music Streaming | #2 of 24 in Blogging |
| GitHub stars | 17 321 | 5 276 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +59 | +19 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 22 | 3 |
| Latest release | v9.15.0 · 28 Sept 2026 | v0.17.2 · 10 Aug 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | PHP | Go |
Which one should you pick?
koel scores 75/100 against 65/100 for WriteFreely, so it is the safer default.
koel ships more often: 22 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for WriteFreely.
koel is growing faster right now (+59 stars in 30 days).
koel details →WriteFreely details →
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