koel

A personal music streaming server with a browser player, built on Laravel and Vue, that turns your own collection into a Spotify-like library.

17.3k stars, 2.1k forks PHP On GitHub since December 2015

Visit website View on GitHub How to run it

What is koel?

Koel scans your music folders and serves them through a web interface that plays in any browser. Beyond playback it offers playlists and smart playlists, scrobbling, podcasts and radio, and integrations with Last.fm, Spotify and MusicBrainz for metadata. An AI assistant takes natural-language commands. The official Koel Player app for iOS and Android avoids the limits of the mobile web version.

Good fit if

  • You own a large music collection and want to stream it from anywhere through a browser.
  • You run a Laravel and PHP stack already and like a polished single-user player.

Look elsewhere if

  • You want wide client support through the Subsonic API: Navidrome.
  • You also need video and photos in the same server: Jellyfin.

Before you adopt it

Koel is MIT-licensed, and the repository has no paid code; multi-user libraries, collaboration, SSO, cloud storage drivers, themes and white-labeling belong to the commercial Koel Plus edition. Almost every commit comes from one developer, funded through OpenCollective and GitHub Sponsors. Installation follows the official documentation, since the repository has no Docker setup.

Drafted with AI from the project's README and repository data, then checked against that data on 31 October 2026. Report a correction

koel health: is it still maintained?

74 of 100, actively developed

  • Activity
    453 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 3 November 2026.
    30 / 30
  • Contributors
    2 people wrote the latest 100 commits; the most active wrote 99% of them.
    4 / 20
  • Releases
    15 releases in the last 12 months; the latest, v9.15.0, on 28 September 2026.
    19 / 20
  • Replies to issues
    Maintainers answered 50% of recent issues, with a median first reply after 24 hours.
    16 / 20
  • Security practices
    OpenSSF Scorecard 5.2 of 10.
    5 / 10

Read from GitHub on 4 November 2026. How the score works

koel license: is it open source?

koel uses MIT, an open-source license approved by the OSI.

  1. December 2015First published on GitHub.
  2. TodayMIT.

How to run koel yourself

Docker
No Docker files in the repository
Compose file
None in the repository
Setup effort
Not rated: no compose file to judge from
Kubernetes
No Helm chart in the repository
Desktop and mobile
No app builds in GitHub releases
Interface languages
2 languages

Install instructions: koel.dev or the README on GitHub.

Alternatives to koel

  • Beetsmusic library manager and MusicBrainz tagger 81 health · MIT · 15.9k stars
  • SRSSRS is a simple, high-performance, AI-driven real-time media server supporting RTMP, WebRTC, HLS, HTTP-FLV,… 74 health · MIT · 29.4k stars
  • NavidromeYour Personal Streaming Service 84 health · GPL-3.0 · 24.5k stars
  • JellyfinThe Free Software Media System - Server Backend & API 94 health · GPL-2.0 · 59k stars
  • MediaMTXReady-to-use Media-over-QUIC / SRT / WebRTC / RTSP / RTMP / LL-HLS / MPEG-TS / RTP live media server and… 79 health · MIT · 20.6k stars

All 13 projects in Media servers & streaming

Questions about koel

Is koel open source?

Yes. koel is published under MIT, an OSI-approved open-source license.

Is koel still maintained?

Its health score is 74 of 100 (actively developed). It had 453 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 3 November 2026, and its latest release came out on 28 September 2026.

How do I run koel?

The repository has no Docker files or app builds, so you build it from source. The README on GitHub has the steps.

What are the alternatives to koel?

Close alternatives in the Media servers & streaming category include Beets, SRS, Navidrome.