head to head · open source
Invidious vs lms
Invidious has 24,469 GitHub stars, 2,746 forks, 480 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. lms has 1,673 stars, 88 forks, 82 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Invidious leads on adoption by 1,363% (24,469 vs 1,673 stars). Invidious is written in Crystal under AGPL-3.0; lms is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. Invidious has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, lms 5%. Invidious was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Invidious | lms | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 24K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Crystal | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 88 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Invidious if
- You weight community size — 24K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Crystal
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick lms if
- You want the lms feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and lms fits your workflow better
About Invidious
Invidious is an open source, AGPL 3.0 alternative front end to YouTube, written in Crystal, aimed at people who want to watch videos without ads, tracking, or a Google account.
read the full Invidious overview →
About lms
LMS is a self hosted music streaming server written in C++ and licensed under GPL 3.0. It exposes a local music collection through a web interface, so users can access their music from anywhere.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Invidious or lms more popular?
Invidious has 24,469 GitHub stars and lms has 1,673. Invidious has the larger community by that measure.
Are Invidious and lms free?
Both are open source. Invidious is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and lms under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Invidious and lms?
Invidious is written in Crystal and lms in C++. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Invidious or lms?
Choose Invidious if you want the larger community (24,469 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose lms if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.