head to head · open source
Invidious vs lms
Invidious has 25,830 GitHub stars, 2,896 forks, 480 open issues and last shipped yesterday. lms has 1,697 stars, 92 forks, 82 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Invidious leads on adoption by 1,422% (25,830 vs 1,697 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%. lms 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 | ★ 26K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Crystal | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 92 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Invidious if
- You weight community size — 26K 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 An open source alternative front end to YouTube Website • Instances list • FAQ • Documentation • Contribute • Donate Chat with us: Screenshots Features User features Lightweight No ads No tracking No JavaScript required Light/Dark themes Customizable homepage Subscriptions independent from Google Notifications for all subscribed channels Audio only mode (with background play on mobile) Support for Reddit comments Available in many languages, thanks to our translators Data import/export Import subscriptions from YouTube, NewPipe and FreeTube Import watch history from YouTube and NewPipe Export…
read the full Invidious overview →
About lms
LMS Lightweight Music Server LMS is a self hosted music streaming software: access your music collection from anywhere using a web interface! A demo instance is available. Note the administration settings are not available. Main features Subsonic/OpenSubsonic API support Multi valued tags: genre , mood , artists , ... Artist relationships: composer , conductor , lyricist , mixer , performer , producer , remixer Release types: album , single , EP , compilation , live , ... Release groups support to show different versions of albums, such as remasters, reissues, etc. MusicBrainz Identifier support to handle…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Invidious or lms more popular?
Invidious has 25,830 GitHub stars and lms has 1,697. 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 (25,830 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.