head to head · open source
neko vs swingmusic
neko has 22,315 GitHub stars, 1,628 forks, 151 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. swingmusic has 2,062 stars, 135 forks, 124 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. neko leads on adoption by 982% (22,315 vs 2,062 stars). neko is written in Go under Apache-2.0; swingmusic is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. neko has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, swingmusic 7%. neko was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (self-hosted), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| neko | swingmusic | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 22K | ★ 2.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-10 | 2026-08-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 135 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick neko if
- You weight community size — 22K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick swingmusic if
- You want the swingmusic feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and swingmusic fits your workflow better
About neko
Neko is a self hosted virtual browser that runs inside a Docker container and streams its desktop to several people at once over WebRTC, built for developers testing web applications, privacy conscious users, and teams who want to browse, watch or present together in one shared session.
About swingmusic
Swing Music is a self hosted music server and browser based player for local audio files. It is written in Python and licensed under AGPL 3.0. It sits in the open source self hosted media streaming ecosystem and is positioned as a Spotify like experience for music the user already owns.
read the full swingmusic overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is neko or swingmusic more popular?
neko has 22,315 GitHub stars and swingmusic has 2,062. neko has the larger community by that measure.
Are neko and swingmusic free?
Both are open source. neko is licensed under Apache-2.0 and swingmusic under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between neko and swingmusic?
neko is written in Go and swingmusic in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, neko or swingmusic?
Choose neko if you want the larger community (22,315 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose swingmusic if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.