Stash vs Dim: Which Media Manager to Self-Host?
Quick Verdict
Stash and Dim serve different purposes despite both being self-hosted media managers. Stash is a mature, actively developed organizer and metadata manager with powerful tagging, filtering, and scene detection capabilities. Dim is a lightweight media manager with a clean UI focused on simple movie and TV organization, but its development has slowed significantly.
Overview
Stash is a self-hosted media organizer focused on cataloging, tagging, and managing video content. It features automatic metadata scraping, scene detection, performer tracking, tag-based organization, and a plugin ecosystem via ScraperX. It uses embedded SQLite and has an active community.
Dim is a self-hosted media manager for organizing and streaming movies and TV shows. It offers a modern web interface with metadata from TMDB, basic playback capabilities, and a simple Docker deployment. Development has slowed considerably.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Stash | Dim |
|---|---|---|
| Video organization | Yes (comprehensive) | Yes (basic) |
| Metadata scraping | Yes (multiple sources, ScraperX) | Yes (TMDB) |
| Tag system | Yes (extensive, hierarchical) | Basic |
| Performer tracking | Yes | No |
| Scene detection | Yes (fingerprint-based) | No |
| Video playback | Yes (web player) | Yes (web player) |
| Transcoding | No (direct play only) | Basic |
| Plugin system | Yes (ScraperX community scrapers) | No |
| API | GraphQL | REST |
| Multi-user | No (single user) | Yes |
| Docker complexity | Low (1 container) | Low (1 container) |
| RAM usage | 200-500 MB | 200-400 MB |
| Development activity | Active | Slow/stalled |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
Installation Complexity
Stash runs as a single container with multiple volume mounts: config (/root/.stash), data, generated content, metadata, cache, and blobs (6 directories total). Critical: the /blobs volume mount is required since v0.20+ — omitting it causes data loss. Trailing slashes matter on environment variable paths. Runs as root (no PUID/PGID support).
Dim is simpler — single container with a config directory and media directories. Less configuration needed, but also fewer features to configure.
Performance and Resource Usage
| Resource | Stash | Dim |
|---|---|---|
| Idle RAM | ~200 MB | ~150 MB |
| Active RAM | 300-500 MB | 200-400 MB |
| Disk (app) | ~100 MB + generated content | ~50 MB |
| Minimum server | 1 GB RAM, 1 core | 1 GB RAM, 1 core |
Both are lightweight. Stash uses more resources when generating thumbnails and scanning metadata but is efficient during normal browsing.
Community and Support
Stash: ~10,000+ GitHub stars, active Discord community, regular releases (v0.30.1 as of late 2025). Strong plugin/scraper ecosystem. Active contributors.
Dim: Smaller community, fewer GitHub stars. Development has slowed significantly — releases are infrequent and the project’s future is uncertain.
Use Cases
Choose Stash If…
- You need powerful tagging and filtering for a large media collection
- Performer tracking and scene detection are valuable
- Plugin/scraper support for metadata matters
- Active development and community support are important
- You want a comprehensive media organization tool
Choose Dim If…
- You want a simple, clean UI for movies and TV shows
- Basic TMDB metadata matching is sufficient
- Multi-user access is needed
- You prefer minimal configuration
- Your media library is small and doesn’t need advanced organization
Final Verdict
Stash is the more capable and actively maintained option. Its metadata management, tagging system, and plugin ecosystem make it a powerful tool for organizing video content. The active community ensures ongoing improvements and support.
Dim serves a niche for simple, clean media browsing but its slowing development makes it hard to recommend over alternatives. For basic movie/TV organization and streaming, Jellyfin is a better long-term choice with broader features and active development.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Stash a replacement for Jellyfin or Plex?
No. Stash is a media organizer and metadata manager, not a streaming server. It plays files directly but lacks transcoding, client apps, and the streaming features of Jellyfin or Plex. They serve different purposes and can complement each other.
Is Dim still being developed?
Development has slowed significantly. While the project isn’t officially abandoned, releases are infrequent. For new deployments, consider alternatives with more active development.
Can Stash handle movies and TV shows like Dim?
Stash can organize any video content, but it’s not specifically designed for the movie/TV library management workflow that Dim or Jellyfin provides. Stash excels at detailed per-scene tagging and metadata management.
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