Navidrome Music Server
Modern Music Server and Streamer, compatible with Subsonic/Airsonic.
Best self-hosted Media Streaming - Audio Streaming software in 2026
Audio streaming tools and software.
We track 28 open-source, self-hosted Media Streaming - Audio Streaming apps. 24 of them had commits in the last 90 days, 14 can run with Docker, and the most common licenses are GPL-3.0 (9), MIT (9), AGPL-3.0 (3). The most-used languages are Python, PHP, Nodejs. Below are the top picks by GitHub stars, followed by every app ranked by stars weighted by maintenance health.
Alternatives to SpotifyAlternatives to AudibleAlternatives to Apple MusicAlternatives to YouTube MusicAlternatives to TidalAlternatives to DeezerAlternatives to SoundCloudAlternatives to Pocket Casts
Top 5 by GitHub stars
| # | App | Stars | Health | Last activity | License | Language | Docker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Navidrome Music Server | 24.6k | Active | 2026-11-09 | GPL-3.0 | Docker, Go | ✓ |
| 2 | koel | 17.3k | Active | 2026-11-09 | MIT | PHP | – |
| 3 | Beets | 15.9k | Active | 2026-11-08 | MIT | Python, deb | – |
| 4 | Audiobookshelf | 15k | Active | 2026-11-09 | GPL-3.0 | Docker, deb | ✓ |
| 5 | Mopidy | 8.6k | Active | 2026-11-02 | Apache-2.0 | Python, deb | – |
- Navidrome Music Server — Modern Music Server and Streamer, compatible with Subsonic/Airsonic.
- koel — Personal music streaming server that works.
- Beets — Music library manager and MusicBrainz tagger (command-line and Web interface).
- Audiobookshelf — Audiobook and podcast server. It streams all audio formats, keeps and syncs progress across devices. Comes with apps for Android and iOS.
- Mopidy — Extensible music server. Offers a superset of the mpd API, as well as integration with 3rd party services like Spotify, SoundCloud etc.
Head-to-head comparisons
koel vs Navidrome Music ServerBeets vs Navidrome Music ServerAudiobookshelf vs Navidrome Music ServerBeets vs koelAudiobookshelf vs koelAudiobookshelf vs Beets
All 28 self-hosted Media Streaming - Audio Streaming apps
Ranked by GitHub stars weighted by maintenance health.
koel
Personal music streaming server that works.
Beets
Music library manager and MusicBrainz tagger (command-line and Web interface).
Audiobookshelf
Audiobook and podcast server. It streams all audio formats, keeps and syncs progress across devices. Comes with apps for Android and iOS.
Mopidy
Extensible music server. Offers a superset of the mpd API, as well as integration with 3rd party services like Spotify, SoundCloud etc.
Snapcast
Synchronous multiroom audio server.
Black Candy
Music streaming server.
AzuraCast
Modern and accessible web radio management suite.
Ampache
Web based audio/video streaming application.
mpd
Daemon to remotely play music, stream music, handle and organize playlists. Many clients available.
Polaris
Music browsing and streaming application optimized for large music collections, ease of use and high performance.
gonic
Lightweight music streaming server. Subsonic compatible.
mStream
Music streaming server with GUI management tools. Runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux.
SwingMusic
Beautiful music player and streaming server for your local audio files. Like a cooler Spotify ... but bring your own music.
Lyrion Music Server
Server software which controls a wide range of Squeezebox/Slim Devices audio players and compatible hardware (formerly Logitech Media Server).
LMS
Access your own music using a web interface.
moOde Audio
Audiophile-quality music playback for the wonderful Raspberry Pi family of single board computers.
multi-scrobbler
Scrobble plays from multiple sources to multiple scrobbling services.
Pinepods
Podcast management system with multi-user support. Pinepods utilizes a central database so aspects like listen time and themes follow from device to device.
LibreTime
Broadcast streaming radio on the web (fork of Airtime).
musikcube
Streaming audio server with Linux/macOS/Windows/Android clients.
Audioserve
Simple personal server to serve audio files from directories (audiobooks, music, podcasts...). Focused on simplicity and supports sync of play position between clients.
vod2pod-rss
Convert YouTube and Twitch channels to podcasts, no storage required. Transcodes VoDs to MP3 192k on the fly, generates an RSS feed to use in podcast clients.
Supysonic
Python implementation of the Subsonic server API.
Stretto
Music player with Youtube/Soundcloud import and iTunes/Spotify discovery.
BotWave
FM broadcasting system with server-client architecture for managing multiple Raspberry Pi transmitters remotely.
Funkwhale
Modern, web-based, convivial, multi-user and free music server.
Väinö
High-fidelity music server for Raspberry Pi with iOS and Android companion apps.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best self-hosted Media Streaming - Audio Streaming software in 2026?
By GitHub stars, the most popular self-hosted Media Streaming - Audio Streaming apps are Navidrome Music Server (24,617 stars), koel (17,337 stars), Beets (15,917 stars). Popularity is only one signal: also check maintenance health, license and whether it fits your setup.
How many self-hosted Media Streaming - Audio Streaming apps are actively maintained?
24 of the 28 apps listed had commits in the last 90 days and 2 more in the last 12 months; for 2 we have no repository activity data.
Which self-hosted Media Streaming - Audio Streaming apps can I run with Docker?
14 of the 28 apps can run with Docker; 5 publish an image on Docker Hub, including Audiobookshelf, AzuraCast, Ampache, Polaris and LMS.
Which licenses do self-hosted Media Streaming - Audio Streaming apps use?
The most common licenses in this category are GPL-3.0 (9 apps), MIT (9 apps), AGPL-3.0 (3 apps).
How much does it cost to self-host Media Streaming - Audio Streaming software?
The software itself is free to download. Based on our rough hardware estimates, the cheapest suitable VPS plan starts at about $5/month (median $5/month across apps in this category). Several light apps can share one server.
Related categories
Figures from GitHub and Docker Hub as of 2026-11-15; hosting costs are rough estimates.