Best Open Source Alternatives to Apple Music

Compare the best free and open-source alternatives to Apple Music — self-hosted and desktop replacements you fully control, ranked by GitHub stars, license and platform support.

Curated by open-source.store · Updated November 2026 · 13 alternatives

Apple Music

Proprietary SaaS

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Platformsweb, desktop, mobile, macos, windows, android, ios

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Apple Music alternatives compared

Open-source alternatives to Apple Music, compared by stars, license and platform
Tool		License	Platforms	Self-hosted
Navidrome	24,490	GPL-3.0	LinuxmacOSWindowsDocker	Yes	Nov 2026	Visit
Koel	17,327	MIT	LinuxmacOSWindowsDocker	Yes	Nov 2026	Visit
Mopidy	8,609	Apache-2.0	LinuxmacOSDocker	Yes	Nov 2026	Visit
C* Music Player	6,281	GPL-2.0	Linux	No	Oct 2026	Visit
Ampache	3,842	AGPL-3.0	LinuxmacOSWindowsDocker	Yes	Nov 2026	Visit
Tauon	2,948	GPL-3.0	Linux	No	Nov 2026	Visit
Rune	1,018	MPL-2.0	Linux	No	Nov 2026	Visit
Nocturne	461	GPL-3.0	Linux	No	Oct 2026	Visit
Plattenalbum	255	GPL-3.0	Linux	No	Nov 2026	Visit
Byte	162	GPL-3.0	Linux	No	Oct 2026	Visit

Top open-source Apple Music alternatives

Navidrome24,490GPL-3.0

Navidrome is a lightweight, self-hosted music streaming server replacing proprietary services like Spotify with open Subsonic API client integration.

LinuxmacOSWindowsDocker

vs Apple Music: a free, open-source option you fully control, licensed GPL-3.0.

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Koel17,327MIT

Koel is an open-source, self-hosted music server that streams personal audio libraries through a modern web UI and Subsonic-compatible mobile apps.

LinuxmacOSWindowsDocker

vs Apple Music: a free, open-source option you fully control, licensed MIT.

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Mopidy8,609Apache-2.0

Extensible headless music server that unifies local audio files and external streams behind MPD and HTTP APIs for complete playback privacy and control.

LinuxmacOSDocker

vs Apple Music: a free, open-source option you fully control, licensed Apache-2.0.

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C* Music Player6,281GPL-2.0

C* Music Player replaces heavy desktop apps with a lightweight terminal player that organizes and plays local audio files using minimal system memory.

Linux

vs Apple Music: a free, open-source option you fully control, licensed GPL-2.0.

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