Roon

Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Roon

A curated collection of the 7 best self hosted alternatives to Roon.

Roon is a music player and library management service that organizes and enriches local files and TIDAL/Qobuz streaming with extensive metadata, high-resolution playback, multi-room streaming (RAAT/Roon Ready) and advanced library browsing for audiophiles.

Alternatives List

#1
Lidarr

Lidarr

Automate music downloading, importing, and library organization with artist monitoring, release tracking, quality profiles, and integrations for indexers and download clients.

Lidarr screenshot

Lidarr is an automated music collection manager that monitors artists and releases, then searches, downloads, and imports albums into your library using Usenet and BitTorrent download clients. It is designed to keep music libraries up to date by tracking releases and managing quality and naming consistently.

Key Features

  • Artist and album monitoring with automatic searching and downloading of new releases
  • Integration with Usenet and BitTorrent indexers via Torznab/Newznab and common download clients
  • Quality profiles and cutoffs to control preferred formats/bitrates and upgrade behavior
  • Automatic importing, renaming, and organization with configurable naming schemes
  • Metadata and artist information powered by MusicBrainz (with artwork from common metadata sources)
  • Lists support (e.g., follow artists from external lists) and release/album discovery workflows
  • Web UI with calendar/activity/history views, manual search, and queue management
  • Notifications and automation integrations (e.g., webhooks and third-party notifiers)

Use Cases

  • Keep a home music library automatically updated when monitored artists release new albums
  • Standardize and clean up a large existing music library via consistent naming and importing rules
  • Automate acquisition workflows by connecting indexers, download clients, and notifications

Limitations and Considerations

  • Focused on album/artist-based collection management; users needing full playback/streaming should pair it with a music server/player.
  • Relies on external metadata providers (notably MusicBrainz); unmatched/rare releases may require manual intervention.

Lidarr fits users who want an automated, repeatable pipeline for acquiring and maintaining a well-organized music library. With profiles, integrations, and metadata-driven matching, it reduces ongoing manual work while keeping collections current.

4.9kstars
323forks
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#2
Black Candy

Black Candy

Black Candy is a self-hosted music server for organizing a personal library and streaming it from a web interface, with playlists, search, and metadata browsing.

Black Candy screenshot

Black Candy is a self-hosted web application for managing and streaming your personal music library. It scans a local music directory, builds a browsable catalog from tags/metadata, and provides a web player for playback.

Key Features

  • Music library indexing by reading audio metadata (artists, albums, tracks)
  • Web-based music player with playback queue and library browsing
  • Search across the music catalog
  • Playlist creation and management
  • Album/artist pages generated from library metadata
  • Background scanning/import of files from a configured music directory

Use Cases

  • Run a private “Spotify-like” web player for your own local music collection
  • Centralize a household music library on a server/NAS and stream on the LAN/VPN
  • Replace a third-party streaming account for listening to owned/ripped music

Limitations and Considerations

  • Focused on a web UI; feature parity with mature Subsonic-style ecosystems (wide client support, offline sync) may be limited depending on your needs.

Black Candy is a lightweight option for people who primarily want a clean web interface for streaming and browsing a local collection. It is best suited for small-to-medium libraries where tag-based organization and simple playlists cover most listening workflows.

4.1kstars
206forks
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#3
Ampache

Ampache

Self-hosted web app to catalog your music and stream it anywhere via web UI, Subsonic-compatible API clients, playlists, and user access controls.

Ampache is a web-based music streaming server and media library manager that catalogs your audio collection and lets you stream it from a browser or compatible apps. It focuses on organizing large libraries, multi-user access, and broad client compatibility via common APIs.

Key Features

  • Catalog indexing of local music libraries with metadata extraction and browsing by artist/album/genre
  • Web player and library UI for searching, filtering, and playback
  • Subsonic-compatible API (and other supported APIs) for use with many third-party mobile/desktop clients
  • User and access management (multiple users, permissions) suitable for shared servers
  • Playlist creation/management and support for common playlist workflows
  • Album art/metadata handling and library maintenance tools (scan/update/clean)
  • Optional transcoding support for streaming to bandwidth-limited clients (when configured)
  • Extensible architecture with integrations/plugins and multiple backend options for storage/catalogs

Use Cases

  • Host a personal “Spotify-like” music library accessible on LAN/VPN and on the go
  • Provide multi-user streaming for a household or small community with per-user accounts
  • Use existing Subsonic-compatible apps to stream your own collection from a central server

Limitations and Considerations

  • Some advanced features (e.g., transcoding) depend on external tools and careful server configuration
  • Client experience varies depending on which third-party API client you use

Ampache is a mature option for people who want a browser-based music server with strong library management and wide client support. It is particularly useful if you want to reuse the ecosystem of Subsonic-compatible players while keeping control of your own collection.

3.7kstars
607forks
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#4
Swing Music

Swing Music

Self-hosted web music player and streaming server that scans your library, builds a media index, and lets you browse, search, and play music from any device.

Swing Music screenshot

Swing Music is a self-hosted, browser-based music player and streaming server for personal audio libraries. It scans folders on disk, builds a searchable catalog, and provides a modern web UI to browse artists/albums, create playlists, and play music remotely.

Key Features

  • Library scanning and indexing from local folders
  • Web-based player UI with artist/album/track browsing
  • Search across the music library (artists, albums, tracks)
  • Playlist creation and management
  • Streaming playback in the browser with queue management
  • Metadata and cover-art handling based on embedded tags/files
  • Multi-user support (where configured) for separating access

Use Cases

  • Stream a home music collection (MP3/FLAC, etc.) to phones/laptops via a web browser
  • Replace a paid music locker/streaming app for privately owned music
  • Centralize music playback for a household with shared playlists

Limitations and Considerations

  • Feature depth and ecosystem (clients/integrations) may be smaller than mature Subsonic-compatible servers; confirm needed integrations before adopting.

Swing Music focuses on providing a lightweight, pleasant web listening experience over your own library. It is best suited for users who want a straightforward browser player with library scanning, search, and playlists without relying on third-party streaming services.

1.6kstars
96forks
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#5
Lyrion Music Server

Lyrion Music Server

Server-based music library and streaming system with multi-room playback, web UI, plugins, and wide player support (Squeezebox and compatible clients).

Lyrion Music Server screenshot

Lyrion Music Server (LMS) is a server application for managing a music library and streaming audio to one or many networked players. It originates from Logitech Media Server/Squeezebox Server and is maintained by the community as a flexible platform with extensive device support and a large plugin ecosystem.

Key Features

  • Multi-room playback and synchronization across multiple players
  • Library management with browsing by artist/album/genre, playlists, and search
  • Streams local music as well as internet radio; supports many audio formats via transcoding
  • Web-based user interface plus support for numerous third-party controller apps
  • Plugin system for adding services, metadata providers, UI extensions, and integrations
  • Supports Squeezebox hardware and many compatible software clients/players
  • User accounts and player-level settings (volume, sync groups, alarms/timers depending on plugins)

Use Cases

  • Whole-home audio with synchronized playback to multiple rooms
  • Centralized music library for a household or small office with multiple controllers
  • Internet radio hub with presets and per-room playback

Limitations and Considerations

  • Feature set and service integrations depend heavily on plugins; availability varies by provider
  • Some modern streaming services may require third-party plugins and can break when providers change APIs

LMS is a mature, extensible music server suited to users who want a centralized library and flexible playback targets. Its strengths are multi-room sync, broad client compatibility, and a long-standing plugin ecosystem that can adapt the system to many setups.

1.6kstars
347forks
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#6
Maloja

Maloja

Maloja is a self-hosted music scrobbling server that stores plays from multiple clients and provides privacy-friendly statistics, charts, and an API for personal listening analytics.

Maloja screenshot

Maloja is a self-hosted scrobbling server and listening-history database. It collects plays (“scrobbles”) from compatible clients, stores them locally, and provides a web interface and API for analyzing your listening habits without relying on third-party services.

Key Features

  • Stores scrobbles in your own database and provides a web UI for browsing history and statistics
  • Multiple ingestion options: compatible scrobble clients and integrations via an HTTP API (for custom scripts/tools)
  • Rich personal analytics: charts, timelines, artists/albums/tracks rankings, and period-based breakdowns
  • User/library features designed for personal deployments (single-user focus with lightweight administration)
  • Data export/backup options to keep ownership of your listening history
  • Integrations intended as alternatives to hosted scrobble ecosystems (e.g., replacing Last.fm-style tracking)

Use Cases

  • Track and visualize personal listening history across players/devices in one place
  • Build your own “Spotify Wrapped”-style yearly/monthly reports from locally stored scrobbles
  • Feed scrobble data into custom dashboards or scripts using the API

Limitations and Considerations

  • Primarily oriented toward personal/small deployments; not a full social scrobbling network

Maloja fits users who want a private, durable listening-history store with useful stats and an API. It’s a practical replacement for hosted scrobble tracking when you prefer to keep your data under your control and accessible for custom analysis.

1.6kstars
80forks
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#7
Meelo

Meelo

Meelo is a self-hosted music server to scan, organize, and stream your personal music library through a web interface.

Meelo is a self-hosted music server for managing and streaming a personal music library. It scans local audio files, builds a browsable catalog, and provides playback through a web UI.

Key Features

  • Library scanning/indexing of local music files into an organized catalog
  • Browsing by common music facets (artists, albums, tracks) in a web interface
  • In-browser playback/streaming of your library
  • Metadata handling based on embedded tags (as supported by the project)

Use Cases

  • Run a private “home Spotify” for a household’s local music collection
  • Centralize a music library on a server/NAS and play it from multiple devices
  • Replace ad‑supported music services for listening to owned/ripped music

Limitations and Considerations

  • Project documentation and feature coverage appear limited in the repository; expect gaps compared to mature media servers (e.g., advanced metadata matching, mobile apps, integrations).

Meelo is best suited for users who primarily want a lightweight, web-based way to browse and play an existing local music library. If you need rich ecosystem integrations or advanced library tooling, consider more established music servers.

1kstars
33forks
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Why choose an open source alternative?

  • •Data ownership: Keep your data on your own servers
  • •No vendor lock-in: Freedom to switch or modify at any time
  • •Cost savings: Reduce or eliminate subscription fees
  • •Transparency: Audit the code and know exactly what's running