Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Volumio Premium (MyVolumio)

Navidrome is an open-source, web-based music collection server that streams your personal library to a built-in web player and compatible mobile apps. It is designed to be lightweight while still handling very large collections and rich metadata.

Key Features

• Modern, responsive web UI with integrated player
• OpenSubsonic/Subsonic-compatible API for broad client app compatibility
• Multi-user support with individual playlists, favorites, and play counts
• Multi-library support with user-specific access controls
• Automatic library monitoring and metadata refresh on changes
• On-the-fly transcoding (including Opus) with per-user/per-player settings
• Runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows, with official Docker images

Use Cases

• Stream a private music collection to phones and desktops using Subsonic-compatible apps
• Host separate libraries (for example music vs. audiobooks) with controlled access for family members
• Provide low-resource music streaming on home servers and devices like Raspberry Pi

Navidrome is a strong fit for users who want a fast, self-contained music server with excellent client compatibility and scalable library management, without relying on third-party streaming platforms.

Navidrome is a lightweight open-source web-based music collection server and streamer that lets users browse and play personal music libraries from browsers and compatible mobile clients. It exposes a modern web UI and implements the Subsonic API for broad client compatibility. (github.com)

Key Features

• Modern, themeable web interface built with React and Material UI and a catalog of compatible third-party mobile clients. (github.com)
• Subsonic/OpenSubsonic API compatibility so existing Subsonic clients can work with the server. (navidrome.org)
• On-the-fly transcoding and downsampling (requires an external ffmpeg binary) to adapt streams to clients and bandwidth. (navidrome.org)
• Multi-user and multi-library support with per-user access controls, playlists, favorites and play counts. (navidrome.org)
• Low resource usage and multi-platform releases (Linux, macOS, Windows, Raspberry Pi) with official Docker images. (github.com)

Use Cases

• Personal home streaming: Serve a large, tagged music collection to family members and mobile devices with individual accounts. (navidrome.org)
• Replacement for Subsonic-compatible clients: Run a modern backend compatible with existing Subsonic/Madsonic/Airsonic clients. (navidrome.org)
• Low-cost or embedded deployment: Run on Raspberry Pi or small cloud instances using Docker for lightweight private streaming. (github.com)

Limitations and Considerations

• Navidrome simulates folder browsing from tags and does not perform native folder-based browsing; directory browsing endpoints are emulated. (navidrome.org)
• The default local database is a single-file SQLite database (navidrome.db); this can require special handling on network filesystems (WAL mode, locking) and backups. Administrators should follow documented guidance for DB placement and backups. (github.com)
• Past security advisories have reported SQL injection and related issues that were subsequently addressed; operators should keep releases up to date and follow security notices. (github.com)

Navidrome provides a compact, compatible and performant way to self-host and stream large music libraries while remaining interoperable with a wide Subsonic client ecosystem. It is well-suited for users who want control over their music and need a low-footprint server with mobile client support. (github.com)

Koel is a web-based personal audio streaming service designed for hosting and streaming your own music collection. It combines a modern web player with robust library management and supports multi-user setups.

Key Features

• Stream your personal music library via a fast, modern web interface
• Multi-user support with user accounts
• Favorites, playlists, and smart playlists
• Cross-device playback synchronization
• Library management: upload, delete, and edit track metadata and artwork
• Lossless audio support, equalizer settings, and visualizers
• Radio and podcast support
• Optional metadata enrichment integrations (e.g., MusicBrainz and Last.fm)

Use Cases

• Self-host a personal “Spotify-like” music server for your own library
• Provide a shared home or community music library with separate user accounts
• Stream music from a server while keeping a centralized, curated collection

Koel is well-suited for users who want a polished, developer-friendly music server with a familiar listening experience. It focuses on fast browsing and playback while keeping your library under your control.

Mopidy is an extensible music server written in Python. It runs as a background service and plays audio from local files and radio streams, while letting you control playback and playlists from other devices over the network.

Key Features

• Extension system for adding new music sources and control frontends
• Plays local music and internet radio streams out of the box
• Optional MPD compatibility via the Mopidy-MPD extension for broad client support
• HTTP server functionality for web-based control and integrations
• Remote control from phones, tablets, and computers using MPD or web clients
• APIs oriented toward integrations and custom projects (including JSON-RPC)

Use Cases

• Networked home music playback controlled from multiple devices
• Raspberry Pi-based jukebox or DIY audio projects using extensions
• Centralized audio playback service integrated with existing MPD client setups

Mopidy is a flexible base for building custom music systems thanks to its plugin architecture and wide client compatibility. It fits well in homelabs and DIY setups where a lightweight, hackable music server is preferred.

musikcube is a cross-platform, terminal-based music player with a built-in audio engine, library scanner, and metadata indexer. It can also run as a lightweight streaming audio server, making it useful both as a local player and as a headless music hub.

Key Features

• Terminal UI (curses-style) designed for fast keyboard-driven navigation
• Local music library scanning and tag indexing backed by an on-disk database
• Built-in streaming server with remote API for clients and remote control
• Optional audio transcoding for streaming to clients
• Android companion app (musikdroid) for streaming and remote control
• Extensible architecture with a C++ core library (musikcore) and plugin support
• Designed to scale to very large libraries (hundreds of thousands of tracks)

Use Cases

• Run a keyboard-centric music player on desktop or over SSH
• Turn a Raspberry Pi connected to a DAC into a home stereo music hub
• Stream your local library to a phone on your LAN and use it as a remote

Limitations and Considerations

• The built-in server is not designed to be safely exposed directly to the public internet; it lacks native TLS and uses basic authentication mechanisms.

musikcube is a strong fit for users who want a fast terminal music experience and an integrated way to serve their library to other devices. It also provides a reusable C++ backend for developers building custom audio applications.

Black Candy is an open-source, self-hosted music streaming server that provides a web-based music library and player for personal use. It scans a mounted media directory, builds a browsable catalog from audio metadata, and serves audio to web and mobile clients.

Key Features

• Library indexing from a local media path (reads tags/metadata for artists, albums, tracks)
• Web player with playback queue, playlists and search
• Multi-user accounts and per-user preferences
• Mobile client support (Android APK / F‑Droid and iOS app available) and responsive web UI
• Docker images for easy deployment; supports environment variables for DB, media path and options
• Uses SQLite by default; optional PostgreSQL support for larger deployments
• Integrations: album/artist images via Discogs API; server-side audio handling via FFmpeg; image processing via libvips

Use Cases

• Personal cloud music server to stream your own music library across devices
• Small multi-user household or friend group music sharing with account separation
• Developers or hobbyists building features or integrations on top of a Rails-based streaming backend

Limitations and Considerations

• Default SQLite configuration may not scale well for very large libraries or many concurrent users; PostgreSQL is recommended for larger deployments
• Edge/master images are considered unstable and may contain breaking changes or data-loss risks; use stable releases for production
• Resource usage for large libraries (media scanning, transcoding with FFmpeg, image processing) can be significant and depends on host hardware

Black Candy is focused on delivering a simple, modern self-hosted music experience with mobile support and straightforward Docker deployment. It is suitable for personal and small-group use and can be scaled by using PostgreSQL and appropriate host resources.

Music Player Daemon (MPD) is a flexible, server-side music playback engine. It runs as a daemon and exposes playback, queue and library operations over a network protocol, enabling remote control from many clients.

Key Features

• Network protocol-based control for playback, queue management and metadata retrieval
• Multi-format audio support via a modular plugin system
• Local library indexing with fast search and remote client access
• Rich client ecosystem including libraries and protocol specifications (libmpdclient, protocol docs)
• Modern core in C++ with a Meson-based build, supporting Unix-like systems (and ports)
• A wide range of official and community clients (eg, myMPD, mpd clients) for desktop, mobile and embedded use

Use Cases

• Home or multi-room music systems with centralized playback and remote control
• Headless server in AV environments, streaming to networked speakers
• Integrations with other home-automation or media workflows via the MPD protocol

Limitations and Considerations

• MPD relies on a compatible client to issue commands and manage playback; features vary by client
• Some advanced features evolve across MPD and client projects; check compatibility with your setup

Conclusion

MPD provides a robust, networked backbone for playing and managing music across devices. Its extensible architecture and broad client ecosystem make it suitable for both simple home setups and complex multi-room configurations.

NymphCast is an audio and video casting system that turns Linux-capable hardware (such as SBCs) into a network receiver for TVs, speakers, or Hi‑Fi systems. It streams local media files, media server content, and internet media to a NymphCast server, controlled from a client device or optional on-screen GUI.

Key Features

• Receiver server for audio-only or audio+video playback, including optional “Smart TV” style GUI mode
• Streaming from client devices, from URLs, and from NymphCast MediaServer instances
• Multi-room synchronized playback (experimental)
• Broad codec support via FFmpeg for decoding and playback
• Extensible “apps” system (preview/experimental) using AngelScript for adding services and custom UI elements
• Client ecosystem including a CLI client and a Qt-based graphical client (NymphCast Player), plus a client SDK library

Use Cases

• Turn a Raspberry Pi or small Linux box into a network music receiver for powered speakers
• Add a casting endpoint to a TV for network video playback controlled from desktop or Android
• Build custom casting-enabled applications using the client SDK

Limitations and Considerations

• Some major features are explicitly experimental (multi-room playback, GUI mode, apps) and may be incomplete or less stable
• Video capability and performance can depend heavily on platform hardware decode support

NymphCast provides a flexible, extensible casting receiver that can be deployed on many platforms and controlled by dedicated clients. It is well-suited for DIY audio/video endpoints and for integrating casting into custom applications.

Polaris is a self-hosted music streaming server designed to let you enjoy your personal music collection from any computer or mobile device. It focuses on high performance, a responsive experience, and smooth handling of very large libraries.

Key Features

• Stream a personal music library through a web-based player UI
• Supports common audio formats including FLAC, MP3, OGG, Opus, WAV, AIFF, MP4, MPC, and APE
• Browsing by album, artist, and genre, plus file tree browsing
• Powerful search with per-field queries
• Multi-user support with user-specific playlists
• Visual audio waveform display
• Dark mode and customizable color palette
• Plain-text configuration with a built-in UI editor
• Built-in interactive API documentation distributed with each installation

Use Cases

• Run a private music server for a home lab or NAS-backed music library
• Provide multi-user access to a shared household music collection
• Stream a large collection remotely to mobile devices while traveling

Limitations and Considerations

• Primarily targets personal-library streaming rather than subscription services or music discovery features
• Remote access typically requires additional networking setup (for example DNS and routing)

Polaris is well-suited for users who want a fast, clean, self-hosted alternative for streaming their own music library. Its focus on performance, large-library support, and multi-user features makes it a strong choice for home and small-team deployments.

Swing Music is a self-hosted music streaming server and web player for organizing and listening to your local audio files in a modern browser-based UI. It focuses on a clean library experience, discovery features, and fast playback without requiring a bundled desktop app.

Key Features

• Browser-based music player UI for listening from any device on your network
• Library management with metadata normalization and duplicate track handling
• Album versioning (for example Deluxe or Remaster) to group releases consistently
• Discovery helpers like related artists and related albums
• Folder-based browsing for libraries organized by directories
• Playlist management, collections, lyrics view, and listening statistics
• Daily mixes generated from listening activity
• Multi-user support and optional Last.fm scrobbling
• Silence detection support (requires FFmpeg)

Use Cases

• Build a private “bring your own music” streaming server for a home NAS library
• Provide a multi-user household music library with personal stats and playlists
• Stream your local music to a browser (and optionally an Android client)

Limitations and Considerations

• Some features (such as silence detection) require external dependencies like FFmpeg
• Platform support may vary by release (for example macOS availability may depend on version)

Swing Music is a strong option if you want a lightweight, good-looking web player for your own collection while keeping control of your files. It’s designed to be simple to run via binaries or containers and pleasant to use day to day.

Lyrion Music Server (LMS, formerly Logitech Media Server) is a music streaming and control server for Squeezebox hardware players and compatible software clients. It manages your music library and streams audio to one or many players across your network, with extensive customization via plugins.

Key Features

• Streams local music libraries to multiple synchronized players
• Supports Squeezebox devices and software players such as Squeezelite
• Web-based management and playback control interface
• Internet radio playback and integration with various streaming services via plugins
• Scales to large libraries and multi-room, multi-device setups
• Extensible plugin ecosystem for new sources, integrations, and UI customization

Use Cases

• Whole-home multi-room audio using Squeezebox-compatible players
• Centralized management and playback of a large local music collection
• Combining local audio with internet radio and third-party streaming sources

Lyrion Music Server is a mature, community-maintained platform for users who want flexible, server-centric control of music playback across many devices. Its compatibility with a broad ecosystem of hardware, software players, and plugins makes it a strong option for customizable home audio setups.

LMS (Lightweight Music Server) is an open-source, self-hosted music streaming server that provides a web interface to access and manage personal music collections. It supports rich metadata, multi-library setups, and compatibility with Subsonic/OpenSubsonic clients.

Key Features

• Web-based music library browsing with support for multi-valued tags (genre, mood, artists, etc.)
• Subsonic/OpenSubsonic API compatibility for external clients
• MusicBrainz identifiers and release/group support to handle duplicates and multiple versions
• ListenBrainz integration for scrobbling and synchronizing listens and 'love' feedbacks
• Recommendation engine and "radio" mode to fill play queues with similar tracks
• Audio transcoding for client compatibility and bandwidth reduction (relies on FFmpeg)
• ReplayGain support, playlists (m3u/m3u8), podcast support, and lyrics (embedded, lrc, txt)
• Multi-library support, artist information folder handling, and flexible album/track grouping
• User management with multiple authentication backends and admin configuration options

Use Cases

• Host and stream a personal music collection remotely with a browser-based UI
• Provide Subsonic-compatible streaming to mobile or desktop clients while preserving rich metadata
• Build a small-scale recommendation/radio service for private collections and curated playback

Limitations and Considerations

• The tag-based recommendation engine can significantly slow the UI on very large databases or under-constrained hardware; it can be disabled in administration settings
• On-the-fly transcoding increases CPU usage and may require configuring / provisioning FFmpeg and adequate CPU resources for smooth playback across low-bandwidth clients

LMS is suitable for users who want a lightweight, metadata-rich music server with Subsonic compatibility and features like recommendations, scrobbling integration, and flexible tagging. It is actively developed and distributed under the GPL-3.0 license.

moOde Audio is a free and open source audiophile-focused music player and streamer for the Raspberry Pi family. It provides a responsive web interface for managing a music library, radio, and playback, and integrates with multiple audio renderers and output options.

Key Features

• Responsive WebUI that works on desktop, mobile, TV, and attached displays
• MPD-based playback with library browsing (tag/album/folder), playlists, radio views, and search
• High-resolution audio support including DSD and multichannel playback
• Multiroom synchronized audio
• Built-in support for popular renderers (e.g., AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect, UPnP/MPD proxy, Squeezelite, RoonBridge)
• DSP capabilities via CamillaDSP and a pipeline editor
• Network and storage integration, including NAS access and file sharing (SMB/NFS/DLNA)
• REST API for third-party control and integrations

Use Cases

• Turn a Raspberry Pi into a network music streamer for a DAC, USB audio device, or HDMI output
• Build a whole-home audio setup with synchronized multiroom playback
• Create a headless audio appliance controllable from any web browser or via API

Limitations and Considerations

• Intended for Raspberry Pi devices and distributed as an OS image, which may not fit generic server deployments
• Feature set and hardware compatibility depend on Raspberry Pi model, audio HAT/DAC support, and chosen renderer/output

moOde Audio is well-suited for DIY audio enthusiasts who want a polished browser-based player with strong renderer support and audiophile-oriented playback and DSP options. It emphasizes local control and privacy while delivering a stable, appliance-like streaming experience.

Music Assistant is a self-hosted music library manager and streaming server that aggregates local files and multiple streaming providers, catalogs them into a compact database, and streams audio to a wide range of supported players. It includes a Progressive Web App frontend and a Home Assistant integration for automation and voice control. (music-assistant.io)

Key Features

• Multi-provider support: import and link tracks from many streaming services (Spotify, YouTube Music, Tidal, Qobuz, and others) and local files. (music-assistant.io)
• Wide player support: play to AirPlay, Google Cast, Sonos, DLNA, Snapcast and other player providers. (music-assistant.io)
• Rich playback features: gapless playback, crossfade, volume normalization, synchronized playback and transfer between players. (music-assistant.io)
• Home Assistant integration: expose Music Assistant to Home Assistant for automations, media control and voice actions. (music-assistant.io)
• Server architecture: core server written in Python, designed around asyncio, distributed as a Docker image and as a Home Assistant add-on; depends on OS components like ffmpeg and other binaries. (github.com)

Use Cases

• Consolidate local music and multiple streaming subscriptions into a single searchable library and unified playback experience. (music-assistant.io)
• Stream music to heterogeneous speaker setups (multiroom, Sonos, Cast, AirPlay) and synchronize playback across devices. (music-assistant.io)
• Automate music playback and voice control via Home Assistant automations and the Music Assistant integration. (music-assistant.io)

Limitations and Considerations

• Not distributed as a simple pip package; installation is intended via Docker or the Home Assistant add-on because the server requires external OS-level binaries (for example ffmpeg) and custom components. (github.com)
• Designed to run on an always-on device (Raspberry Pi, NAS, Intel NUC or similar); resource needs vary with number of providers and concurrent streams. (music-assistant.io)

Music Assistant provides a modular, extensible server plus a Vue 3 PWA frontend to manage, search and stream music across local and cloud sources. It is actively developed and oriented toward integration with Home Assistant and self-hosted deployments. (music-assistant.io)

Meelo is an open-source, self-hosted music server and web app designed for music collectors and heavy music libraries. It organizes music by albums/releases/versions, supports rich metadata sources and treats music videos as first-class media.

Key Features

• Collector-focused data model: albums with multiple releases, songs with versions and tracks, explicit handling of B-sides and rare tracks
• Flexible metadata parsing from embedded tags and filenames; integrates external providers for genres, descriptions and ratings
• Music video support integrated into album/artist/song pages and differentiated from interviews or behind-the-scenes videos
• Automatic detection of featured artists/duets and de-duplication when browsing large libraries
• Supports wide range of audio/video formats via on-the-fly transcoding; designed to work with ffmpeg-based transcoder
• Dockerized microservices architecture for easy deployment, including separate front, server, scanner and supporting services
• Search/indexing backed by a dedicated search service, plus optional scrobbling to ListenBrainz/Last.fm and synced lyrics support

Use Cases

• Manage and browse large personal music collections with multiple releases and rare tracks
• Host a private music web app for family or a small group with centralized metadata and playback
• Run on a home server using Docker Compose with Postgres and Redis for persistence and caching

Limitations and Considerations

• Mobile support is experimental: an Android app exists but is alpha and some mobile features are still missing
• Not all consumer features are present (for example, gapless playback and advanced smart-playlist capabilities are on the roadmap)
• Requires some setup knowledge (Docker, environment variables, and a clean metadata/file layout) and occasional tuning of the transcoder

Meelo is aimed at users who need deep collection organisation and metadata flexibility rather than a plug-and-play streaming service. It is actively maintained and distributed as Docker images for straightforward deployment.

Audioserve is a simple personal audio streaming server that serves audio files directly from directory structures, designed primarily for audiobooks. It includes a modern web PWA client and a lightweight API, focusing on fast browsing and playback position tracking.

Key Features

• Serves audio files from folders without requiring a separate media database
• Web PWA client for modern browsers, plus an alternative older web client
• Supports single-file audiobooks (such as M4B) by exposing chapters as virtual tracks
• Optional transcoding and transcoding cache for bandwidth-friendly streaming
• Full-text search over folder names
• Playlists and playback position sharing between clients
• Collection caching in an embedded key-value store for faster browsing and search
• Filesystem change watching to keep the library up to date

Use Cases

• Self-hosted audiobook server for personal libraries organized by folders
• Lightweight audio streaming for language learning courses or lecture recordings
• Multi-collection setups (for example, separate libraries per language)

Limitations and Considerations

• Initial collection scan and cache build can take significant time for large libraries
• Search is focused on folder names (not per-track indexing or full metadata search)

Audioserve fits users who want a fast, minimalist audiobook-oriented server that respects existing folder structures and works well in a browser. It is especially useful when you need chapter support for single-file audiobooks and simple, reliable streaming without heavyweight media management.

Roon is a music playback ecosystem centered around a “Core” server that manages your library and streams audio to one or more players (“Outputs”) across your network. It unifies local music files with supported streaming services and presents your library with rich metadata and discovery tools.

Key Features

• Centralized Core that manages library indexing, metadata, and multi-room playback
• Rich artist/album credits, biographies, reviews, lyrics, and interconnected browsing (“music discovery”)
• Multi-room audio to many endpoints (Roon Ready, AirPlay, Chromecast, and other supported devices)
• High-resolution playback with bit-perfect output where supported
• DSP features (device-dependent/plan-dependent) such as EQ, upsampling, convolution, and headphone crossfeed
• Remote control apps for desktop and mobile to browse and control playback
• Zone grouping, synchronized playback, and per-zone signal path inspection

Use Cases

• Run a home music server that streams local hi-res files to multiple rooms
• Combine local library with streaming catalogs and explore music via credits and recommendations
• Centralize playback control for a mixed ecosystem of network streamers, PCs, and mobile devices

Limitations and Considerations

• Not an open-source project; Core and clients are proprietary and require a subscription/license
• Streaming service integration depends on Roon’s supported providers and their regional availability

Roon is best suited for users who want a single, metadata-rich library experience and synchronized playback across many devices. Its Core-based architecture makes it a powerful hub for whole-home audio and high-quality playback when paired with compatible endpoints.