Alternatives to mStream

A self-hosted music streaming server for playing your own collection from anywhere, with web and mobile players. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.

Replacements

Listings that take over the same core job as mStream.

  • Navidrome

    A tiny music server for your own collection that works with dozens of existing phone apps.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxSelf-hostedWeb

    Navidrome is GPL-3.0 and supports the Subsonic API, so many third-party phone apps work, but it has no official mobile app of its own.

  • Koel

    A self-hosted personal music streaming server with a web interface and mobile apps.

    FreemiumOpen sourceAndroidiOSWebSelf-hosted

    Koel offers a web interface plus iOS and Android apps with smart playlists and podcasts, but some features are reserved for the paid Koel Plus edition.

  • gonic

    A lightweight self-hosted music streaming server that implements the Subsonic API.

    FreeOpen sourceSelf-hosted

    gonic is a lightweight Subsonic API server with scrobbling and podcast support, and has no bundled player, so you choose a Subsonic client.

  • Ampache

    A self-hosted web application for managing and streaming a music and video collection.

    FreeOpen sourceWebSelf-hosted

    Ampache is AGPL-3.0, developed since 2001, and combines local and remote catalogs, with a web player and support for external client apps.

  • Polaris

    A self-hosted music streaming server with a web client for listening from any computer or phone.

    FreeOpen sourceWebSelf-hosted

    Polaris is a Rust music server with a web client and an API for other clients, and no paid tier, but no mobile apps are listed.

  • Swing Music

    A self-hosted music player and streaming server for your own local audio files, used through a web interface.

    FreeProprietaryLinuxWebSelf-hosted

    Swing Music offers a streaming-service style web player, packaged as Docker or AppImage, but its license terms are not stated and no mobile apps are listed.

  • Supysonic

    A Python server implementing the Subsonic API for streaming your own music collection.

    FreeOpen sourceSelf-hosted

    Supysonic is an AGPL-3.0 Python server implementing the Subsonic API with transcoding and scrobbling, but it ships no player app.

  • Funkwhale

    A self-hosted, federated platform for storing, streaming and sharing music and podcasts.

    FreeOpen sourceWebSelf-hosted

    Funkwhale adds federation between servers and library sharing with other users, and works with Subsonic clients, at the cost of more administration.

Also worth comparing

These listings name mStream as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.

  • Plexamp

    A music player from Plex for listening to and exploring the music library on a Plex server.

    FreemiumProprietaryWindowsmacOSLinuxAndroidiOS

    mStream is a free open-source self-hosted server with web and mobile players that streams lossless files uncompressed and offers remote access without port forwarding.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.