Self-Hosted Spotify Alternatives
Why Replace Spotify?
Spotify costs $11.99/month for Premium ($143/year) or $19.99/month for Family ($240/year). Over 5 years, that’s $715–$1,200 — and you own nothing. Cancel your subscription, lose everything.
Beyond cost, Spotify controls your experience: algorithm-driven recommendations push what’s profitable, not what you love. Playback quality is capped at 320 kbps Ogg Vorbis (no lossless on most plans). Your listening data feeds a massive profiling operation — Spotify knows your mood, location, habits, and routines.
Self-hosted music streaming gives you lossless playback (FLAC, ALAC), zero tracking, permanent access to your library, and native mobile apps that rival Spotify’s client experience. The catch: you need to own your music files.
Best Alternatives
Navidrome — Best Overall Replacement
Navidrome is a lightweight, open-source music server with a clean web UI and Subsonic API compatibility. That API compatibility is the killer feature — it means you can use dozens of polished mobile apps (Symfonium, Ultrasonic, play:Sub, Amperfy) as your music client. It’s the closest experience to Spotify you’ll get from a self-hosted solution.
Why it’s the best:
- Subsonic API gives you access to 20+ mature client apps across iOS, Android, and desktop
- Extremely lightweight (~50 MB RAM idle) — runs on a Raspberry Pi
- Transcoding support via FFmpeg (stream FLAC as MP3 to save bandwidth)
- Multi-user support with per-user playlists, favorites, and play history
- Automatic music scanning with tag-based organization
What you lose vs Spotify: No discovery algorithm, no curated playlists, no social features, no lyrics integration (some clients add this). You need to own your music files.
[Read our full guide: How to Self-Host Navidrome]
Jellyfin — Best All-in-One (Music + Video)
Jellyfin is a full media server that handles music alongside movies, TV shows, and books. If you already run Jellyfin for video, adding your music library takes zero additional setup. The built-in web player works well, and third-party music clients exist (Finamp for iOS/Android).
Why choose it:
- One server for all media (video + music + books)
- Free and fully open-source — no paid tiers
- Finamp mobile app provides a dedicated music experience
- Hardware transcoding for video sharing, music streaming essentially free
- Existing Jellyfin users add music with zero additional infrastructure
What you lose vs Spotify: Music experience is secondary to video. Dedicated music apps like Finamp are good but not as polished as Subsonic clients. No gapless playback on all clients.
[Read our full guide: How to Self-Host Jellyfin]
Plex + Plexamp — Best Music Experience
Plex with its dedicated music player Plexamp offers the most Spotify-like experience of any self-hosted option. Plexamp has artist radio, sonic exploration (recommendations based on audio analysis), gapless playback, crossfade, and loudness normalization. It’s genuinely excellent.
Why choose it:
- Plexamp is the best-looking, most feature-rich self-hosted music app
- Sonic exploration provides algorithmic recommendations from your own library
- Gapless playback, crossfade, and loudness normalization
- Offline download for mobile listening
- Visual album art browser, mood-based filters
What you lose: Plexamp requires Plex Pass ($5/month or $120 lifetime). Plex requires an online account. Your server phones home to Plex’s cloud. For a fully local music server, Navidrome is better.
[Read our full guide: How to Self-Host Plex]
Funkwhale — Best for Social Music Sharing
Funkwhale is a federated music platform — think Mastodon but for music. You can follow users on other Funkwhale instances, share playlists across the fediverse, and discover music from the network. It supports the Subsonic API for client compatibility.
Why choose it:
- Federated — connect with other Funkwhale instances
- Social features (follows, shared playlists, public libraries)
- Subsonic API support for mobile clients
- Podcast support built in
What you lose: Heavier resource usage (~500 MB RAM). More complex setup (PostgreSQL + Redis + Celery workers). Smaller community than Navidrome. Best suited for people who want the social aspect.
Migration Guide
Getting Your Music Files
If you’re coming from Spotify, you don’t have music files — you have a streaming subscription. Here’s how to build a self-hosted library:
- Buy music: Bandcamp (FLAC, highest artist cut), Amazon Music (MP3), iTunes (AAC), HDTracks (hi-res FLAC)
- Rip CDs: Use Exact Audio Copy (Windows) or whipper (Linux) for lossless rips
- Convert existing purchases: Check if you have past digital purchases on Amazon, iTunes, or Google Play
- Export your Spotify playlists: Use Exportify to export playlist data as CSV, then rebuild playlists in your music server
Setting Up Navidrome
mkdir -p /opt/stacks/navidrome && cd /opt/stacks/navidromeCreate docker-compose.yml:
services:
navidrome:
image: deluan/navidrome:0.54.5
container_name: navidrome
restart: unless-stopped
user: "1000:1000"
ports:
- "4533:4533"
environment:
ND_SCANNER_SCHEDULE: "1h"
ND_LOGLEVEL: "info"
ND_SESSIONTIMEOUT: "24h"
ND_ENABLETRANSCODINGCONFIG: "true"
volumes:
- ./data:/data
- /path/to/your/music:/music:rodocker compose up -dOpen http://your-server:4533, create an account, and your music library is ready. Install Symfonium (Android, $5) or play:Sub (iOS, $5) for the best mobile experience.
Recommended Mobile Clients
| Platform | App | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android | Symfonium | $5 (one-time) | Best Android option. Beautiful UI, gapless playback. |
| Android | Ultrasonic | Free | Open-source, available on F-Droid. |
| iOS | play:Sub | $5 (one-time) | Solid Subsonic client. |
| iOS | Amperfy | Free | Open-source. |
| Desktop | Web UI | Free | Built into Navidrome. |
Cost Comparison
| Spotify Premium | Spotify Family | Self-Hosted (Navidrome) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $11.99 | $19.99 | ~$3-5 (electricity + hardware amortized) |
| Annual cost | $143.88 | $239.88 | ~$36-60 |
| 3-year cost | $431.64 | $719.64 | ~$108-180 + music purchases |
| Audio quality | 320 kbps Ogg Vorbis | 320 kbps Ogg Vorbis | Lossless (FLAC, ALAC) |
| Library size | 100M+ songs (rental) | 100M+ songs (rental) | Your collection (owned) |
| Offline listening | Yes | Yes | Yes (with mobile apps) |
| Privacy | Extensive tracking | Extensive tracking | Zero tracking |
| Cancel = lose access | Yes | Yes | No — files are yours |
The trade-off is clear: Spotify gives you instant access to 100 million songs for a monthly fee. Self-hosting gives you permanent ownership of a smaller library with better audio quality and zero tracking. They’re not equivalent — self-hosting works best for people who already own music or are willing to build a collection.
What You Give Up
Be honest about the trade-offs:
- Discovery: Spotify’s recommendation algorithm is genuinely good. Self-hosted alternatives have nothing comparable (Plexamp’s Sonic Exploration comes closest for Plex users).
- Catalog size: You’ll never match Spotify’s 100M+ song library. Self-hosting is for music you own and love, not for sampling everything ever recorded.
- Social features: No shared listening sessions, no public playlists, no “what are my friends listening to.”
- Lyrics: Spotify has real-time synced lyrics. Some Subsonic clients support lyrics via third-party sources, but it’s not as seamless.
- Podcasts: Spotify bundles podcasts. Self-host podcasts separately with Audiobookshelf or use a podcast app directly.
- Convenience: Spotify works instantly on any device with zero setup. Self-hosting requires initial setup and ongoing maintenance.
FAQ
Can I get Spotify-like recommendations on a self-hosted server?
Plexamp’s Sonic Exploration analyzes the audio characteristics of your music to suggest similar tracks from your library. It’s the closest thing to Spotify’s algorithm. Navidrome and Jellyfin don’t have built-in recommendation engines, though Last.fm scrobbling integration lets you track your listening habits.
What audio formats should I use?
FLAC is the gold standard — lossless, widely supported, and open. For storage-constrained setups, high-bitrate MP3 (320 kbps) or AAC (256 kbps) works fine. Navidrome can transcode FLAC to MP3 on the fly for mobile streaming over cellular data.
Can my family use this?
Yes. Navidrome supports multiple users, each with their own playlists, favorites, and play history. Each family member installs a Subsonic client and connects with their own credentials.
How much storage do I need?
A typical album in FLAC is 300-500 MB. A 500-album library needs ~150-250 GB. In MP3 320 kbps, the same library is ~50-75 GB. Start with what you have and expand as needed.
Is this legal?
Yes, as long as you own the music. Ripping CDs you own, playing files you purchased from Bandcamp/iTunes/Amazon, and streaming your own library to your own devices is legal in most jurisdictions.
Related
Get self-hosting tips in your inbox
New guides, comparisons, and setup tutorials — delivered weekly. No spam.