# Navidrome

45 Hacker News commenters recommended Navidrome and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Self-hosted server that streams your own music library to many apps, praised for simple setup and its focus on audio. Critics say it is weak for audiobooks.

## Why people recommend it

- Replaces streaming with your own library (5 comments): "I've also canceled my Spotify sub three weeks ago and migrated to Navidrome." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49518900)) "I left spotify around two years ago for a self hosted option" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49518097)) "it's changed the way I listen to music back to how it was" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48601078))
- Simple to set up and works well (5 comments): "navidrome is great and easy to set up" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49518397)) "It was so simple, I can't actually believe it works." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47782680)) "My jellyfin (and navidrome) on my home server has me very happy with the basic set up." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46520189))
- Focused on music and audio (4 comments): "Completely focused on music, and for that application much better than either plex or jellyfin." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48089549)) "I like the focus on audio and performance of Navidrome" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46516326)) "I use navidrome rather than Jellyfin for music." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46520634))
- Works with many apps (4 comments): "built by people who know what they're doing that uses a common API among different servers and clients" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46609368)) "Navidrome and the whole OpenSubsonic ecosystem, seem to be doing quite well." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49517870)) "happily play it on Feishin on desktop (connected to my Navidrome instance)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46777110))

## What people warn about

- Weak for audiobooks (1 comments): "navidrome isn't the best for audiobooks so I'm in the process of testing good audiobook hosting platforms" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46517679))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Gonic](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gonic.md): 9 recommend
- [Subsonic](https://hackerapproved.com/p/subsonic.md): 7 recommend
- [Music Assistant](https://hackerapproved.com/p/music-assistant.md): 6 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Navidrome", https://hackerapproved.com/p/navidrome/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).