Navidrome
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 4 music servers
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.
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.
48 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 45
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 94%
Recommended in 11 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 45 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 15 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 11 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Replaces streaming with your own library
“I've also canceled my Spotify sub three weeks ago and migrated to Navidrome.”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “Fastpotify” “I left spotify around two years ago for a self hosted option”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “Fastpotify” “it's changed the way I listen to music back to how it was”
Comment from 19 Jun 2026 in “Spotify Killed the Thrill of the Hunt” - Comment from 18 Mar 2026 in “Spotify playing ads for paid subscribers”
- Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “AI Generated Music Barred from Bandcamp”
Simple to set up and works well
“navidrome is great and easy to set up”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “Fastpotify” “It was so simple, I can't actually believe it works.”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “Anna's Archive Loses $322M Spotify Piracy Case Without a Fight” “My jellyfin (and navidrome) on my home server has me very happy with the basic set up.”
Comment from 6 Jan 2026 in “How Spotify Made Me Self Host” - Comment from 11 May 2026 in “Plex's price hikes prove I was right to switch to Jellyfin”
- Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “AI Generated Music Barred from Bandcamp”
Focused on music and audio
“Completely focused on music, and for that application much better than either plex or jellyfin.”
Comment from 11 May 2026 in “Plex's price hikes prove I was right to switch to Jellyfin” “I like the focus on audio and performance of Navidrome”
Comment from 6 Jan 2026 in “State of the Fin 2026-01-06 – Jellyfin” “I use navidrome rather than Jellyfin for music.”
Comment from 6 Jan 2026 in “How Spotify Made Me Self Host” - Comment from 29 Jan 2026 in “The state of Linux music players in 2026”
Works with many apps
“built by people who know what they're doing that uses a common API among different servers and clients”
Comment from 13 Jan 2026 in “AI Generated Music Barred from Bandcamp” “Navidrome and the whole OpenSubsonic ecosystem, seem to be doing quite well.”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “Fastpotify” “happily play it on Feishin on desktop (connected to my Navidrome instance)”
Comment from 27 Jan 2026 in “The state of Linux music players in 2026” - Comment from 7 Jan 2026 in “Many Hells of WebDAV: Writing a Client/Server in Go”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Weak for audiobooks
“navidrome isn't the best for audiobooks so I'm in the process of testing good audiobook hosting platforms”
Comment from 6 Jan 2026 in “State of the Fin 2026-01-06 – Jellyfin”
Other music servers people recommend
The three most recommended other music servers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NavidromeThis page | 45 | 3 | 94% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Gonic | 9 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
| Subsonic | 7 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
| Music Assistant | 6 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
40 of the 59 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I use Navidrome for music as well — I'd say it's about 800 artists and thousands of albums.”
“If you self-host, you owe it to yourself to set up Navidrome.”
“Every CD I buy gets ripped to a NAS that hosts the music behind Navidrone”
“My audio needs have been satisfied for many years with subsonic, then airsonic, and now navidrome.”
“I disliked having my music and video commingled so it's been worthwhile for me.”
“It's a great system and free from the catalogue rot and slop that's been eroding the benefits of streaming”
“I've also canceled my Spotify sub three weeks ago and migrated to Navidrome.”
“navidrome is great and easy to set up”
“I left spotify around two years ago for a self hosted option”
“Navidrome and the whole OpenSubsonic ecosystem, seem to be doing quite well.”
“Navidrome backend even supports smart playlists”
“You are never alone with Navidrome!”
“If you're a self-hosting / NAS person already and you have a music library of digital files it's a no brainer.”
“it's changed the way I listen to music back to how it was”
“free open source that does a decent enough job”
“works perfectly well, flac, and with reverse proxy exposing the server there's no need to vpn or anything”
“It's working well for me, running NixOS on an N150 minipc along with Tailscale.”
“Completely focused on music, and for that application much better than either plex or jellyfin.”
“It was so simple, I can't actually believe it works.”
“I've been using the latter for hosting my music collection for over a year now and really like it.”
“so I could listen to my curated music everywhere”
“For network-based music Navidrome is very good.”
“happily play it on Feishin on desktop (connected to my Navidrome instance)”
“that's a good compromise IMO/E when you've got to pick what music you want to carry with you”
“with self-hosting Navidrome I can't be happier”
“Feels great to own your music again.”
“built by people who know what they're doing that uses a common API among different servers and clients”
“letting your enjoy your lossless music on fancy hardware at home or cached on your mobile device when on the go”
“I also swapped Airsonic Advanced (Java) with Navidrome (Go).”
“I've started doing this recently with Navidrome and I'm happy with the results.”
“I've recently started using ListenBrainz in combination with Navidrome.”
“I use navidrome rather than Jellyfin for music.”
“My jellyfin (and navidrome) on my home server has me very happy with the basic set up.”
“Navidrome looks really cool as well”
“navidrome isn't the best for audiobooks so I'm in the process of testing good audiobook hosting platforms”
“I like the focus on audio and performance of Navidrome”
“I then followed up with Navidrome, a local OSM service with routing”
“Spin one up and stream your music from that.”
“Navidrome and Beets aren't amazing pieces of kit”
“hosting something like Navidrome and using a browser for playback these days depending on your setup / household”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.