Airsonic

Airsonic

Airsonic is an open-source media server software that allows you to stream your personal music and video collection over the internet to multiple devices. It is designed as a free alternative to commercial options like Plex or Emby.
Airsonic image
music video streaming media-server selfhosted

Airsonic: Free Open-Source Media Server Software for Streaming Personal Content

Stream your music and video collection over the internet to multiple devices with Airsonic, a free alternative to commercial options like Plex or Emby.

What is Airsonic?

Airsonic is an open-source, web-based media streamer and media server. It allows you to access your personal music and video collection from any internet-connected device. Airsonic is designed to be functionally similar to commercial products like Plex, Emby, or Logitech Media Server, but it is entirely free and open source.

Some key features of Airsonic include:

  • Stream audio files like MP3, FLAC, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, Apple Lossless, WMA
  • Stream video files like AVI, MP4, MKV, WMV, FLV
  • Transcoding media on-the-fly to playback on mobile devices
  • Support for uploading files from mobile apps
  • Organization using media tags, albums, artists, genres
  • User management and access restrictions
  • Cover art support
  • Apps available for Android, iOS, Windows, Linux
  • Podcast receiver and player
  • Internet radio streaming

Airsonic is written in Java and works on Windows, MacOS, and Linux. It uses a MySQL/MariaDB database to organize and index media files, album art, and metadata. The frontend is accessed through a web browser interface. Airsonic is self-hosted, so you'll need to provide your own server or rent hosting.

Overall, Airsonic is an excellent self-hosted alternative for personal media streaming, providing similar functionality to Plex and Emby, but without any subscription fees or usage restrictions.

Airsonic Features

Features

  1. Media streaming
  2. Remote access
  3. Transcoding
  4. Playlist and queue management
  5. User management and access control
  6. Cover art support
  7. Podcast support
  8. Audiobook support
  9. Android app
  10. iOS app
  11. Desktop apps
  12. Web app
  13. REST API
  14. LDAP integration
  15. Themes and branding

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Free and open source

Self-hosted

Customizable

Good community support

Feature rich

Cons

Setup can be complex

Mobile apps lack polish

Missing some features of paid options


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