Plex vs Navidrome: Which Music Server to Self-Host?
Quick Verdict
Navidrome is the better dedicated music server — it’s lightweight, free, open-source, and gives you access to 50+ Subsonic-compatible mobile apps. Plex is better if you want music alongside your movie/TV library in one app, especially if you use PlexAmp (which requires Plex Pass) for a premium music experience.
Overview
Navidrome is a dedicated self-hosted music server that implements the Subsonic/OpenSubsonic API. It streams your music library with a modern web UI, supports lyrics, internet radio, and scrobbling. Being purpose-built for music, it excels at that one thing.
Plex is a general-purpose media server with excellent music support through its main app and the dedicated PlexAmp music player. PlexAmp (requires Plex Pass) offers a polished music experience with Sonic Analysis, loudness leveling, and smart playlists.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Navidrome | Plex + PlexAmp |
|---|---|---|
| Primary focus | Music only | Video + music + photos |
| Mobile apps | 50+ Subsonic apps (Symfonium, DSub, etc.) | Plex app + PlexAmp |
| Subsonic API | Yes (full support) | No |
| Web UI quality | Good (modern React) | Excellent (polished) |
| Smart playlists | Yes (criteria-based) | Yes (Sonic Analysis + criteria) |
| Sonic Analysis | No | Yes (PlexAmp, analyzes tracks for smart mixing) |
| Loudness leveling | No | Yes (PlexAmp) |
| Lyrics | Yes (embedded + external) | Yes |
| Gapless playback | Yes | Yes (PlexAmp) |
| Internet radio | Yes | Yes |
| Scrobbling | Yes (Last.fm, ListenBrainz) | Via plugin |
| Offline sync | Via Subsonic app features | Yes (Plex Pass required) |
| Multi-user | Yes | Yes |
| Transcoding | Yes (on-the-fly) | Yes (HW accel with Plex Pass) |
| Docker containers | 1 | 1 |
| RAM usage | 50-200 MB | 500 MB-2 GB |
| Cost | Free | Free (limited) / $5 mo or $120 lifetime |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Proprietary |
Installation Complexity
Navidrome is trivial to deploy. One container, two volumes (data + music), one port. No database, no account creation, no claim tokens. Five minutes from docker compose up to streaming music.
Plex is more complex. Requires a plex.tv account, a claim token (expires in 4 minutes), library setup through the web UI, and Plex Pass for many music features including PlexAmp. Remote access configuration may be needed.
Performance and Resource Usage
| Resource | Navidrome | Plex |
|---|---|---|
| Idle RAM | ~30 MB | ~300 MB |
| Active RAM | 50-200 MB | 500 MB-2 GB |
| Disk (app) | ~20 MB | ~200 MB |
| Minimum server | 512 MB RAM | 2 GB RAM |
| Library scan (10K tracks) | Seconds | Minutes |
Navidrome is 10x lighter. Plex’s overhead comes from its video transcoding engine and metadata processing, which runs even if you only use it for music.
Community and Support
Navidrome: ~13,000 GitHub stars, active development, growing community. The Subsonic ecosystem provides access to mature, well-maintained mobile apps built over 15+ years.
Plex: Massive community, millions of users. PlexAmp has a dedicated following for its music features. However, music is secondary to Plex’s video focus — music feature requests often take a backseat.
Use Cases
Choose Navidrome If…
- Music is your primary or only self-hosted media
- You want to choose from dozens of mobile music apps
- Lightweight resource usage matters (Pi-friendly)
- Free, open-source software is important
- Last.fm/ListenBrainz scrobbling is a must
- You don’t want to create a plex.tv account
Choose Plex If…
- You already run Plex for movies and TV
- PlexAmp’s Sonic Analysis and smart mixing features appeal to you
- You want one unified server for all media types
- You’re willing to pay for Plex Pass
- You prefer Plex’s polished UI and ecosystem
- Easy remote access (Plex handles NAT traversal) is valuable
Final Verdict
Navidrome wins for a dedicated music setup. It’s lighter, free, and the Subsonic API gives you choice in mobile apps. For pure music streaming, it’s the better tool.
PlexAmp is the best music player experience in the self-hosted world — Sonic Analysis, smart mixes, and loudness leveling are genuinely impressive. But it requires Plex Pass ($5/month or $120 lifetime) and a full Plex server, which is heavy if music is all you need.
The pragmatic approach: If you run Plex for video, add Navidrome for music (it’s so light you won’t notice it). Use Subsonic apps for daily listening and PlexAmp when you want its premium features. They coexist perfectly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can PlexAmp work without Plex Pass?
No. PlexAmp requires an active Plex Pass subscription ($5/month, $40/year, or $120 lifetime). Without Plex Pass, you can still play music through the main Plex app, but you lose PlexAmp’s dedicated features.
Which has better sound quality?
Both stream at the quality of your source files. Neither degrades quality for direct play. Plex transcodes when needed (bandwidth or format issues); Navidrome also transcodes on-the-fly when requested by the client. For identical source files, sound quality is identical.
Can I migrate playlists from Plex to Navidrome?
Not directly, but both support M3U playlist files. Export playlists from Plex as M3U, adjust file paths, and import into Navidrome. Third-party tools like plexamp-to-subsonic exist for this purpose.
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