Self-Hosted Apple Music Alternatives
Why Replace Apple Music?
Cost: Apple Music costs $11/month ($132/year) for an individual plan or $17/month ($204/year) for a family plan. Over 5 years, that’s $660-$1,020 — and you own nothing. Cancel and your entire library disappears.
Lock-in: Apple Music pushes you toward the Apple ecosystem. Lossless audio only works on Apple devices. Spatial Audio is Apple-exclusive. Your playlists, listening history, and curated stations don’t export cleanly.
Library ownership: If you have a personal music collection (ripped CDs, purchased downloads, FLAC files), Apple Music can interfere. iTunes Match has a history of overwriting local files with DRM-protected versions, corrupting metadata, or replacing explicit tracks with clean versions.
Privacy: Apple Music tracks your listening habits for recommendations. Your listening data is tied to your Apple ID. Self-hosting means your music habits stay private.
The real question: If you already own a music collection or are willing to build one, why pay a monthly fee to stream it? A self-hosted music server costs nothing to run beyond electricity and gives you better control.
Best Alternatives
Navidrome — Best Overall Replacement
Navidrome is a lightweight, purpose-built music server that streams your personal library from any device. It implements the Subsonic API, giving you access to 50+ polished music apps on iOS, Android, desktop, and web.
Why it replaces Apple Music: You get a similar experience — browse by artist, album, genre; create playlists; stream to your phone — but with your own files, no subscription, and no lock-in. Apps like Symfonium (Android) and play:Sub (iOS) provide an experience comparable to Apple Music’s interface.
What’s different: No discovery/radio based on a 100-million-song catalog. You’re limited to your own collection. But you get lossless playback from any device, Last.fm/ListenBrainz scrobbling, smart playlists, and complete privacy.
[Read our full guide: How to Self-Host Navidrome]
Jellyfin — Best All-in-One Alternative
Jellyfin is a free, open-source media server that handles music alongside video, books, and photos. Its music experience is solid — the web player works well, and the Finamp mobile app is a dedicated music client.
Why it might be better than a dedicated music server: If you also have movies, TV shows, or audiobooks, Jellyfin handles everything in one platform. One server, one app, all your media.
What’s different from Apple Music: Finamp on iOS is good but not as polished as Navidrome’s Subsonic client ecosystem. Jellyfin uses more resources (~250 MB vs ~50 MB for Navidrome). But it’s completely free with no subscription tiers.
[Read our full guide: How to Self-Host Jellyfin]
Plex with Plexamp — Best for Polish
Plexamp is the most polished self-hosted music experience available. Sonic analysis, crossfade, gapless playback, offline mode, and a beautiful UI that rivals any commercial music app.
The catch: Plexamp requires Plex Pass ($5/month, $40/year, or $120 lifetime). Still far cheaper than Apple Music long-term, but not free.
What’s different: Plexamp’s Sonic Sage analyzes your library for tempo, mood, and sonic characteristics — creating smart playlists similar to Apple Music’s “Made for You” mixes. It’s the closest experience to a commercial streaming service.
[Read our full guide: How to Self-Host Plex]
Migration Guide
Step 1: Get Your Music Files
If you’ve been buying music from iTunes, your purchased files are in ~/Music/Music/Media/Music/ (macOS). iTunes purchases since 2009 are DRM-free AAC (256 kbps). These work with any music server.
If you used iTunes Match, re-download your matched library at the highest quality available before canceling.
For music you only have through Apple Music streaming (not purchased), you cannot download these — they’re DRM-protected. You’ll need to acquire these tracks through other means (purchase from Bandcamp, rip from CDs, etc.).
Step 2: Organize Your Library
Self-hosted music servers work best with organized directories:
/music/
├── Artist Name/
│ ├── Album Name (Year)/
│ │ ├── 01 - Track Title.flac
│ │ ├── 02 - Track Title.flac
│ │ └── cover.jpgTools like MusicBrainz Picard or beets can auto-organize and tag your collection.
Step 3: Deploy Your Server
Choose Navidrome for a lightweight, music-only experience. Point it at your music directory and start streaming.
Step 4: Install Client Apps
- iOS: play:Sub, Amperfy, iSub
- Android: Symfonium, Ultrasonic, DSub
- Desktop: Sonixd, Sublime Music
- Web: Navidrome’s built-in web player
Step 5: Recreate Playlists
Apple Music playlists don’t export to a standard format easily. Use a tool like Soundiiz to export playlist track lists, then recreate them in your music server. Smart playlists based on genres, ratings, and play counts can be rebuilt using Navidrome’s smart playlist feature.
Cost Comparison
| Apple Music (Individual) | Apple Music (Family) | Self-Hosted (Navidrome) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $11/month | $17/month | $0 |
| Annual cost | $132/year | $204/year | $0 |
| 5-year cost | $660 | $1,020 | ~$50 (electricity) |
| Storage limit | 100K songs (cloud) | 100K songs (cloud) | Unlimited (your hardware) |
| Audio quality | Up to 24-bit/192kHz | Up to 24-bit/192kHz | Whatever you have (FLAC, WAV, etc.) |
| Works offline | Yes (cached) | Yes (cached) | Yes (with client download feature) |
| Catalog access | 100M+ songs | 100M+ songs | Your collection only |
| Privacy | Apple tracks listening | Apple tracks listening | Complete privacy |
| Cancel = lose music? | Yes (streamed content) | Yes (streamed content) | No — you own the files |
What You Give Up
Be honest about the trade-offs:
- Discovery. Apple Music’s algorithm-curated playlists, radio stations, and “For You” recommendations require a massive catalog. Self-hosting gives you your own library only. You can use Last.fm or ListenBrainz for discovery recommendations, but it’s not the same.
- Catalog breadth. Apple Music has 100+ million songs. Your self-hosted library has however many you’ve collected. For artists you don’t own, you’ll need to acquire their music.
- Instant access to new releases. With Apple Music, new albums are available at midnight on release day. Self-hosting means buying or acquiring each release.
- Spatial Audio / Dolby Atmos. This is Apple-exclusive. Self-hosted servers stream standard stereo or multi-channel files.
- Seamless Apple ecosystem. HomePod, Apple Watch, CarPlay, AirPlay 2 integration “just works” with Apple Music. Self-hosted alternatives have varying levels of AirPlay support.
- Lossless convenience. Apple Music delivers lossless automatically. Self-hosting gives you lossless only if your source files are lossless.
What you gain: Complete ownership, no monthly fees, no lock-in, privacy, and the ability to play any format your files are in — including formats Apple doesn’t support.
FAQ
Can I still use Apple Music and self-host?
Yes. Many people keep Apple Music for discovery and new releases while using Navidrome for their owned collection. There’s no conflict.
What about AirPlay support?
Navidrome clients on iOS support AirPlay like any other audio app. You can AirPlay from play:Sub to a HomePod. It’s not as seamless as native Apple Music integration, but it works.
Is the audio quality as good?
It can be better. If your source files are FLAC or high-res WAV, you’re getting bit-perfect playback — no lossy compression, no resampling. Apple Music’s lossless tops out at 24-bit/192kHz; self-hosting has no quality ceiling.
How much storage do I need?
A FLAC music library averages about 30-50 MB per album. 1,000 albums ≈ 30-50 GB. A 1 TB drive holds approximately 20,000+ albums in FLAC — more music than most people will ever own.
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