Airsonic vs Finamp
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Airsonic
Archived
Free, web-based media streamer derived from Subsonic
VS
Finamp
Jellyfin music player with offline downloads
| Feature | Airsonic | Finamp |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 15 · At risk | 74 · Good |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Media Servers | Media Servers |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | Java | Dart |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,045 | ★ 4,279 |
| First released | 2017 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Spotify | Plexamp, Spotify |
What are Airsonic and Finamp?
Airsonic
Airsonic is a free, web-based media streamer providing access to your music collection from anywhere. It is the community fork of Subsonic and supports the Subsonic API for use with many client apps.
- Subsonic API support
- Multi-user with roles
- On-the-fly transcoding
- Podcast support
Finamp
Finamp is a free and open-source music client for Jellyfin built with Flutter for Android and iOS. It allows downloading albums and playlists for offline listening and supports gapless playback and transcoding.
- Offline music downloads
- Gapless playback
- Transcoded streaming
- Cross-platform mobile
Airsonic vs Finamp: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Airsonic's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Finamp is actively maintained. Airsonic is written in Java, while Finamp is built with Dart. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Airsonic versus MPL-2.0 for Finamp. Finamp is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Airsonic. Airsonic is the more established project (first released 2017), while Finamp arrived in 2021. Finamp has the considerably larger community, at 4,279 GitHub stars versus 2,045. Airsonic lists first-class Docker deployment; Finamp does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Airsonic if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2k GitHub stars)
- Written in Java
Watch out for
- Original repo less active
- Java memory usage
Choose Finamp if…
- Reliable offline mode
- Active community
Watch out for
- Mobile only
- Requires Jellyfin server
Frequently asked questions
Is Airsonic or Finamp better?
Finamp is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Airsonic if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Airsonic and Finamp free and open-source?
Yes. Airsonic is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Finamp under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Airsonic and Finamp with Docker?
Airsonic: yes. Finamp: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Airsonic or Finamp?
Finamp has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Airsonic. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.