Airsonic vs LMS
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
LMS
Lightweight music server with Subsonic API support
| Feature | Airsonic | LMS |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 15 · At risk | 85 · Excellent |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Media Servers | Media Servers |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Java | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,045 | ★ 1,680 |
| First released | 2017 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Spotify | Spotify |
What are Airsonic and LMS?
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
LMS
LMS is a lightweight, self-hosted music streaming server with a focus on performance and a built-in recommendation engine. It exposes the Subsonic API for compatibility with a wide range of clients.
- Subsonic API compatible
- Music recommendations
- Low resource use
- Scrobbling support
Airsonic vs LMS: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Airsonic's repository is archived and no longer developed, while LMS is actively maintained. Airsonic is written in Java, while LMS is built with C++. LMS is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Airsonic. LMS is the more established project (first released 2014), while Airsonic arrived in 2017.
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 LMS if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
Watch out for
- Smaller community
- Web UI is functional but plain
Frequently asked questions
Is Airsonic or LMS better?
Neither is universally better. Airsonic has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Airsonic and LMS free and open-source?
Yes. Airsonic is licensed under GPL-3.0 and LMS under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Airsonic and LMS with Docker?
Airsonic: yes. LMS: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Airsonic or LMS?
LMS has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Airsonic. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.