Polaris

Lightweight open-source music streaming server written in Rust, with its own web player.

Open sourceSelf-hostableMedia servers

Verified facts: 3 of 3
Alternatives ranked: 4
Approved reviews: 0
Visits sent from here: 0

About Polaris

Polaris is a self-hosted music streaming server that lets you listen to your collection from any computer or mobile device. Written in Rust, it is fast and frugal with resources, and it ships with its own web interface rather than relying solely on third-party apps; there is also an Android client. It indexes common formats including FLAC, MP3, MP4, Ogg, Opus, APE, WAV and AIFF, supports multiple users, playlists and browsing by folder or by artist and album, and exposes an API for other clients. It runs on Windows, Linux and BSD, or in Docker. Polaris is free under the MIT licence and developed largely by one person. It does not implement the Subsonic API, so the large ecosystem of Subsonic apps will not work with it, and its feature set and community are smaller than Navidrome's.

Best for: People who want a light, self-contained music server with its own web player.

What works

Fast and light, written in Rust
Own web player included
Permissive MIT licence

Why people leave

No Subsonic API, so fewer compatible apps
Small, mostly single-developer project
No macOS build listed

Top Polaris alternatives

See all 4

1
Navidrome
Similar lightness with Subsonic app compatibility and a bigger community.
66.5
2
gonic
A minimal Subsonic backend if you prefer third-party apps.
62.6
3
Swing Music
A self-hosted music server with a more polished interface.
59.6
4
Koel
A modern web music player with premium extras.
57.2

Why people left Polaris

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Polaris: common questions

Is Polaris free?

Yes. Polaris is free, open-source software that you can host yourself.

Is Polaris open source?

Yes. The source code is on GitHub at agersant/polaris. You can also run it on your own server.

What platforms does Polaris run on?

Polaris is available for Windows, Linux, Self-hosted and Web.

What are the best alternatives to Polaris?

The highest-ranked Polaris alternatives right now are Navidrome, gonic and Swing Music. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 4 Polaris alternatives

Polaris facts

3 of 3 verified

License: MIT; Checked Oct 25, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab); “License: MIT (MIT License).”
Platforms: Windows, Linux, BSD, Docker; Checked Oct 25, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab); “Runs on Windows, Linux, BSD, or through Docker”
Formats: FLAC, MP3, MP4, MPC, Ogg, Opus, APE, WAV, AIFF; Checked Oct 25, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab); “Support for flac , mp3 , mp4 , mpc , ogg , opus , ape , wav and aiff”