The Best Open Source iTunes AlternativesTop Audio & Media Players like iTunes

The best open source alternative to iTunes is Clementine. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to iTunes and loads of them is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to iTunes are Audacious, Strawberry, Rhythmbox and Amarok.

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iTunes alternatives are mainly Audio Players, but if you're looking for Internet Radio Services or Media Players you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Self-Hosted + Open Source. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to iTunes.
iTunes iconiTunes
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Organizes audio, video, and playlists, streams Internet radio, syncs with devices, manages purchases, imports CDs, supports audiobooks, and runs on Windows or macOS.

More about iTunes
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iTunes alternatives page was last updated May 18, 2025
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  1. Clementine icon

    Clementine

     737 likes
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    Clementine is a cross-platform free and open source music player and library organizer. It is a port of Amarok 1.4 to the Qt 4 framework and the GStreamer multimedia framework, focusing on a fast and easy-to-use interface for searching and...

    239 Clementine alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    Clementine with lyrics pane

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Smart playlists
    2.  Podcast Player
    3.  Dynamic/Intelligent Playlists
    4. Last.fm icon  Integrated Last.fm scrobbler
    5.  Playlists management
    6.  Audio Visualization
    7.  No Tracking
    8.  Ad-free
    9.  Lossless Audio
    10.  File Tagging
    11.  No registration required
    12.  Moodbar

    Clementine VS iTunes

     
    Comments about Clementine as an Alternative to iTunes
    Most Recent Comment
    glengaldine
    Positive Jun 13, 2018
    2

    Really good. Started to use it in my Linux years (mostly on Arch), and using it still on macOS. Interface is a bit chaotic, but it's much better then iTunes so far.

    Guest
    Positive Dec 8, 2016
    2

    Amazing playback and sync capabilites. Especially great for streaming or handling big music libraries.

    phenn
    Positive Nov 7, 2017
    1

    Easy to use. Doesn't nag constantly.

    iTunes Icon
    Clementine icon

    • Most users think Clementine is a great iTunes alternative.

    • Clementine is the most popular Mac & Linux alternative to iTunes.

    • Clementine is the most popular Open Source alternative to iTunes.

    • Clementine is Free and Open SourceiTunes is Free and Proprietary
    • Clementine is Lightweight and Privacy focusediTunes is not according to our users
  2. Audacious icon

    Audacious

     294 likes
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    Lightweight open-source audio player for Unix-like platforms focused on high sound quality, extensive codec support, playlist handling, Internet radio, plugins, Winamp-style skins, cue sheets, metadata display, effects, equalizer, and efficient resource usage.

    126 Audacious alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • International

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Haiku
    • Xfce
    Audacious screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Create Playlist
    2.  Windows Compatible
    3.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    4.  Music Library
    5.  Playlists management
    6.  3D visualization
    7.  Ad-free
    8.  Dark Mode
    9.  Supports audio media keys
    10.  No Tracking
    11.  Works Offline
    12.  Lossless Audio

    Audacious VS iTunes

     
  4. Strawberry icon

    Strawberry

     242 likes
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    Strawberry is a music player and music collection organizer. It is a fork of Clementine released in 2018 aimed at music collectors and audiophiles. The name is inspired by the band Strawbs. It's written in C++ using the Qt framework.

    233 Strawberry alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • NO flagNorway

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Haiku
    Strawberry screenshot 1
    Warning

    It is still open source but now the Windows and macOS builds are tied to having a Patreon subscription.

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Customizable

    Features

    1.  Music Library
    2.  Music collection
    3.  Automatic Lyrics Finder
    4.  Auto fetch album covers
    5.  Playlists management
    6.  Ad-free
    7.  Lossless Audio
    8. Last.fm icon  Integrated Last.fm scrobbler
    9.  Cross-Platform
    10.  Gapless Playback
    11.  Automatic album art download
    12.  ListenBrainz scrobbling

    Strawberry VS iTunes

     
    Comments about Strawberry as an Alternative to iTunes
    Guest
    Positive Jan 12, 2021
    0

    Fork from Clementine which was excellent.

    iTunes Icon
    Strawberry icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Strawberry is a great iTunes alternative.

    • Strawberry is Free and Open SourceiTunes is Free and Proprietary
    • Strawberry is Lightweight and CustomizableiTunes is not according to our users
  5. Rhythmbox icon

    Rhythmbox

     433 likes
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    Rhythmbox is an audio player for Linux that plays and organizes digital music. Inspired by Apple's iTunes, it is free software that is designed to work well under the .

    145 Rhythmbox alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • GNOME
    Rhythmbox screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  File Tagging
    2.  Crossfading
    3.  Built-In ID3 Tag Editor
    4.  Smart playlists
    5. Spotify icon  Spotify integration
    6.  iPhone/iPod sync

    Rhythmbox VS iTunes

     
    Comments about Rhythmbox as an Alternative to iTunes
    Guest
    Positive Aug 16, 2017
    2

    Similar concept and functionality.

    iTunes Icon
    Rhythmbox icon

    • Most users think Rhythmbox is a great iTunes alternative.

    • Rhythmbox is Free and Open SourceiTunes is Free and Proprietary
    • Rhythmbox is LightweightiTunes is not according to our users
  6. Amarok icon

    Amarok

     404 likes
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    Amarok is a powerful music player with an intuitive interface. It makes playing the music you love and discovering new music easier than ever before — and it looks good doing it.

    161 Amarok alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • KDE Plasma
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    Overview

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Dark Mode
    2.  Support for scripting
    3.  Ad-free
    4. Last.fm icon  Integrated Last.fm scrobbler
    5.  Podcast Subscription
    6.  Music Library
    7.  Multiple languages

    Amarok VS iTunes

     
    Comments about Amarok as an Alternative to iTunes
    Most Recent Comment
    Hasan Yildiz
    Positive Feb 9, 2022
    0

    Difficult to use. It's confusing.

    ewanneil
    Negative Sep 13, 2021
    0

    Not really up to the job. It made a total mess of my collection of around 40k tracks. I couldn't find anything. For example, it stuck lots of my single artist albums into "various" and missed out a whole host of second discs from double albums. To make matters worse it crashed or failed to respond more often than not. I think iTunes is pretty poor but this is considerably worse.

    Guest
    Negative Mar 25, 2018
    -29

    No music store. Also not available for Mac. GPL, which is copyleft, and I really don't care for copyleft. I care more for open source, but I most care that it's free. I don't hate open-source though. Any other software licensed under MIT or BSD?

    iTunes Icon
    Amarok icon

    • Some users think Amarok is a great iTunes alternative, some don't.

    • Amarok is Free and Open SourceiTunes is Free and Proprietary
    • Amarok is Privacy focusediTunes is not according to our users
  7. Pocket Casts icon

    Pocket Casts

     229 likes
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    Podcast player supporting streaming and downloads, advanced search, cross-device 'Up Next', improved discovery, playback effects, and offline listening essentials.

    117 Pocket Casts alternatives

    License model

    • Freemium • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Chrome OS
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Apple Watch
    • Android Auto
    • Android Wear
    • Apple Car Play
    Pocket Casts screenshot 1
    Pocket Casts screenshot 2
    Pocket Casts screenshot 3

    Top Pocket Casts Features

    1.  Podcast Player
    2.  Cloud Sync
    3.  Works Offline
    4.  Import/Export OPML Feeds
    5.  Podcast Manager
    6.  Dark Mode
    7.  Ad-free
    8.  AirPlay Support
    9.  Playlist Filtering
    10.  Chromecast Support
    11.  Auto-delete on listen

    Pocket Casts VS iTunes

     
    Comments about Pocket Casts as an Alternative to iTunes
    vasbinde
    Negative Jun 25, 2022
    1

    Pocket Casts is a great program, but it is purely focused on podcasts, not on audio and video player and library management. For example, it cannot rip audio CDs or play movies.

    ccier7u87wl2pvvz7o
    Negative Nov 6, 2021
    0

    It's just a podcast player

    iTunes Icon
    Pocket Casts icon

    • Some users think Pocket Casts is a great iTunes alternative, some don't.

    • Pocket Casts is Freemium and Open SourceiTunes is Free and Proprietary
  9. DeaDBeeF icon

    DeaDBeeF

     196 likes
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    DeaDBeeF is a lightweight graphical music player created for easy playback of music and management of playlists. It supports major audio codecs and tags, global hotkeys, gapless playback, streaming audio, command line control, and has an 18-band equalizer.

    170 DeaDBeeF alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • RU flagRussia

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • KDE
    • Cinnamon
    • GNOME
    • MATE
    • Xfce
    DeaDBeeF screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    2.  Fully customizable interface
    3.  Playlists management
    4.  Support for Hotkeys
    5.  Works Offline
    6.  Ad-free
    7.  Portable
    8.  Lossless Audio
    9.  Command line interface
    10.  Replay Gain
    11. Last.fm icon  Integrated Last.fm scrobbler
    12.  Mods

    DeaDBeeF VS iTunes

     
7 of 74 iTunes alternatives