Ampache

A PHP web application for streaming your music and video collection to browsers and client apps, with a long-running API and an opt-in Jellyfin-compatible one.

3.8k stars, 609 forks PHP On GitHub since March 2013

Visit website View on GitHub How to run it

Ampache at a glance

Open sourceYes, AGPL-3.0No paid parts in the repository
Health76 of 100Actively developed
Self-hostingDockerCompose file, 2 services
Interface28 languagesIncluding English, German and French
Issue repliesWithin ~9 hoursMedian first reply; 73% of recent issues answered

What is Ampache?

Ampache serves an existing media collection over the web so you can play it from almost any device with a browser or a compatible app. It reads embedded tags and file names to build its catalog, and it deliberately leaves organising files to you. Besides its own documented API, the in-progress Ampache8 line adds an optional Jellyfin-compatible API, letting clients such as Finamp and Symfonium browse and stream the library. It also offers LDAP sign-in and UPnP when the matching PHP modules are installed.

Good fit if

  • Your music is already well tagged and you want to stream it from a server you run on a standard web stack.
  • You use mobile or desktop players that speak the Ampache API.

Look elsewhere if

  • You want a lighter single-binary music server: Navidrome.
  • Films and TV are your main use rather than music: Jellyfin.

Before you adopt it

Ampache is AGPL-3.0, with some bundled modules under their own licenses and no paid parts in the repository. One developer wrote almost all recent commits, which is a continuity risk. It needs a web server such as Apache or nginx, a matching PHP version, MySQL or MariaDB, and Node.js to build front-end assets; Docker images are also available. The stable recommendation is the release7 branch, while Ampache8 requires PHP 8.5. Ampache's interface comes in 28 languages.

Drafted with AI from the project's README and repository data, then checked against that data on 7 November 2026. Report a correction

How to run Ampache yourself

Docker
Dockerfile or compose file in the repository
Compose file
docker-compose.yml: 2 services (mysql)
Setup effort
2 of 5, judged from the compose file
Kubernetes
No Helm chart in the repository
Desktop and mobile
No app builds in GitHub releases
Interface languages
28 languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish
Show all 28

Arabic, Catalan, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian Bokmål, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese

Install instructions: ampache.org or the README on GitHub.

Ampache health: is it still maintained?

76 of 100, actively developed

Release rhythmEvery ~6 daysLatest: 8.4.0, 6 November 2026
Issue repliesWithin ~9 hoursMedian first reply; 73% of recent issues answered
Bus factorHigh riskThe most active of 2 authors wrote 97% of recent commits
  • Activity
    1,053 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 6 November 2026.
    30 / 30
  • Contributors
    2 people wrote the latest 100 commits; the most active wrote 97% of them.
    4 / 20
  • Releases
    15+ releases in the last 12 months; the latest, 8.4.0, on 6 November 2026.
    19 / 20
  • Replies to issues
    Maintainers answered 73% of recent issues, with a median first reply after 9 hours.
    18 / 20
  • Security practices
    OpenSSF Scorecard 5.2 of 10.
    5 / 10

Read from GitHub on 7 November 2026. How the score works

Ampache security practices

OpenSSF Scorecard checks how a project is developed and released: reviews, protected branches, pinned dependencies, signed releases. It does not audit the code itself.

OpenSSF Scorecard5.2 of 10How the project is built and released
Security policyYesExplains how to report a vulnerability
Signed releasesNoDownloads cannot be checked against a signature

What each check found

  • Binary files10 / 10No compiled binaries checked into the repository
  • Dangerous workflows10 / 10No risky patterns in GitHub Actions
  • License file10 / 10A license file is present
  • Maintained10 / 10Steady commits and issue activity in the last 90 days
  • Security policy10 / 10Explains how to report a vulnerability
  • Static analysis10 / 10Code is scanned for bugs on every change
  • Best-practices badge0 / 10No OpenSSF Best Practices badge
  • Code review0 / 10Changes are merged without review
  • Fuzzing0 / 10No fuzz testing found
  • Pinned dependencies0 / 10Dependencies are not pinned to fixed versions
  • Signed releases0 / 10Releases are not signed
  • Token permissions0 / 10CI tokens have broad write rights

From the OpenSSF Scorecard of 2 November 2026. Checks that do not apply to Ampache are left out.

Ampache license: is it open source?

Ampache uses AGPL-3.0, an open-source license approved by the OSI.

  1. March 2013First published on GitHub.
  2. TodayAGPL-3.0.

Ampache for developers

Written in

  • PHP 89%
  • HTML 5%
  • JavaScript 2%
  • CSS 2%
  • Python 1%
  • Other <1%

Getting involved

Contributing guideYesCONTRIBUTING.mdOpen issues227On GitHub
Authors, 90 days2Of the latest 100 commits

Language shares are GitHub’s count of the code in the repository.

Alternatives to Ampache

  • PeerTubeActivityPub-federated video streaming platform using P2P directly in your web browser 87 health · AGPL-3.0 · 15.4k stars
  • Beetsmusic library manager and MusicBrainz tagger 82 health · MIT · 15.9k stars
  • MediaMTXReady-to-use Media-over-QUIC / SRT / WebRTC / RTSP / RTMP / LL-HLS / MPEG-TS / RTP live media server and… 80 health · MIT · 20.6k stars
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All 28 projects in Media servers & streaming

Questions about Ampache

Is Ampache open source?

Yes. Ampache is published under AGPL-3.0, an OSI-approved open-source license.

Is Ampache still maintained?

Its health score is 76 of 100 (actively developed). It had 1,053 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 6 November 2026, and its latest release came out on 6 November 2026.

How do I run Ampache?

You can run it with Docker. The README on GitHub has the exact steps.

What is Ampache written in?

Ampache is written mainly in PHP (89% of the code), with HTML (5%), by GitHub’s count of the repository.

What languages is Ampache available in?

The repository has interface translations for 28 languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish and Russian.

What are the alternatives to Ampache?

Close alternatives in the Media servers & streaming category include PeerTube, Beets, MediaMTX.