Audiobookshelf
Audiobook and podcast server. It streams all audio formats, keeps and syncs progress across devices. Comes with apps for Android and iOS.
Audiobookshelf vs Beets
Two self-hosted Media Streaming - Audio Streaming apps, compared on the facts we track: GitHub popularity and activity, license, language, Docker images and a rough hosting estimate.
Side by side
| Audiobookshelf | Beets | |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Audiobook and podcast server. It streams all audio formats, keeps and syncs progress across devices. Comes with apps for Android and iOS. | Music library manager and MusicBrainz tagger (command-line and Web interface). |
| GitHub stars | 14,911 | 15,893 |
| Forks | – | – |
| Open issues | – | – |
| Commits (12 months) | 447 | 2.3k |
| Last activity | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-04 |
| Latest release | v2.37.2 (2026-10-23) | v2.14.1 (2026-09-17) |
| Maintenance health | Active | Active |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language / platform | Docker, deb, Nodejs | Python, deb |
| Docker Hub image | advplyr/audiobookshelf | – |
| Docker pulls | 6350.5k | – |
| Est. server size | ~1 GB, 1 vCPU | ~1 GB, 1 vCPU |
| Est. hosting from | $5/mo | $5/mo |
| Categories | Media Streaming - Audio Streaming, Document Management - E-books | Media Streaming - Audio Streaming |
| Links | Website · Source | Website · Source |
What the numbers say
- Audiobookshelf and Beets have a similar number of GitHub stars (14.9k vs 15.9k).
- Beets had more commits in the last 12 months (2,317 vs 447).
- Audiobookshelf published a release more recently (v2.37.2 on 2026-10-23; Beets's latest is v2.14.1 on 2026-09-17).
- Audiobookshelf is licensed under GPL-3.0, Beets under MIT. Beets's license is permissive; Audiobookshelf's is copyleft (changes you distribute must stay open).
- Audiobookshelf is written in Nodejs; Beets in Python.
- Deployment options listed upstream: Audiobookshelf: Docker, deb; Beets: deb.
- Only Audiobookshelf has a Docker Hub image that we detected (advplyr/audiobookshelf).
Summary: Audiobookshelf leads on Docker Hub availability; Beets leads on commit activity. The right choice depends on the features you need — read both project descriptions and docs.
This summary is generated from GitHub, Docker Hub and awesome-selfhosted data as of 2026-11-05. It does not rate features or quality.
Get the Docker images
Audiobookshelf
docker pull advplyr/audiobookshelfImage on Docker Hub. Ports, volumes and environment variables differ per app; follow the official docs.
Frequently asked questions
Is Audiobookshelf or Beets more popular?
They are close: Audiobookshelf has 14,911 GitHub stars and Beets has 15,893 (as of 2026-11-05).
Which is more actively maintained, Audiobookshelf or Beets?
Beets had more commits over the last 12 months (2,317 vs 447). Both had repository activity on 2026-11-04. Releases in the past year: Audiobookshelf 10+, Beets 10+. Our health labels: Audiobookshelf is “Active”, Beets is “Active”.
What licenses do Audiobookshelf and Beets use?
Audiobookshelf: GPL-3.0. Beets: MIT. Beets's license is permissive; Audiobookshelf's is copyleft (changes you distribute must stay open).
Can I run Audiobookshelf and Beets with Docker?
Audiobookshelf has a Docker Hub image (advplyr/audiobookshelf). We did not find one for Beets; check its documentation for install options.
Read more
Beets
Music library manager and MusicBrainz tagger (command-line and Web interface).
Browse all self-hosted Media Streaming - Audio Streaming apps.