Audiobookshelf

Judgement

What it is

Complete system

What it does

A self-hosted audiobook and podcast server with progress sync, metadata matching and mobile apps.

Adopt it when

You own audiobook files or follow podcasts and want them streamed to your phone with synced progress.

Watch out

Mobile apps are still in beta, and much of it rests on one lead developer.

Ready for

Production-ready

Runs as

Self-hosted server and mobile app

Built with

JavaScript, Node.js, Vue and SQLite

How established

Established: started 5 years ago, latest release v2.37.2.

What the license allows

Use inside your business is unrestricted, but anything you distribute that includes it must be released under the same license.

Judged on 2026-11-03 from the project's README and GitHub data. The license and age lines are worked out directly.

Compare Audiobookshelf

Built from

Follow it down: Audiobookshelf → V8 → LLVM project → runs on a microchip

How compilers were built, back to punched paper tape

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