Internet radio (also known as web radio, net radio, streaming radio, and online radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet.
Why do we like internet radio? There are no sign-up or subscription charges. There’s a huge range of stations available from around the world. If you like classical music, pop music, folk music, news, talk radio, and much more, internet radio has something for everyone wherever you live (providing you have a net connection). Internet radio offers every format that is available on traditional broadcast radio stations.
There’s a wide range of free and open source software that lets you listen to internet radio. With so many different possibilities available it’s easy to get lost trying to find the right one for you.
Here’s our verdict on the best GUI-based internet radio software. Features that are highly desirable include, but are not limited to, access to the community radio browser API or similar, recording streams, the ability to import/export a list of radio stations, good search functionality, station logos, reordering stations, as well as an attractive and easy-to-use interface. Other factors that help to determine our rating include things like the program’s stability, speed, memory usage, and more.
Only open source software is eligible for inclusion.
We must stress that the rating for each program represents our assessment of the program’s capabilities as an internet radio program. Many of the programs are not dedicated internet radio software. And the fact we’ve scored some programs (fairly) lowly isn’t indicative of their qualities as a music player. For example, Tauon Music Box is our recommended open source music player. It’s truly an amazing music player. While recent releases have added more internet radio functionality to Tauon, there’s plenty of scope for further improvements in this area.
The most promising music player in our opinion is fooyin. Its developer is planning to add internet radio functionality. We wait with baited breath.
Let’s have a look at the programs in more detail. For most of the software, we’ve written a detailed review. All of the programs offer a graphical interface. Terminal-based internet radio apps are covered in this separate article.
| Internet Radio | |
|---|---|
| Tuner | Minimalist radio station player written in Vala |
| Shortwave | Rust based dedicated internet radio program |
| MusicPod | Music, podcast and internet radio player written in Dart |
| Tauonx | Python based music player |
| QMPlay2 | C++ based music and video player |
| Yarock | C++ based music player |
| Olivia | C++ based music player |
| Sayonara Player | C++ based music player |
| Radio | Vala based radio station player |
| Rhythmbox | C based music player |
| Quod Libet | Python based music player |
| Byte | Vala based music player designed for elementary OS |
| StreamTuner2 | Python based dedicated internet radio program |
| Banshee | C# based music player |
| Amarok | C++ based music player |
| Clementine | C++ based music player |
| Radiotray-NG | C++ based dedicated internet radio program |
| Goodvibes | C based dedicated internet radio program |
| Melody | Vala based music player designed for elementary OS |
| Exaile | Python based music player |
| GogglesMM | C++ based music collection manager and player |
| Audacious | C++ based music player |
| Aqualung | C Gtk-based audio player |
This article has been revamped in line with our recent announcement.
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Hello all !
is there any of these internet radio programs able to do recording ?
Most don’t offer recording but StreamTuner2 does. I think it uses streamripper for the recording
Tauon Music Box offers recording and it’s great software.
I really dislike Tauon’s interface. Clunky, poorly designed and poorly implemented.
I only use software that runs under Linux and Windows. I really don’t want to have to use different software all the time. Tauon used to have a Windows port but that was sadly dropped by its developer. There’s lots of good music players that run under both platforms. Maybe you should highlight this more?
QMMP
Maybe also add that it’s trivial to make an m3u playlist to play in Strawberry/QMMP (which can record with a plugin – into separate music files for any station which broadcasts the data) though these aren’t radio apps.
QMPlay2 also has a great Radio browser to find/add stations, mp3 and Youtube windows for searching and downloading (Video or just audio)…
Hi, any recommended internet radio software I can use to do scheduling and playlist for my station? Also need some help in actually setting up my station online. any assistance is greatly appreciated.
What have you tried?
How does a search for Linux Internet Radio Station Software, list everything but Internet radio station software? And list “Players” in the search. See I’m a broadcaster, and I use SAM Broadcaster Pro and it’s a Windows Only Program. As None of my Computers pass the test to run Windows 11, and I\m not interested is getting screwed into having to Purchase an “Upgrade” again for Windows 11. I’m trying to figure out how to run SAM another way. Wine or Bottles. Because No one in the Linux community has created anything close to SAM Broadcaster Pro. And Mixxx and Butt.. are a Joke. And trying to find out how to run SAM in wine or Bottles… No one has made a video on YouTube about that yet. But how to run text editing for some reason is… Text created and editing is built into Linux Desktops and isn’t that hard to use, so why would you waste your time installing something that is already built in???? Sorry didn’t mean to rant, I’m just frustrated. I’m learning Linux on the fly and trying to find or fix something I can use. I have over 4000 dollars invested in my hobby. Tired of getting screwed by Microsoft.
This roundup is designed for people who want to listen to internet radio stations, not people who want a DJ system that allows them to stream audio over the internet to listeners.
I will do some research on this — no one has requested such a roundup before. From a quick search, did you try OpenBroadcaster, a web-based, open-source system to run community radio and television broadcast transmitters with a simple web interface.
Or what about Internet DJ Console (IDJC) which is featured in our DJ roundup.
The proprietary Windows software you mention is very expensive and somewhat of a niche area. Open source software is not free to develop.
As the late lamented Jonathon Fernyhough was famous for saying you have a few choices if you can’t find something that meets your requirements in Linux.
a) Write the software yourself (or lead the project with other like-minded individuals).
b) Convince someone or a group to write the software
c) Pay someone to write it