Using an open-source operating system such as Linux calls for using open-source entertainment apps. Even though Spotify has plenty of native versions available for desktop and mobile platforms, many users prefer using alternatives packed with exciting features.

If that sounds like you, you're in for a surprise, as Linux has a ton of fine-tuned Spotify alternatives, which allow you to listen to music right from your desktop.

Check out these top Spotify alternatives that offer better service than paid music apps.

1. Playary

Playary Linux app interface

The desktop player, Playary is a Spotify alternative for Linux users, that has gained considerable traction with different users.

This music app packs tons of features that rival Windows Media Player. Apart from cataloging your local desktop music and video library according to artists and genres, it can additionally fetch and stream music and podcasts with relative ease.

You can rely on Playary to search for new artists and movies. If you have your podcast, try launching it using Playary, so that you have all relevant details, complete with title, casting information, and episode descriptions.

You can download Playary on your system using Snap Store. Just type the following command in the terminal:

        sudo snap install playary
    

Note that you'll have to install snap to successfully run the aforementioned command.

2. Nuclear

Nuclear Linux app interface

Nuclear is a must-have music and podcast aggregation tool for the serious audiophile. The service aggregates music from online sources like SoundCloud, YouTube, Bandcamp, the iTunes library, Audius, so on and so forth.

This open-source software service has already garnered attention from users across desktop platforms due to its extensive feature set.

Nuclear doubles as an artist Wikipedia of sorts, as it features well-described artist profiles. Users can sing along to their favorite tracks by following the embedded, on-screen lyrics.

The player incorporates a nifty mini-player version, allowing you to jam to your favorite music and podcasts and make your Linux workstation more engaging.

Nuclear is available as a snap package for every Linux distro. To install it, run the following command in the terminal:

        sudo snap install nuclear
    

3. Olivia

Olivia Linux app interface

Olivia is a highly customizable desktop-native music player that dons many hats. It can stream and catalog your local music library on Linux; additionally, it streams content from YouTube, along with audio from other websites and internet radio stations.

Olivia’s dynamic UI is easily customizable. As a user, you can create and share playlists compiled from varied content sources. In fact, use this app to convert your app into a mini-player widget to download tracks made available for free by the publishers directly.

Unlike many other Spotify alternatives, Olivia aggregates music based on country-wise rankings. So, you can always expect to enjoy new music on your Linux desktop, and even sing along with the song lyrics.

Issue the following command to download Olivia via the Snap Store:

        sudo snap install olivia
    

4. StreamTuner2

Streamtuner 2

If you’re keen to have a successor to the ever famous StreamTuner, then it’s time to download StreamTuner2, a Python-coded GUI for streaming music from radio directories, video services, and music collections. Since this is a multi-platform app, it seamlessly incorporates a wide range of end-user services.

To enhance StreamTuner2’s functionalities, you can install plugins and configure multiple audio players to assist with different audio formats. Rest assured, the app is relatively stable in its functionality and calls previously configured audio or video players to keep the users comfortable while they are using the app.

Use the following command to download StreamTuner2 on your Linux distro:

        sudo snap install streamtuner2-dev
    

Related: The Best Music Streaming Services for Serious Audiophiles

5. Audacious

Audacious player for linux

Audacious is an open-source music player, which works for online streaming and playing offline music. As a music player, Audacious does much more with your music than just streaming. Not only can you tweak the sound of your favorite tracks, but also install plugins to vamp up your music feed.

Suppose you are interested in restricting your music to offline folders; in that case, you can drag-and-drop your local folders, songs, artists, and albums to create self-contained libraries for enhancing your local feed.

Use the following commands to download Audacious on different Linux distros:

Debian/Ubuntu:

        sudo apt-get install audacious
    

Arch Linux:

        pacman -S audacious
    

Fedora/CentOS/RHEL:

        sudo yum install audacious
sudo yum install audacious-plugins-freeworld

6. Nuvola Player

Nuvola Player linux

Nuvola Player is not your run-of-the-mill music player, commonly found on every OS. Instead, its uniqueness lies in its ability to stream varying services within a single app. With this software, you get access to its native runtime (Nuvola Apps Runtime), which allows you to stream music from online sources.

Its integration with multiple online platforms makes it genuinely stand out from its competitors. As a user, you can sync it with SoundCloud, YouTube Music, Google Play Music, Spotify, Pandora, and many more. Given its tight integration with different desktop environments, it becomes a pleasurable app, enabling multiple utilitarian music variants.

You can download Nuvola Player's flatpak package to install it on your machine. But first, make sure you've Flatpak installed on your system by running the following command:

        flatpak -v
    

If the output returns version details proceed to the next command. If not, install Flatpak first. Then, add the Nuvola Player repository and update the repository information:

        flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists nuvola https://dl.tiliado.eu/flatpak/nuvola.flatpakrepo
flatpak update

Finally, install Nuvola Player by running:

        flatpak install nuvola eu.tiliado.Nuvola
    

Playing Your Music on Spotify Alternatives

Choosing your personalized music player is an integral part of any music lover's journey. Since the official Spotify client might not fit every Linux user's bill, they can pick and choose alternatives, in order to make their music listening experience on Linux memorable and worthwhile.