Top pick · highest health
Audiobookshelf
Audiobook and podcast server. It streams all audio formats, keeps and syncs progress across devices. Comes with apps for Android and iOS.
DockerdebNodejs
Media Streaming - Audio Streaming
Open source alternatives to Podbean
We track 4 open-source Podbean alternatives, of which 2 currently score 70 or above on Repoly's GitHub health scale and 4 ship a Docker image. Audiobookshelf leads on health at 97/100 with 129 commits in the last 90 days; across all 4 projects you are choosing between AGPL-3.0, Apache-2.0, GPL-3.0.
updated Oct 2026 4 alternatives best health 97 ★ 20k combined 345 commits / 90d 4 with Docker
Top picks to replace Podbean
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Healthiest
Health 97/100: 129 commits in 90 days, latest release v2.37.2, Docker image available.
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Permissive licence
Apache-2.0, so you can fork or embed it without publishing changes; health 69/100.
Showing 4 of 4 tools
All 4 Podbean alternatives, ranked by health
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LibreTime
Broadcast streaming radio on the web (fork of [Airtime](https://github.com/sourcefabric/Airtime)).
DockerPHP -
AzuraCast
Modern and accessible web radio management suite.
Docker -
Castopod
Podcast management hosting platform that includes the latest podcast 2.0 standards, an automated Fediverse feed, analytics, an embeddable player, and more.
DockerPHP
Podbean alternatives compared
Audiobookshelf edges LibreTime 97 to 78, and most of the difference is release recency: v2.37.2 from 7 days ago against 4.5.0 from 1.3 years ago. Audiobookshelf also has the largest following, at 15k stars.
The most recent release is Audiobookshelf v2.37.2, published 7 days ago. None of the measured options scores under 40. By stack, PHP (2) and Nodejs (1) are the most common. AzuraCast is permissively licensed; Audiobookshelf, LibreTime and Castopod are copyleft. Castopod is not hosted on a forge Repoly can read, so it has no measured score yet.
| Tool | Health | Stars | Licence | Last commit | Docker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audiobookshelf Steady at 97 since 11 Sep | 97 | 15k | GPL-3.0 | 7 days ago | Yes |
| LibreTime Up 32 points since 11 Sep, no release for 15 months | 78 | 937 | AGPL-3.0 | yesterday | Yes |
| AzuraCast Steady at 69 since 11 Sep, no release for 38 months | 69 | 4.1k | Apache-2.0 | 3 days ago | Yes |
| Castopod | 20 | 0 | AGPL-3.0 | unknown | Yes |
Podbean alternatives: common questions
What is the most maintained open source alternative to Podbean?
Audiobookshelf scores highest at 97/100, with 129 commits in the last 90 days, 15k stars on GitHub and its latest release (v2.37.2) published 7 days ago. It is also the most active by raw commit count.
Which Podbean alternatives use a permissive licence?
1 of 4 are permissively licensed (MIT, Apache, BSD or similar): AzuraCast (Apache-2.0). 3 use copyleft licences such as GPL or AGPL, which require you to publish changes if you distribute a modified version.
Which Podbean alternatives run in Docker?
4 of 4 publish a Docker image or Compose file: Audiobookshelf, LibreTime, AzuraCast, Castopod. Docker support contributes 10 of the 100 available health points, because it is the clearest signal that self-hosting is a supported path rather than an afterthought.
Is Audiobookshelf or LibreTime the better Podbean alternative?
On measured health Audiobookshelf leads, 97 to 78. Audiobookshelf has 129 commits in 90 days, 15k stars and v2.37.2 from 7 days ago; LibreTime has 114 commits in 90 days, 937 stars and 4.5.0 from 1.3 years ago. Audiobookshelf is ahead or level on every term Repoly measures.
Are the Podbean alternatives still maintained?
2 of the 3 measured options score 70 or above. Every measured option had commits in the last 90 days. None scores under 40.
What languages are the Podbean alternatives written in?
PHP: LibreTime and Castopod. Nodejs: Audiobookshelf. The stack matters if you plan to extend or patch the tool yourself.
