Snapcast
Synchronized multi-room audio: one server streams in sync to every client.
Snapcast is an open-source, multi-room synchronous audio streaming server. The snapserver reads a shared audio stream and pushes it to any number of snapclients so every room plays exactly the same sound at exactly the same time, with no echo between rooms. It pairs naturally with Mopidy, Music Player Daemon, Spotify (librespot), AirPlay and any PCM source, and it ships with the Snapweb browser control UI so you can manage groups, clients and volumes from any device.
Key features
- Synchronized, low-latency playback across many clients in perfect time
- Snapweb browser control UI plus a JSON-RPC API on port 1780
- Works with Mopidy, MPD, Spotify (librespot), AirPlay, process and pipe sources
- FLAC, Opus, Ogg and PCM transport codecs, tunable buffer and latency
- Group clients into zones and control per-client volume and mute
- Lightweight and self-hosted: one small server, clients on any platform
Use cases
- Whole-home or whole-venue audio that stays in sync room to room
- A self-hosted alternative to proprietary multi-room speaker ecosystems
- Central audio distribution for offices, bars, gyms and events
Why run it on the NetActuate edge Hosting snapserver in a PoP close to your clients keeps the control path and stream distribution short and stable, so playback stays tightly synchronized and responsive as you add rooms and listeners.
Upstream attribution: Snapcast is developed and maintained by Johannes M. Pohl and contributors (https://github.com/badaix/snapcast) and is free software licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0. This appliance packages the unmodified upstream Snapcast 0.35.0 snapserver release on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the upstream project.
Frequently asked questions
How do I deploy Snapcast on NetActuate?
Use the Deploy on NetActuate button to talk to our team. We provision Snapcast on a NetActuate virtual machine in the point of presence you choose, close to your audience. Each deployment runs in the single location you select.
What does it cost to run Snapcast?
Snapcast is open-source software and free to run on the marketplace - you pay only for the NetActuate compute (virtual-machine size and location) it runs on, at standard rates. There are no usage-based software fees.
Where can Snapcast run?
Snapcast can be deployed in any of NetActuate's 45+ points of presence across every continent, so you can place ingest, transcode, delivery and caching close to your contributors and viewers.
Who supports Snapcast?
NetActuate operates and supports the underlying infrastructure - the virtual machine, network and edge platform. The application itself is supported by its upstream open-source project.
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