Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

cmus

Small, fast and powerful console music player.

cmus

cmus Reviews and Details

This page is designed to help you find out whether cmus is good and if it is the right choice for you.

Screenshots and images

  • cmus Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-12-31

Features & Specs

  1. Lightweight

    CMUS is a very lightweight music player, which means it consumes minimal system resources, making it ideal for systems with limited processing power or memory.

  2. Keyboard Driven

    CMUS is completely operable via keyboard shortcuts, providing a fast and efficient way for users to control the music playback without needing to use a mouse.

  3. Wide Format Support

    It supports a wide range of audio formats such as FLAC, MP3, and OGG, which makes it versatile in handling different types of music files.

  4. Customizability

    The player allows a high degree of customization through configuration files, enabling users to tailor the interface and behavior according to their preferences.

  5. Terminal-based

    Being a terminal-based application, it can be easily used over SSH, which is an advantage for users who manage their music on remote servers.

Badges

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Videos

Cmus - Terminal-Based Music Player - Lightweight and Super-Fast

A simple guide to cmus! (C*Music Player)

Tutorial: cmus (C Music Player)

Social recommendations and mentions

We have tracked the following product recommendations or mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you see what people think about cmus and what they use it for.
  • The state of Linux music players in 2026
    Not mentioned in the article, so I'd like to give a shout-out to cmus. https://cmus.github.io/ For all my fellow terminal friends <3. - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • Cmus vs. Musikcube
    VLC can be used to play a file from the command line, but there is no user interface. Players like cmus and musikcube have a text based interface and library management. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Whipper: Accurate Audio CD Ripping
    Cmus [1] is the closest I found to foobar2000. It is my main music player now, after years of disappointment. It supports FLAC and they claim they support CUE sheets, although I haven't tested your particular scenario. The way I use it is I have all my library in it at once, iTunes style. It has good search & playlists, but no drag&drop, since it's just command line... [1] https://cmus.github.io/. - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
  • Musikcube, a cross-platform, terminal-based library, player and server
    I use Musikcube a lot, it works great on macOS and Linux, and is snappy even on very cheap or old systems. It has very good mouse support (if your terminal emulator supports it), it's the first time I saw a TUI app with a right click menu, or that you can scroll through. My one major complaint is that there is no way I know of to import/export playlists: https://github.com/clangen/musikcube/issues/141 Another... - Source: Hacker News / about 4 years ago
  • What are some of your favorite CLI/TUI apps?
    Cmus as music player. More straight-forward than mpd clients, single app. Source: about 4 years ago
  • Different Music Player
    Just works (plays almost all formats) - FooBar2000 Minimal as fuck (CLI/Terminal) - CMUS Bloat (lots of features some you want, some you didn't know you wanted and stuff you won't use) - tomahawk. Source: over 4 years ago
  • What music player do you use in linux?
    It's not to everyone's taste, but my personal favorite music player on linux is cmus. It's a very simple design and it runs well even on very old hardware. Source: over 4 years ago
  • TUIs
    A little late to the article, if anyone is still reading comments I recommend cmus, a console music player with extensive key bindings and library support. https://cmus.github.io/. - Source: Hacker News / over 4 years ago
  • Is it possible to trigger the closure of one program with the closure of another?
    It is perfect and glorious, but for one small problem. I'd very much like for both programs to also CLOSE at the same time, or at least sequentially. Is there a way to have one programs' termination trigger another? Specifically, if I have cmus and glava open, I'd like to be able to close cmus (say, by simply pressing 'q' and quitting cmus or by closing the terminal, or killing the program, etc.) and have glava... Source: about 5 years ago
  • iCanHazMusic: lightweight, free and opensource audio-player [EARLY PREVIEW]
    Cmus, which was fun and all, but just a bit too minimalistic. Source: about 5 years ago
  • Any methods to force close music players when window is closed, instead of closing it from tray icon?
    Simplicity and as close to Foobar2000 as you can get https://cmus.github.io/ on Linux. Source: over 5 years ago

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Is cmus good? This is an informative page that will help you find out. Moreover, you can review and discuss cmus here. The primary details have not been verified within the last quarter, and they might be outdated. If you think we are missing something, please use the means on this page to comment or suggest changes. All reviews and comments are highly encouranged and appreciated as they help everyone in the community to make an informed choice. Please always be kind and objective when evaluating a product and sharing your opinion.