Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Audacious VS cmus

Compare Audacious VS cmus and see what are their differences

Audacious logo Audacious

Audacious is an advanced audio player.

cmus logo cmus

Small, fast and powerful console music player
  • Audacious Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-28
  • cmus Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-12-31

Audacious features and specs

  • Lightweight
    Audacious is designed to be a lightweight media player, using minimal system resources, which makes it ideal for systems with limited hardware capabilities.
  • Customizable
    The player allows users to customize its interface and features extensively through plugins and skins, providing a personalized user experience.
  • Wide Format Support
    Audacious supports a wide range of audio formats, including popular ones like MP3, FLAC, WAV, and many others, ensuring compatibility with most audio files.
  • Open Source
    Being an open-source project, Audacious encourages community involvement and transparency in its development process, allowing users to contribute and suggest improvements.
  • Low Latency Playback
    The player is known for its low latency playback, which is particularly beneficial for high-quality audio and real-time listening experiences.

Possible disadvantages of Audacious

  • Limited Video Support
    Audacious focuses primarily on audio playback and offers very limited support for video files, making it unsuitable for users looking for a comprehensive media player.
  • Basic Library Management
    Compared to other media players, Audacious offers only basic library management features, which might not meet the needs of users with large and complex media libraries.
  • Outdated Interface
    Some users might find the user interface of Audacious to be outdated and less visually appealing compared to other modern media players.
  • Fewer Advanced Features
    While it covers essential functionalities well, Audacious lacks some advanced features such as detailed metadata editing and smart playlists, which can be found in other media players.
  • Inconsistent Plugin Quality
    The quality and stability of plugins can vary, leading to potential reliability issues if certain plugins are used extensively.

cmus features and specs

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

Possible disadvantages of cmus

  • Steep Learning Curve
    New users might find it difficult to get accustomed to CMUS due to its reliance on keyboard shortcuts and non-intuitive interface.
  • No GUI
    CMUS lacks a graphical user interface, which might be a drawback for users who prefer more visual interaction with their applications.
  • Limited Plugin Support
    It does not support as many plugins as some other music players, which might limit functionality for those who rely on extra features through plugins.
  • Less Active Development
    Compared to more popular music players, CMUS has a smaller developer community, which can result in slower updates and fewer new features.
  • Basic Feature Set
    CMUS offers basic music player features, which may not satisfy users looking for advanced features like built-in streaming services or sophisticated playlist management.

Audacious videos

The Audacious Review No One Asked For | Denarmo

More videos:

  • Review - Audacious Music Player - App Review
  • Review - Audacious: Poor Destroyers

cmus videos

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

More videos:

  • Review - A simple guide to cmus! (C*Music Player)
  • Review - Tutorial: cmus (C Music Player)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Audacious and cmus)
Audio Player
83 83%
17% 17
Media Player
82 82%
18% 18
Music Player
84 84%
16% 16
Music & Audio
78 78%
22% 22

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Audacious and cmus

Audacious Reviews

10 Poweramp Music Player Alternatives
Audacious is an advanced open-source audio player software that is a descendant of XMMS that helps you listen to high-quality music with its built-in music presets and effects. Audacious gets the most important things required to play the music, create your own customized playlists, or search for music from the artists and albums library. You can listen to music on CDs or...
10 Best Winamp Alternatives for Windows 10
Although not the best, Audacious is still the best audio player app that you can use. Itโ€™s an open-source audio player, and itโ€™s pretty lightweight. To play any music files, drag and drop the folders containing the music, and it will list down the songs along with some additional details like artist name, albums, etc. You can even create your custom playlist with Audacious....
Source: techviral.net

cmus Reviews

We have no reviews of cmus yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Audacious should be more popular than cmus. It has been mentiond 30 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Audacious mentions (30)

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cmus mentions (11)

  • 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 / 5 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
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Audacious and cmus, you can also consider the following products

Clementine - Clementine is a cross-platform free and open source music player and library organizer based on...

MPV - MPV is an audio and movie player based on MPlayer and mplayer2. A free, open source, and cross-platform media player.

foobar2000 - An advanced freeware audio player for the Windows platform.

DeaDBeeF - DeaDBeeF is a lightweight graphical music player created for easy playback of music and management...

AIMP - AIMP : Free Audio Player : ะžั„ะธั†ะธะฐะปัŒะฝั‹ะน ัะฐะนั‚ ะฟั€ะพะณั€ะฐะผะผั‹

Quod Libet - A extensible Music player with Podcast support, web radio, playlists and many more.