foobar2000

Spec sheet

What it does

foobar2000 is an advanced freeware audio player for managing and playing local music.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Product

foobar2000 is an advanced freeware audio player.Read 9 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Platforms

Official versions are available for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS; the Windows build can run on Linux through Wine.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Free plan

YesRead 21 Sep 2026 · foobar2000.org

Privacy

The maker states that foobar2000 has no telemetry and collects no data.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Support

The official support page links to help articles, forums, and the foobar2000 wiki.Read 9 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Audio formats

The player handles mainstream audio formats out of the box, with decoder components available for additional formats.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Audio tools

The player supports tagging, Audio CD ripping, transcoding, ReplayGain, built-in DSP effects, and VST effects on Windows or Audio Units on macOS.Read 9 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

CD ripping and conversion

It supports ripping Audio CDs and transcoding supported formats, with the Converter component required for conversion.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Company identity

AlternativeTo identifies Peter Pawlowski as the developer and describes the product as proprietary freeware for personal use.Read 14 Oct 2026 · alternativeto.net

Compatibility limit

The FAQ says foobar2000 does not support translations.Read 9 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Current Windows release

The listed stable Windows release is 2.26.1, with a 2.26.2 preview dated 2026-10-14.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Customization

The Windows and macOS versions support customizable user interface layouts, and the player supports customizable keyboard shortcuts.Read 9 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Distribution

The license permits redistribution of unmodified installers in binary form and prohibits redistribution of foobar2000 binaries in other forms.Read 9 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Documentation and support

Official support includes a FAQ, forums and a wiki, while the FAQ directs third-party-component questions to component forums.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

DSP and effects

Built-in DSP effects are supplemented by DSP components; Windows supports VST effects through an adapter and macOS supports Audio Units.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Extensibility

An open component architecture allows third-party developers to extend the player with add-ons.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Extensions

An open component architecture lets third-party developers extend the player, and the official repository lists components for Windows and macOS.Read 9 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Format support

MP3,MP2,MP1,M4A/AAC/Apple Lossless,Ogg Vorbis,Opus,Musepack,Speex,AC3,DTS,WMA,FLAC/Ogg FLAC,WavPack,Monkey's Audio,TAK,WAV,Wave64,RF64,AIFF,AU/SND,Matroska/WebM,MPEG Transport Stream,Audio CD,HLS radioRead 21 Sep 2026 · foobar2000.org

Formats

Native audio formats include MP3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, Opus, FLAC, WavPack, WAV, AIFF, and others; more formats can be added through decoders.Read 9 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Gapless playback

It supports gapless playback for properly encoded audio.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Interface customization

Windows and macOS versions let users customize the interface layout.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Internet radio

Internet radio is supported, including integration with Radio Browser.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Licence

The foobar2000 core is distributed under a proprietary foobar2000 licence; the licence page separately lists LGPL and other licences for bundled libraries.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

License model

freeRead 21 Sep 2026 · foobar2000.org

Limit: component compatibility

The FAQ says older third-party components may stop working after upgrades and components built for incompatible SDK versions will not load.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Limit: MP3 seeking

Sample-accurate MP3 seeking can be slow because the player must walk MPEG stream frames to support features such as CUE playback.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Limit: playlists

App Store reviewers report that playlist ordering and management are awkward and request easier queueing or desktop playlist import.Read 14 Oct 2026 · apps.apple.com

Limit: resource usage

Some DSPs, crossfading, gap removal and certain output modes can consume substantial memory or CPU.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Limit: stability

Google Play and App Store reviewers report occasional crashes, playback or indexing problems, and a case where ReplayGain processing appeared to delete MP3 files.Read 14 Oct 2026 · play.google.com

Limit: user interface

Independent mobile reviews repeatedly describe the interface as dated or clunky, with controls that are difficult to find.Read 14 Oct 2026 · chrome-stats.com

macOS support

The macOS version requires macOS 11 Big Sur or newer and supports Intel or Apple Silicon processors.Read 9 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Mobile publisher

Google Play identifies the mobile publisher as Illustrate Limited, with a UK address in Ramsbottom, Bury.Read 14 Oct 2026 · play.google.com

Mobile support

The Android version requires Android 7.0 or newer and supports phone, tablet, and TV form factors; iOS/iPadOS stable releases require version 12.1 or newer.Read 9 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Network playback

It can stream music on a local network and control network audio players or another foobar2000 instance.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

News: version 2.26

The maker announced foobar2000 v2.26 for Windows and macOS on 2026-10-01 and said updated mobile versions were forthcoming.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Playback

It supports gapless playback and can stream music on a local network or control network audio players and foobar2000 on another device.Read 9 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Praise: customizability

AlternativeTo reviewers repeatedly praise foobar2000 for extensive customization, fast performance, lightweight operation and broad codec/plugin support.Read 14 Oct 2026 · alternativeto.net

Praise: local playback

Google Play review summaries praise reliable local playback, broad format support, gapless playback, crossfading and DLNA capabilities.Read 14 Oct 2026 · chrome-stats.com

Radio

It supports internet radio, including integration with Radio Browser.Read 9 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Rating on AlternativeTo

4.2 out of 5 from 39 ratingsRead 14 Oct 2026 · alternativeto.net

Rating on Apple App Store

4.5 out of 5 from 202 ratingsRead 14 Oct 2026 · apps.apple.com

Rating on Google Play

4.0 out of 5 from 17.1K reviewsRead 14 Oct 2026 · play.google.com

Rating on Snapfiles

4 out of 5 from 9 reviewsRead 14 Oct 2026 · snapfiles.com

ReplayGain

Full ReplayGain support is built in for playback and scanning.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

SDK availability

A public SDK page provides downloadable project files, debug symbols and online SDK documentation; the current SDK lists Visual Studio 2022/2026 and Xcode 13-26 project support.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Security guidance

The FAQ warns users to download only from foobar2000.org because modified installers can contain outdated versions or malware.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Tagging

The software provides advanced audio-file tagging tools, including multi-track property editing.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Windows requirements

The Windows edition requires Windows 7 or newer on a computer no more than 20 years old.Read 14 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Windows support

The Windows version supports Windows 7 or newer and is offered in 32-bit, 64-bit, and ARM builds.Read 9 Oct 2026 · foobar2000.org

Plans and prices

Every foobar2000 plan and price →

Where Specifiction places it

• Media Player Software#5 of 769.0
• Audio Player Software#3 of 188.7