Est. 2016

Nuclear is a music player
that's free and open-source

Desktop only

macOSWindowsLinux

Downloads are only available on a desktop device.

Downloads

macOS Windows Linux

Or install from a package repository:

macOS users: macOS may block Nuclear from opening. Try right-clicking the app and selecting Open. If that doesn't work, run this in Terminal:

sudo xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Nuclear.app

18.6k ★Learn more

Discovery

Search for and browse artists, albums, and tracks across multiple sources. Plugins can add more sources.

Your library

Put together playlists from any source, or import them from other services and JSON files. Keep your favorite artists, albums, and tracks in one place.

Built-in themes

Custom themes

Plugins

Nuclear can be extended with a powerful plugin API, and has a plugin store. Auto-update is built in.

Also included

Listening stats

Nuclear keeps a local history of played tracks. See charts and statistics powered by what you listen to.

Time of day

Busiest hour20:00

Listening time8h 40m

Day of week

Choose your source

Music can be streamed from many different sources. See what Nuclear found and switch to a different one.

Log viewer

Read logs using the built-in log viewer. Nuclear is the only music player with this function.

Level:

Nuclear Jam

Scan the QR code in Nuclear to control playback from any phone or tablet on your network.

Phosphor Gate

Neon Cascade

1:34-2:33

MPD server

Control Nuclear from ncmpcpp, mpc, or any other MPD client.

$ mpc status

Neon Cascade - Phosphor Gate

[playing] #1/12 1:34/4:07 (38%)

volume: 80% repeat: off random: off

$ mpc playlist

Neon Cascade - Phosphor Gate

Neon Cascade - Dissolve the Grid

Moth & Signal - Wing Beat

Moth & Signal - Antenna

Yuki Tanaka - Paper Lanterns

Discord presence

Show what you're listening to on your Discord profile.

Nuki

nuki.listens

Listening to Nuclear Music Player

Phosphor Gate

by Neon Cascade

on Phosphor Dreams

1:344:07

MCP

Nuclear has a built-in Model Context Protocol server. Connect your AI agent and let it control playback, search for music, manage queues and playlists.

> put on something mellow for late night coding

● nuclear · call Queue.addToQueue

Queued 3 tracks and started Kintsugi by Yuki Tanaka.

Kintsugi

Yuki Tanaka

5:41

Paper Lanterns

Yuki Tanaka

3:43

Antenna

Moth & Signal

4:34

Terminal

claude mcp add --transport http nuclear http://127.0.0.1:8800/mcp

People love Nuclear

itismyjob, redditor

Yea this is 100% going to be shit-canned in no time. Either with cease and decists or threats of lawsuits.

Anonymous /g/ user

I used nuclear and had a horrible experience with it. It looks bad, you wait for 1 minute to play a 3 minute song, it's slow as fuck. Probably it's because of Electron, but it is used by so many people that I started cringing.

throwaway58576, HN user

I downloaded Nuclear (the AppImage, if that matters) and booted it up. Instant 300MB RAM usage. I think I'll pass.

kesor, HN user

Can I add a testimonial? Run the thing, clicked a song, it said it can't play it, removed the thing.

Rockytriton, redditor

As a musician, fuck everything about this

IllDecision, redditor

This is why I don't like Linux anymore. You guys are in some fucking sort of communist hippy paradise mode where you deserve everything now and only other people should pay for it. HACK THE WORLD!

itismyjob, redditor

Yea this is 100% going to be shit-canned in no time. Either with cease and decists or threats of lawsuits.

Anonymous /g/ user

throwaway58576, HN user

I downloaded Nuclear (the AppImage, if that matters) and booted it up. Instant 300MB RAM usage. I think I'll pass.

kesor, HN user

Can I add a testimonial? Run the thing, clicked a song, it said it can't play it, removed the thing.

Rockytriton, redditor

As a musician, fuck everything about this

IllDecision, redditor

This is why I don't like Linux anymore. You guys are in some fucking sort of communist hippy paradise mode where you deserve everything now and only other people should pay for it. HACK THE WORLD!

ineedyourdiscipline, redditor

Sounds illegal.

incone123, HN user

Hard to tell if this is a real project or just a prank.

markasoftware, HN user

Half the time trying to play a song doesn't work. Dozens and dozens of javascript errors in the console, most of which seem to be legitimate (trying to parse xml as json, type errors, and other serious stuff). Electron. That's three strikes, I'm out.

VelvetElvis, redditor

If they aren't paying the artists this will be wiped off the face of the net in a month.

japanoise, HN user

How incredibly arrogant. (...) High-and-mighty types like this are exactly why working in IT or contributing to FLOSS is so draining at times.

ineedyourdiscipline, redditor

Sounds illegal.

incone123, HN user

Hard to tell if this is a real project or just a prank.

markasoftware, HN user

VelvetElvis, redditor

If they aren't paying the artists this will be wiped off the face of the net in a month.

japanoise, HN user

How incredibly arrogant. (...) High-and-mighty types like this are exactly why working in IT or contributing to FLOSS is so draining at times.

FAQ

Nuki peeking out with a magnifying glass

Is Nuclear music player free?

Yes. Nuclear is completely free and open-source, released under the AGPL-3.0 license. There are no ads, no trackers, no premium tier, and no in-app purchases. Anyone can download it, use it, and audit the source code.

What is Nuclear music player?

Nuclear is a free, open-source music player without ads or tracking. Search for any song or artist, build playlists, and start listening. Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Is Nuclear music player safe?

Yes. Nuclear is open source, so the entire code is publicly auditable on GitHub. Releases are built by GitHub Actions from the public repository. There is no telemetry, no analytics, and no data collection.

Is Nuclear music player available for Android?

No. Nuclear is a desktop application, available for Windows, macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon), and Linux (Flatpak, AUR, AppImage, and others). There is no official Android or iOS version.

How do I install Nuclear?

Download the latest release for your platform from the GitHub releases page. Linux users can also install Nuclear from Flathub, the AUR, or as an AppImage, while Windows users can use winget, and Mac users can use homebrew. Full installation instructions are available in the documentation.