Our verdict: Nuclear is an interesting free alternative to streaming apps: search for any artist and it finds a playable stream through plugins, with no ads or accounts. Playback depends on what the sources provide, so quality and availability vary from track to track.
About Nuclear
Nuclear is an open-source desktop music player released under the AGPL-3.0 license. You search for artists, albums and tracks, and Nuclear finds playable streams from sources provided by plugins, showing you the candidates so you can pick another if one is wrong. The current version is built with Tauri and updates itself.
The developers say it has no ads, trackers, premium tier or in-app purchases, and keeps your listening history locally. Extras include favorites, playlists with import and export, synced lyrics through plugins, listening statistics, Discord presence, an MPD server, remote control from a phone with Nuclear Jam and a built-in MCP server for AI agents.
What it does well
- Search and stream. Finds playable streams for artists, albums and tracks through plugins.
- Plugin store. Adds streaming sources, metadata, lyrics and more from a built-in store.
- Playlists and favorites. Create, import and export playlists; save favorite artists and albums.
- Listening stats. Local play history with charts and statistics.
- Remote control. Nuclear Jam, an MPD server and an MCP server for controlling playback.
Who it is for
Good fit
Listeners who want a free, ad-free streaming-style player and like tinkering with plugins.
Look elsewhere
People who expect consistent audio quality or the licensed catalog of a paid streaming service.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Free and open source
- No ads, tracking or accounts
- Extensible plugin system
- Built-in lyrics, stats and remote control
Cons
- Stream quality and availability vary by source
- Some tracks fail to play or match the wrong recording
- Frequent releases can change features
How to install Nuclear
The download button gets the x64 Windows installer from the official GitHub release; an MSI is also published, and winget users can run winget install nukeop.nuclear. Open the plugin store after the first launch to add sources. Windows may show a SmartScreen warning for the installer.
Questions about Nuclear
Is Nuclear free?
Yes. It is open source under the AGPL-3.0 license, with no ads, premium tier or in-app purchases.
Where does Nuclear get music from?
From sources added by plugins. Nuclear shows the candidate streams it found for a track and lets you switch to another.
Is there an Android version?
No. The developers say Nuclear is a desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux only.
