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Real-time synced lyrics for your favorite music players

Free, no paid tierVisit Website
Tracked since2026

The Bottom Line

Price
Free, no paid tier. Compare plans

Key facts

  • Real-time, word-synced lyrics overlay for macOS supporting Apple Music, Spotify, QQ Music, NetEase Cloud Music, Kugou, and web players
  • Includes romanization (Jyutping for Cantonese), on-device translation in 18 languages, and a full Last.fm listening profile with scrobbling and backfill
  • Actively maintained open-source alternative to LyricsX with a lyrics manager, multiple display modes, and offline capability

Pros

  • Free and open-source with active maintenance and frequent updates
  • Comprehensive lyrics engine covering many sources with automatic best-match selection
  • Includes translation, romanization, and Last.fm integration all in one tool

Cons

  • macOS only, no Windows or Linux support
  • Limited to supported music players; may not work with all streaming services

What is Lyrimuse?

Lyrimuse is a free, open-source macOS application that provides real-time, word-synced lyrics for popular music players including Apple Music, Spotify, QQ Music, NetEase Cloud Music, Kugou Music, and web-based players like YouTube Music and Spotify Web. It sits quietly in the menu bar and offers multiple ways to display lyrics: a floating overlay with word-by-word highlighting, a Dynamic Island-style capsule, a lyrics window, or inline in the menu bar. The app automatically searches nine lyrics sources and scores them to pick the best match, supports romanization (including Cantonese Jyutping), and provides on-device translation via Apple's Translation framework with an online fallback in 18 languages. It also includes a full Last.fm integration for scrobbling and listening statistics, with a local logging system that can backfill after connecting. Lyrimuse is actively maintained as an alternative to LyricsX, which has not been updated for some time.

Key Features

  • Word-by-word synced highlighting following playback in real time
  • Automatic lyrics search from nine sources (NetEase, QQ, Kugou, Kuwo, Migu, Musixmatch, LRCLIB, LyricFind, AMLL) with scoring to pick the best match
  • Romanization (pinyin, Jyutping for Cantonese) and on-device translation via Apple Translation framework with 18 target languages
  • Four display modes: lyrics window, Dynamic Island capsule, floating overlay, and menu bar lyrics
  • Lyrics Manager: browse, hand-edit, delete, re-search with per-track timing offset and batch operations
  • Last.fm integration: scrobbling, top artists/albums/tracks charts, yearly heatmap, and local first logging with backfill
  • Supports duet and multi-singer lyrics display by marking who sings each line
  • Works fully offline for cached lyrics, no network required

Pricing Plans

Pricing checked Oct 6, 2026

Lyrimuse plans and prices, checked October 2026
PlanPriceDetails
Open Source

Free

  • Full source code access
  • Community support
  • Self-hosted

Is Lyrimuse worth the price?

Great value

This is an exceptionally generous pricing model, offering the entire product for free under open source.

There are no paid tiers or trials, so users pay nothing in dollars but invest in self-hosting and maintenance. It's best for developers and music enthusiasts who value transparency and control over their tools.

Full Lyrimuse pricing: every plan, hidden costs and alternatives

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Lyrimuse FAQ

How does Lyrimuse handle lyrics for songs with multiple singers?

Lyrimuse shows each part separately when the source (or an AMLL entry) marks who is singing which line, instead of interleaving both voices into one confusing block.

Can I use Lyrimuse with web-based music players?

Yes, Lyrimuse supports lyrics for YouTube Music and Spotify Web playing in a browser, in addition to native desktop apps like Apple Music, Spotify, QQ Music, NetEase Cloud Music, and Kugou Music.

Does Lyrimuse support Cantonese romanization?

Yes, it provides word-aware Jyutping readings for Cantonese songs, and romanization is judged per line so that a Chinese song quoting a Japanese line only gets a reading on that line, not pinyin over the rest.

How does the translation feature work and is data privacy protected?

Translation uses Apple's on-device Translation framework when a community translation is not available from the lyrics source. This means lyrics never leave your Mac for the initial translation, with an online fallback for additional languages. 18 target languages are supported.

Can I edit or manually search for lyrics in Lyrimuse?

Yes, the built-in Lyrics Manager lets you browse, hand-edit, delete, or re-search lyrics for any track. It supports multi-select batch delete, resizable columns, per-track timing offset if sync drifts, and one-click retry for tracks still missing lyrics.

How does Lyrimuse scrobble to Last.fm and what statistics does it show?

After connecting Last.fm in the Accounts section, Lyrimuse submits metadata reported by the player unchanged. It shows today/7-day/all-time totals, a live 'now scrobbling' indicator, and recent plays with covers. It also includes top artists/albums/tracks charts filterable by time period and a yearly GitHub-style heatmap. Local logging happens first, so if you connect Last.fm later, a backfill queue catches up.

How does Lyrimuse compare to LyricsX in terms of features and maintenance?

Lyrimuse is an actively maintained open-source alternative to LyricsX, which last released in April 2022. Lyrimuse covers more music sources (including QQ Music, NetEase, Kugou, and web players) and uses a scoring algorithm to pick the best lyrics from multiple candidates, providing a fact-checked comparison panel.

Is Lyrimuse available on Windows, Linux, or as a mobile app?

No, Lyrimuse is currently only available for macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), installed via Homebrew or a direct download of the latest release.

Source: github.com

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