Bandplaner
🇩🇪 Dieses README gibt es auch auf Deutsch.
Bandplaner is a self-hosted, open-source band management web app. Rehearsals and gigs, who's available, the repertoire with keys and sheet music, setlists, equipment and packing lists, the band's finances, venues, and shared files — all in one place, instead of scattered across email, WhatsApp groups, and spreadsheets. It runs on your own server, a NAS, or a Raspberry Pi; there is no cloud and no subscription, and your data stays with you.
Built with Next.js and SQLite, packaged as a single Docker container. Interface in English and German.
About the app
A user account can be a member of several bands and switch between them. Within each band there is a role model: Administrator (full rights including member and role management), Member, and Guest/Substitute with time-limited access (an "access until" date). New members and guests are added via an invitation link. Open self-registration is disabled by default — only the first account and invited people can register; set REGISTRATION_ENABLED=true for open registration (see INSTALLATION.md).
Independently of that, any number of people can be flagged as finance admin — deliberately decoupled from the role, so that the same person can be both administrator and finance admin, and so that several people can look after the finances. Finance admins are the only ones who see the complete financial overview, and they additionally get admin-equivalent rights for songs, equipment, files, and events — but no access to member management or the management page.
Sign-in works with either an email address or a username. All users can change their own password in their profile; admins can additionally set a new initial password for a member, which that member must change at the next login. After 5 consecutive failed login attempts an account is automatically locked for 2 days (protection against brute-force attempts); the lock then expires on its own or is lifted immediately by an admin password reset.
The interface is available in German and English, switchable via a language picker in the header. The choice is stored permanently in the user profile and applies across all bands; before login the app detects the language automatically from the browser settings.
An illustrated, English-language user handbook is linked from the info icon (ⓘ) in the header of every page (handbook, link to the source-code repository, license note, and current app version) and is also available as a standalone HTML file at public/docs/handbook/index.html.
Modules currently implemented:
- Calendar & events – rehearsals, gigs, meetings, and other events including recurring series; each event type has a pre-filled set of participants (all members for rehearsals/gigs by default, only the creator for meetings), individually adjustable. Subscribable as an ICS feed for external calendar apps. Gigs have additional detail fields: arrival/soundcheck time, technical requirements, a status (request/confirmed/cancelled/done), and a structured lineup – a band-wide role catalog (maintained in the band settings, optionally with a default person per role) is taken as the starting point when a gig is created and can be freely edited there independently of the catalog (add/remove roles, assign to a member or free text for substitutes). If the finance module is active, the event also shows a settlement status derived from the linked fees/cost shares.
- Availability – response per event (yes/no/maybe) as well as recording longer personal absences, independent of specific events.
- Song library – central, band-wide shared songs with metadata (key, BPM, time signature, duration, genre, artist for covers, lead vocals / cast), song documents (audio files, lyrics, tabs/sheet music) with per-file visibility, external links, and personal notes per member. The library view has a search box (title / artist / genre / album) and a sort selector (title, tempo, key, recently added) with a reversible direction. Songs go through a status workflow from "proposed" to "archived"; proposals are voted on with thumbs up/down under a visible name, and are automatically rejected on a unanimous downvote. When creating a song, a new-song assistant helps: from a selected audio file it pre-fills title, artist, genre, album, release year, BPM, playing time, and an embedded cover image (ID3/Vorbis tags) automatically, without overwriting fields that are already filled. Optionally, an online lookup can be run at the press of a button – MusicBrainz, Discogs and Spotify are queried together and all matches are shown as one list to pick from, each with its source, metadata (album · year · genre) and a cover thumbnail; the cover can be chosen separately from the metadata row. Picking a result replaces the current title/artist/album/year/genre, so the assistant also serves for editing an existing song, not just completing a new one. All three online sources are individually optional (see INSTALLATION.md) and degrade silently without credentials, without blocking song entry. A cover can also be set or replaced manually at any time on the song's edit page. An optional rehearsal-tracking module (off by default) records which songs were worked on at each rehearsal – assigned directly or taken from linked setlists – and shows a "practiced at" history on the song page.
- – compiled from the song library, personalized marking of individual entries per member (color, note, stage-cue icons such as retune / instrument change / program change), a personal overall remark, and PDF/print export – also personalized per member. Besides songs, you can add manual entries with an optional duration (e.g. "Break – 15 minutes", numbered or not, without a gap in the count), band-wide visible italic comment lines, and section dividers with an optional label. Entries can be marked as a segue/medley (running into the next without a pause) and then render as a connected block. Personal cues/colours/notes are seeded from the song's personal note when a song is added and can later be re-synced from it, per entry or all at once. A song's documents are reachable directly from its setlist entry, and the whole list can be copied to the clipboard as plain text. The same setlist can be linked to several events (song list shared, personal cues/notes kept separate depending on the event chosen in the event picker); if a linked event is in the past, the song list is automatically frozen as an "as played" snapshot at the next edit attempt and stays unchanged for that event, even if the (still shared) list is edited further afterwards.
The complete, more detailed functional specification – including planned, not-yet-implemented extensions such as polls / to-dos and AI-assisted setlist suggestions – is in Funktionsspezifikation-Bandplaner.md (German).
Enabling and disabling modules
Larger modules can be enabled/disabled per band under Band → Management, so that the interface stays limited to what the group actually uses:
| Module | Default | Note |
|---|
| Equipment | on | – |
| Packing lists | on | requires Equipment |
| Finances | off | whoever enables it automatically becomes a finance admin if the band has none yet |
| Communication | off | sending mail additionally needs SMTP (see INSTALLATION.md) |
| Chat | off | one group chat per band plus private 1:1 messages, live update via polling |
| Media player | off | only controls playback; files and links remain usable regardless |
| within it: key detection | on | sub-toggle, only effective when the media player is active |
| Venues | off | without the module enabled, events keep just a free-text location field, as before |
Disabled modules disappear from the navigation but delete no data – everything is available again unchanged as soon as the module is re-enabled. The one deliberate exception: disabling public file links also blocks links that already exist, since it is meant as a security barrier.
How the objects relate
A band is the central starting point: almost every other object belongs to exactly one band.
erDiagram
BAND }o--o{ MEMBER : "membership (role)"
BAND ||--o{ EVENT : has
BAND ||--o{ SONG : has
BAND ||--o{ SETLIST : has
BAND ||--o{ PACKING_LIST : has
BAND ||--o{ VENUE : has
BAND ||--o{ FINANCE_ENTRY : has
BAND ||--o{ FILE : has
BAND |o--o{ EQUIPMENT : "band-owned"
MEMBER |o--o{ EQUIPMENT : "personally owned"
MEMBER }o--o{ EVENT : "availability"
MEMBER }o--o{ SONG : "voting & notes"
MEMBER }o--o{ FINANCE_ENTRY : "fee / cost share"
EVENT |o--o| VENUE : "takes place at"
EVENT }o--o{ SETLIST : uses
EVENT }o--o{ PACKING_LIST : uses
EVENT ||--o{ FINANCE_ENTRY : causes
EVENT }o--o{ FILE : has
SETLIST }o--o{ SONG : "contains (ordered)"
SONG }o--o{ FILE : has
PACKING_LIST }o--o{ EQUIPMENT : contains
EQUIPMENT }o--o{ FILE : has
VENUE }o--o{ FILE : has
Reading aid:
- Files can attach to several places at once – event, song, equipment item, and/or venue, in any combination (or to none, as pure band-wide storage) – instead of at most one as before.
- Equipment belongs either to the band or to a single person, never both.
- An event can have zero or one venue; the same venue can be reused for several events.
- Setlists and packing lists can be linked to several events at once (or none); the song/entry list is shared, while check-off status, responsibility, and personal cues are stored separately per event. For events already in the past, the list is automatically frozen as a historical snapshot at the next edit attempt, so that later edits don't distort the documentation of past gigs/rehearsals.
- Members respond with their availability per event, vote on song proposals, and are allocated fees or cost shares from finance entries.
(Not shown, to keep the overview readable: invitations, personal song notes, stage cues on setlist entries, finance-admin assignment.)
FAQ
Is Bandplaner free?
Yes. It is open-source software under the GNU AGPL-3.0. There is no subscription, no paid tier, and no account on anyone else's server.
Does it need the cloud or an internet connection?
No. Bandplaner is self-hosted — it runs entirely on your own machine and all data stays there. The only optional outbound calls are the new-song assistant's metadata lookups (MusicBrainz, Discogs, Spotify) and venue address search (OpenStreetMap); each can be left disabled.
Can it run on a Synology NAS or a Raspberry Pi?
Yes. The Docker image is multi-arch (linux/amd64 + linux/arm64), so it runs on x86 servers, most modern Synology/QNAP NAS models, and a Raspberry Pi 4/5.
Is it a self-hosted alternative to BandHelper, Set List Maker, or Gig-o-Matic?
It covers much of the same ground — shared repertoire with keys, setlists, scheduling, availability, and files — with a practice player on top. The trade-off: you host and update it yourself, and in return it is free, private, and has no per-seat pricing.
How many bands and members can I have?
Unlimited. One account can belong to several bands and switch between them; each band has its own members, repertoire, and settings.
Is there a hosted version or a public demo?
No. Bandplaner is self-hosted only — you run your own instance. Setup with Docker takes about a minute (see below).
Is there a mobile app?
No native app. The interface is responsive and works in a phone browser; you can "Add to Home Screen" for an app-like shortcut.
What about GDPR / my members' data?
Since you host it, you are the data controller. Bandplaner includes a personal data export and self-service account deletion for every user.
Known limitations
- Practice features only for uploaded files. Embedded streaming sources cannot be slowed down or transposed: Spotify offers no tempo/pitch control via its player, YouTube only fixed speed steps and no transposition. Direct access to the audio data would not be permitted for either.
- Key detection is an approximation. The method (chromagram correlation after Krumhansl-Schmuckler) can barely distinguish a major key from its relative minor (e.g. C major / A minor), since both use the same notes – in such cases the app explicitly points out the alternative in the result. For non-tonal audio material (pure drums, heavy noise) the detection still returns a result without marking it as uncertain.
- Self-service "forgot password" only with mail delivery. The email-link reset works only if an SMTP server is configured (see INSTALLATION.md); without SMTP, admins set a new initial password (see above).
- No automatically sent WhatsApp messages – that would strictly require a WhatsApp Business account; WhatsApp channels offer no API.
- No push notifications – notifications run exclusively via email.
Tech stack
Next.js 16 (App Router), Prisma 7 with SQLite (better-sqlite3 adapter), NextAuth (Auth.js) v5, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS.
Local development
npm install
cp .env.example .env # adjust values, see the comments in the file
npx prisma migrate dev
npm run dev
Open http://localhost:3000. On first start, create an account via /register; the first band member automatically becomes the administrator of the first band they create.
Self-hosting / deployment
For production use, a prebuilt multi-arch Docker image (amd64/arm64) is published at ghcr.io/maxxs78/bandplaner – no local build needed.
Quick start (details, HTTPS/reverse proxy, and platform-specific steps in the installation guide):
mkdir bandplaner && cd bandplaner
curl -fsSLO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/maxxs78/bandplaner/main/docker-compose.yml
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/maxxs78/bandplaner/main/.env.example -o .env
# edit .env: set AUTH_SECRET (openssl rand -base64 32) and NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL
docker compose up -d
Updates: docker compose pull && docker compose up -d. Database migrations run automatically at start; data lives in three named volumes and survives updates.
To modify the code yourself, build the image locally – see docker-compose.build.yml and CONTRIBUTING.md.
Further resources
Contributing
Bandplaner is a hobby project, built in spare time.
Bug reports and feature requests are welcome – via the issues using the provided templates. There is no guarantee whether or when anything is implemented.
Pull requests are not accepted. Reviewing and taking responsibility for external code is more than a one-person hobby project can sustain; PRs from forks are closed automatically with a pointer to the issues. Forking and modifying under the AGPL-3.0 is of course allowed. Details: CONTRIBUTING.md.
Please report security vulnerabilities privately – see SECURITY.md, not as a public issue. Code of conduct: CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md.
License and liability
Bandplaner is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0-only). Anyone who makes a modified version available over a network must provide its complete source code to users (AGPL § 13); for unmodified use, a pointer to this repository is sufficient.
The software is provided without any warranty, and use is at your own risk (see LICENSE, sections 15–17). For production use and hosting on behalf of others, backups, data protection, and availability are entirely the operator's responsibility.
