head to head · open source
tvheadend vs ffmpeg-webCLI
tvheadend has 3,572 GitHub stars, 993 forks, 107 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. ffmpeg-webCLI has 1,464 stars, 143 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. tvheadend leads on adoption by 144% (3,572 vs 1,464 stars). tvheadend is written in C under GPL-3.0; ffmpeg-webCLI is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0. tvheadend has attracted 28% as many forks as stars, ffmpeg-webCLI 10%. tvheadend was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| tvheadend | ffmpeg-webCLI | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.6K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 993 | ⑂ 143 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick tvheadend if
- You weight community size — 3.6K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ffmpeg-webCLI if
- You want the ffmpeg-webCLI feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and ffmpeg-webCLI fits your workflow better
About tvheadend
Tvheadend ========= Tvheadend is the leading TV streaming server and Digital Video Recorder for Linux. It supports the following inputs: ATSC DVB C(2) DVB S(2) DVB T(2) HDHomeRun IPTV UDP HTTP SAT IP Unix Pipe It supports the following outputs: HTSP (native protocol) HTTP SAT IP Documentation Tvheadend documentation can be found here: Support Please triage issues and ask questions in the forum: or use the hts IRC channel on Libera.Chat to speak with project staff: Please report triaged bugs via GitHub Issues. Building for Linux First you need to configure: $ ./configure If build dependencies are missing the…
read the full tvheadend overview →
About ffmpeg-webCLI
ffmpeg webCLI A browser based video editor powered by ffmpeg.wasm. No uploads, no servers all processing happens locally in your browser using WebAssembly. ▶ Live app: Paper This tool is a reference implementation of the Web CLI architecture, described in: The Web CLI: Verifiable Privacy for Tools, Models, and Inference Engines in the Browser Tejaswi Gowda, Arizona State University. arXiv: The paper defines the four properties (fidelity, progressive disclosure, offline first, zero egress), presents four reference implementations, and argues that for sensitive data, client side should be the default architecture…
read the full ffmpeg-webCLI overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is tvheadend or ffmpeg-webCLI more popular?
tvheadend has 3,572 GitHub stars and ffmpeg-webCLI has 1,464. tvheadend has the larger community by that measure.
Are tvheadend and ffmpeg-webCLI free?
Both are open source. tvheadend is licensed under GPL-3.0 and ffmpeg-webCLI under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between tvheadend and ffmpeg-webCLI?
tvheadend is written in C and ffmpeg-webCLI in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, tvheadend or ffmpeg-webCLI?
Choose tvheadend if you want the larger community (3,572 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose ffmpeg-webCLI if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.