head to head · open source
Jellyfin vs Ghosten-Player
Jellyfin has 57,309 GitHub stars, 5,529 forks, 684 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Ghosten-Player has 3,299 stars, 201 forks, 53 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Jellyfin leads on adoption by 1,637% (57,309 vs 3,299 stars). Jellyfin is written in C# under GPL-2.0; Ghosten-Player is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0. Jellyfin has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Ghosten-Player 6%. Jellyfin was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (jellyfin), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| Jellyfin | Ghosten-Player | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 57K | ★ 3.3K |
| License | GPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C# | Dart |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.5K | ⑂ 201 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Jellyfin if
- You weight community size — 57K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Ghosten-Player if
- You want the Ghosten-Player feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Dart
- You evaluated both and Ghosten-Player fits your workflow better
About Jellyfin
Jellyfin is a free and open source media server that lets an individual or an organisation manage and stream their own movies, music, and other media from a dedicated server to end user devices through multiple client apps.
read the full Jellyfin overview →
About Ghosten-Player
Ghosten Player is a Flutter based video player for Android phone, pad, and TV, with Windows and macOS support in development. It is a Dart app under AGPL 3.0 in the Android media and streaming ecosystem. The project gathers video resources into a local private media library instead of requiring a hosted backend.
read the full Ghosten-Player overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Jellyfin or Ghosten-Player more popular?
Jellyfin has 57,309 GitHub stars and Ghosten-Player has 3,299. Jellyfin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Jellyfin and Ghosten-Player free?
Both are open source. Jellyfin is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Ghosten-Player under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Jellyfin and Ghosten-Player?
Jellyfin is written in C# and Ghosten-Player in Dart. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Jellyfin or Ghosten-Player?
Choose Jellyfin if you want the larger community (57,309 stars) or its GPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose Ghosten-Player if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.