head to head · open source
Jellyfin vs Invidious
Jellyfin has 58,942 GitHub stars, 5,757 forks, 684 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Invidious has 25,830 stars, 2,896 forks, 480 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Jellyfin leads on adoption by 128% (58,942 vs 25,830 stars). Jellyfin is written in C# under GPL-2.0; Invidious is written in Crystal under AGPL-3.0. Jellyfin has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Invidious 11%. Invidious was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (hacktoberfest), 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 | Invidious | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 59K | ★ 26K |
| License | GPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C# | Crystal |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 2.9K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Jellyfin if
- You weight community size — 59K 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 Invidious if
- You want the Invidious feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Crystal
- You evaluated both and Invidious fits your workflow better
About Jellyfin
Jellyfin The Free Software Media System Jellyfin is a Free Software Media System that puts you in control of managing and streaming your media. It is an alternative to the proprietary Emby and Plex, to provide media from a dedicated server to end user devices via multiple apps. Jellyfin is descended from Emby's 3.5.2 release and ported to the .NET platform to enable full cross platform support. There are no strings attached, no premium licenses or features, and no hidden agendas: just a team that wants to build something better and work together to achieve it. We welcome anyone who is interested in joining us in…
read the full Jellyfin overview →
About Invidious
Invidious An open source alternative front end to YouTube Website • Instances list • FAQ • Documentation • Contribute • Donate Chat with us: Screenshots Features User features Lightweight No ads No tracking No JavaScript required Light/Dark themes Customizable homepage Subscriptions independent from Google Notifications for all subscribed channels Audio only mode (with background play on mobile) Support for Reddit comments Available in many languages, thanks to our translators Data import/export Import subscriptions from YouTube, NewPipe and FreeTube Import watch history from YouTube and NewPipe Export…
read the full Invidious overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Jellyfin or Invidious more popular?
Jellyfin has 58,942 GitHub stars and Invidious has 25,830. Jellyfin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Jellyfin and Invidious free?
Both are open source. Jellyfin is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Invidious under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Jellyfin and Invidious?
Jellyfin is written in C# and Invidious in Crystal. 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 Invidious?
Choose Jellyfin if you want the larger community (58,942 stars) or its GPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose Invidious if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.