head to head · open source
Jellyfin vs Kodi
Jellyfin has 58,942 GitHub stars, 5,757 forks, 684 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Kodi has 21,422 stars, 6,655 forks, 466 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Jellyfin leads on adoption by 175% (58,942 vs 21,422 stars). Jellyfin is written in C# under GPL-2.0; Kodi is written in C++ under a custom or non-standard licence. Jellyfin has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Kodi 31%. Kodi 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Jellyfin | Kodi | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 59K | ★ 21K |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | C# | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 6.7K |
| 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 Kodi if
- You want the Kodi feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and Kodi 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 Kodi
website • docs • community • add ons Welcome to Kodi Home Theater Software! Kodi is an award winning free and open source software media player and entertainment hub for digital media. Available as a native application for Android, Linux, BSD, macOS, iOS, tvOS and Windows operating systems , Kodi runs on most common processor architectures. Created in 2003 by a group of like minded programmers, Kodi is a non profit project run by the XBMC Foundation and developed by volunteers located around the world. More than 500 software developers have contributed to Kodi to date, and 100 plus translators have worked to…
More in Miscellaneous
Related comparisons
More Media & Streaming projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Media & Streaming field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Jellyfin or Kodi more popular?
Jellyfin has 58,942 GitHub stars and Kodi has 21,422. Jellyfin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Jellyfin and Kodi free?
Both are open source. Jellyfin is licensed under GPL-2.0, and Kodi has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Jellyfin and Kodi?
Jellyfin is written in C# and Kodi in C++. 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 Kodi?
Choose Jellyfin if you want the larger community (58,942 stars) or its GPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose Kodi if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.