head to head · open source
Jellyfin vs lms
Jellyfin has 58,942 GitHub stars, 5,757 forks, 684 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. lms has 1,697 stars, 92 forks, 82 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Jellyfin leads on adoption by 3,373% (58,942 vs 1,697 stars). Jellyfin is written in C# under GPL-2.0; lms is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. Jellyfin has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, lms 5%. lms 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
| Jellyfin | lms | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 59K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C# | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 92 |
| 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 lms if
- You want the lms feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and lms 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 lms
LMS Lightweight Music Server LMS is a self hosted music streaming software: access your music collection from anywhere using a web interface! A demo instance is available. Note the administration settings are not available. Main features Subsonic/OpenSubsonic API support Multi valued tags: genre , mood , artists , ... Artist relationships: composer , conductor , lyricist , mixer , performer , producer , remixer Release types: album , single , EP , compilation , live , ... Release groups support to show different versions of albums, such as remasters, reissues, etc. MusicBrainz Identifier support to handle…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Jellyfin or lms more popular?
Jellyfin has 58,942 GitHub stars and lms has 1,697. Jellyfin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Jellyfin and lms free?
Both are open source. Jellyfin is licensed under GPL-2.0 and lms under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Jellyfin and lms?
Jellyfin is written in C# and lms 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 lms?
Choose Jellyfin if you want the larger community (58,942 stars) or its GPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose lms if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.