head to head · open source
Jellyfin vs Navidrome
Jellyfin has 57,244 GitHub stars, 5,523 forks, 684 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Navidrome has 23,632 stars, 1,708 forks, 275 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Jellyfin leads on adoption by 142% (57,244 vs 23,632 stars). Jellyfin is written in C# under GPL-2.0; Navidrome is written in Go under GPL-3.0. Jellyfin has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Navidrome 7%. Navidrome 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 | Navidrome | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 57K | ★ 24K |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C# | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.5K | ⑂ 1.7K |
| 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 Navidrome if
- You want the Navidrome feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Navidrome 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 Navidrome
Navidrome is an open source, web based music collection server and streamer written in Go and released under the GPL 3.0 license. It lives in the self hosted media server ecosystem and is intended for users who want to listen to a personal music collection from a browser or mobile device.
read the full Navidrome overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Jellyfin or Navidrome more popular?
Jellyfin has 57,244 GitHub stars and Navidrome has 23,632. Jellyfin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Jellyfin and Navidrome free?
Both are open source. Jellyfin is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Navidrome under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Jellyfin and Navidrome?
Jellyfin is written in C# and Navidrome in Go. 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 Navidrome?
Choose Jellyfin if you want the larger community (57,244 stars) or its GPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose Navidrome if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.