head to head · open source
Jellyfin vs nightingale
Jellyfin has 57,244 GitHub stars, 5,523 forks, 684 open issues and last shipped yesterday. nightingale has 1,463 stars, 105 forks, 13 open issues and last shipped 13 days ago. Jellyfin leads on adoption by 3,813% (57,244 vs 1,463 stars). Jellyfin is written in C# under GPL-2.0; nightingale is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. Jellyfin has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, nightingale 7%. Jellyfin 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 | nightingale | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 57K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C# | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.5K | ⑂ 105 |
| 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 nightingale if
- You want the nightingale feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and nightingale 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 nightingale
Nightingale is a machine learning powered karaoke application that turns songs from a personal music library into scored karaoke sessions. It scans folders, Plex Media Server, Jellyfin server, Navidrome server, or a self hosted web library, then separates vocals, transcribes lyrics, and plays the result with synchronized highlighting and pitch scoring.
read the full nightingale overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Jellyfin or nightingale more popular?
Jellyfin has 57,244 GitHub stars and nightingale has 1,463. Jellyfin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Jellyfin and nightingale free?
Both are open source. Jellyfin is licensed under GPL-2.0 and nightingale under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Jellyfin and nightingale?
Jellyfin is written in C# and nightingale in TypeScript. 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 nightingale?
Choose Jellyfin if you want the larger community (57,244 stars) or its GPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose nightingale if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.