head to head · open source
Jellyfin vs sonobus
Jellyfin has 58,942 GitHub stars, 5,757 forks, 684 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. sonobus has 2,227 stars, 190 forks, 195 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Jellyfin leads on adoption by 2,547% (58,942 vs 2,227 stars). Jellyfin is written in C# under GPL-2.0; sonobus is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. Jellyfin has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, sonobus 9%. 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 | sonobus | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 59K | ★ 2.2K |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C# | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-09-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 190 |
| 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 sonobus if
- You want the sonobus 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 sonobus 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 sonobus
SonoBus SonoBus is an easy to use application for streaming high quality, low latency peer to peer audio between devices over the internet or a local network. Simply choose a unique group name (with optional password), and instantly connect multiple people together to make music, remote sessions, podcasts, etc. Easily record the audio from everyone, as well as playback any audio content to the whole group. Connects multiple users together to send and receive audio among all in a group, with fine grained control over latency, quality and overall mix. Includes optional input compression, noise gate, and EQ…
read the full sonobus overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Jellyfin or sonobus more popular?
Jellyfin has 58,942 GitHub stars and sonobus has 2,227. Jellyfin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Jellyfin and sonobus free?
Both are open source. Jellyfin is licensed under GPL-2.0 and sonobus under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Jellyfin and sonobus?
Jellyfin is written in C# and sonobus 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 sonobus?
Choose Jellyfin if you want the larger community (58,942 stars) or its GPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose sonobus if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.