head to head · open source
Jellyfin vs tunarr
Jellyfin has 58,942 GitHub stars, 5,757 forks, 684 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. tunarr has 2,696 stars, 160 forks, 206 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Jellyfin leads on adoption by 2,086% (58,942 vs 2,696 stars). Jellyfin is written in C# under GPL-2.0; tunarr is written in TypeScript under Zlib. Jellyfin has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, tunarr 6%. tunarr was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (jellyfin), 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.
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Side by side
| Jellyfin | tunarr | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 59K | ★ 2.7K |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Zlib |
| Written in | C# | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.8K | ⑂ 160 |
| 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 tunarr if
- You want the tunarr feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Zlib license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and tunarr 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 tunarr
Tunarr Create your own live TV channels from media on Plex, Jellyfin, Emby, or local files. What is Tunarr? Tunarr lets you build custom live TV channels out of your existing media libraries — movies, TV episodes, music videos, or local files — and stream them as if they were real broadcast channels. Tune in by adding Tunarr's spoofed HDHomeRun tuner to Plex, Jellyfin, or Emby, or grab the M3U URL for any IPTV player like Tivimate or UHF. Features Media Sources Connect Plex, Jellyfin, Emby, or local file libraries Advanced search, filter, and sort across all connected libraries Channel Management Drag and drop…
read the full tunarr overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Jellyfin or tunarr more popular?
Jellyfin has 58,942 GitHub stars and tunarr has 2,696. Jellyfin has the larger community by that measure.
Are Jellyfin and tunarr free?
Both are open source. Jellyfin is licensed under GPL-2.0 and tunarr under Zlib. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Jellyfin and tunarr?
Jellyfin is written in C# and tunarr 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 tunarr?
Choose Jellyfin if you want the larger community (58,942 stars) or its GPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose tunarr if its feature set, stack or Zlib licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.