head to head · open source
Kodi vs HTV
Kodi has 21,422 GitHub stars, 6,655 forks, 466 open issues and last shipped yesterday. HTV has 811 stars, 56 forks, 8 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Kodi leads on adoption by 2,541% (21,422 vs 811 stars). Kodi is written in C++ under a custom or non-standard licence; HTV is written in Dart under Apache-2.0. Kodi has attracted 31% as many forks as stars, HTV 7%. Kodi was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (android), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Kodi | HTV | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 811 |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Dart |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.7K | ⑂ 56 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Kodi if
- You weight community size — 21K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick HTV if
- You want the HTV feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Dart
- You evaluated both and HTV fits your workflow better
About Kodi
website • docs • community • add ons Welcome to Kodi Home Theater Software! Kodi is an award winning free and open source software media player and entertainment hub for digital media. Available as a native application for Android, Linux, BSD, macOS, iOS, tvOS and Windows operating systems , Kodi runs on most common processor architectures. Created in 2003 by a group of like minded programmers, Kodi is a non profit project run by the XBMC Foundation and developed by volunteers located around the world. More than 500 software developers have contributed to Kodi to date, and 100 plus translators have worked to…
About HTV
HTV · 手机电视直播 免费 · 无广告 · 开箱即用 —— 手机与 Android 电视盒子通用的网络电视直播软件 立即下载 · 官方主页 · 使用说明 · 常见问题 软件简介 HTV 是一款面向 Android 手机、电视与电视盒子的直播播放软件。内置央视、卫视、地方台、凤凰卫视等常用频道，直播源每天自动更新；播放异常时会自行尝试下一个可用源，不需要手动折腾。界面针对遥控器与触屏分别做了适配，电视上用方向键就能换台，手机上滑动即可。 免费使用，无需账号，打开即看 一套安装包同时适配手机与电视盒子 直播源持续维护，日常观看省心 功能特性 下载与安装 1. 前往 Releases 下载最新版本的 APK，也可从 官方主页 获取 2. 手机直接点击安装；电视 / 盒子可通过 U 盘、文件管理器或 ADB 安装 3. 首次安装如提示「未知来源」，允许一次即可 4. 打开即可观看，无需额外配置 建议把 App 加入电视 / 盒子的开机自启动或桌面快捷方式，使用更顺手。 使用说明 电视 / 盒子（遥控器） 换台 ：上下方向键 / 数字键，或在屏幕上上下滑动 选台 ：OK 键 / 单击屏幕 收藏 ：频道列表中长按 OK 键，收藏或取消收藏 回看 ：设置 → 回看诊断，可回看最近播过的节目 设置 ：菜单键 / 帮助键 / 长按 OK 键 / 长按屏幕 分组与换源 ：面板底部切换横向分组 /
More in Miscellaneous
Related comparisons
More Media & Streaming projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Media & Streaming field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Kodi or HTV more popular?
Kodi has 21,422 GitHub stars and HTV has 811. Kodi has the larger community by that measure.
Are Kodi and HTV free?
Both are open source. Kodi has no licence declared in this registry, and HTV is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Kodi and HTV?
Kodi is written in C++ and HTV in Dart. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Kodi or HTV?
Choose Kodi if you want the larger community (21,422 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose HTV if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.