head to head · open source
Kodi vs iptv
Kodi has 21,422 GitHub stars, 6,655 forks, 466 open issues and last shipped yesterday. iptv has 1,783 stars, 479 forks, 9 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Kodi leads on adoption by 1,101% (21,422 vs 1,783 stars). Kodi is written in C++ under a custom or non-standard licence; iptv is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0. Kodi has attracted 31% as many forks as stars, iptv 27%. Kodi 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
| Kodi | iptv | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.7K | ⑂ 479 |
| 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 iptv if
- You want the iptv feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and iptv 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 iptv
📺 iPTV 把分散的直播源，变成一套真正属于你的频道系统 自托管 · 模块化 · 可视化 · NAS 友好 🐳 Docker 部署教程 · 前往 Docker Hub → 推荐通过 Docker 在 NAS / 服务器上部署，镜像： akiralereal/iptv:latest 当前版本：v4.15.0 · 产品预览 · 频道覆盖 · 内容来源 · 功能说明 · 更新日志 iPTV 是一个面向家庭影音与 NAS 用户的 模块化 IPTV 直播源管理与分发系统 。它内置央视频、咪咕、B站、虎牙、斗鱼及多地区广电等抓取模块，也能接入需要网页解析的内置源、维护者筛选的公开独立源、自定义直连地址和 M3U/TXT 订阅；所有来源统一完成聚合、去重、编排，再输出干净的播放列表与 EPG 节目单。 [!IMPORTANT] 本项目是自托管的软件工具。除项目自制的使用公告短片外，不托管第三方音视频节目；仓库及运行时可能整理互联网上公开可访问的播放地址与频道元数据，但“公开可访问” 不代表内容属于公有领域，也不代表已获得复制、转播或商业使用授权 。请仅在获得合法授权的范围内使用；如你是权利人并认为相关条目侵权，请按版权与侵权处理提交下架通知。 🖼️ 产品预览 我的频道 · 所有频道一处编排 源管理 · 每个内容来源独立、透明、可控 播放器实况 · 输出标准订阅，接入常用客户端 ✨ 为什么选择 iPTV [!TIP]…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Kodi or iptv more popular?
Kodi has 21,422 GitHub stars and iptv has 1,783. Kodi has the larger community by that measure.
Are Kodi and iptv free?
Both are open source. Kodi has no licence declared in this registry, and iptv is licensed under GPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Kodi and iptv?
Kodi is written in C++ and iptv in JavaScript. 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 iptv?
Choose Kodi if you want the larger community (21,422 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose iptv if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.