head to head · open source
Kodi vs iptv-sources
Kodi has 21,229 GitHub stars, 6,598 forks, 466 open issues and last shipped yesterday. iptv-sources has 8,974 stars, 1,535 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Kodi leads on adoption by 137% (21,229 vs 8,974 stars). Kodi is written in C++ under a custom or non-standard licence; iptv-sources is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. Kodi has attracted 31% as many forks as stars, iptv-sources 17%. Kodi was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (kodi), 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
| Kodi | iptv-sources | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 9.0K |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| 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-sources if
- You want the iptv-sources 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 iptv-sources fits your workflow better
About Kodi
Kodi is a free and open source home theater and media center application, also described as an entertainment hub for digital media. It is written mainly in C++ and distributed as a native application for Android, BSD, Linux, macOS, iOS, tvOS, and Windows, with support for many common processor architectures. The project began in 2003 and is run by the XBMC Foundation, with development and support carried out by volunteers worldwide.
About iptv-sources
iptv sources is a TypeScript application that automatically updates IPTV source lists and publishes them as M3U playlists and EPG data. It lives in the IPTV and media streaming ecosystem, where clients such as Kodi, TVBox, and DIYP compatible players consume M3U playlists and electronic program guide files. The project collects channel lists from a set of upstream repositories, including iptv org/iptv, YueChan/Live, YanG 1989/m3u, fanmingming/live, qwerttvv/Beijing IPTV, joevess/IPTV, and cymz6/AutoIPTV Hotel, and it gathers EPG data from fanmingming/live, 112114.xyz, and epg.51zmt.top:8000. It is released under …
read the full iptv-sources overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Kodi or iptv-sources more popular?
Kodi has 21,229 GitHub stars and iptv-sources has 8,974. Kodi has the larger community by that measure.
Are Kodi and iptv-sources free?
Both are open source. Kodi has no licence declared in this registry, and iptv-sources is licensed under GPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Kodi and iptv-sources?
Kodi is written in C++ and iptv-sources 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, Kodi or iptv-sources?
Choose Kodi if you want the larger community (21,229 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose iptv-sources if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.