head to head · open source
Kodi vs iptv-tool
Kodi has 21,229 GitHub stars, 6,598 forks, 466 open issues and last shipped yesterday. iptv-tool has 1,116 stars, 295 forks, 9 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. Kodi leads on adoption by 1,802% (21,229 vs 1,116 stars). Kodi is written in C++ under a custom or non-standard licence; iptv-tool is written in PHP under GPL-2.0. Kodi has attracted 31% as many forks as stars, iptv-tool 26%. 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-tool | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-08-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.6K | ⑂ 295 |
| 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-tool if
- You want the iptv-tool feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and iptv-tool 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-tool
iptv tool is a self hosted IPTV toolbox written in PHP and distributed under the GPL 2.0 licence. It runs from a Docker image (taksss/php epg) built on Alpine, with images published for the amd64, arm64 and armv7 architectures and a compressed image size of about 20 MB. The project manages Electronic Program Guide data, live source lists and channel logos from a single web administration page, and it returns data in the DIYP/Baichuan, 超级直播 and xmltv formats.
read the full iptv-tool overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Kodi or iptv-tool more popular?
Kodi has 21,229 GitHub stars and iptv-tool has 1,116. Kodi has the larger community by that measure.
Are Kodi and iptv-tool free?
Both are open source. Kodi has no licence declared in this registry, and iptv-tool is licensed under GPL-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Kodi and iptv-tool?
Kodi is written in C++ and iptv-tool in PHP. 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-tool?
Choose Kodi if you want the larger community (21,229 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose iptv-tool if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.