head to head · open source
Navidrome vs Kodi
Navidrome has 23,632 GitHub stars, 1,708 forks, 275 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Kodi has 21,229 stars, 6,598 forks, 466 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Navidrome leads on adoption by 11% (23,632 vs 21,229 stars). Navidrome is written in Go under GPL-3.0; Kodi is written in C++ under a custom or non-standard licence. Navidrome has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Kodi 31%. 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
| Navidrome | Kodi | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 24K | ★ 21K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Go | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.7K | ⑂ 6.6K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Navidrome if
- You weight community size — 24K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Kodi if
- You want the Kodi feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and Kodi fits your workflow better
About Navidrome
Navidrome is an open source, web based music collection server and streamer written in Go and released under the GPL 3.0 license. It lives in the self hosted media server ecosystem and is intended for users who want to listen to a personal music collection from a browser or mobile device.
read the full Navidrome overview →
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.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Navidrome or Kodi more popular?
Navidrome has 23,632 GitHub stars and Kodi has 21,229. Navidrome has the larger community by that measure.
Are Navidrome and Kodi free?
Both are open source. Navidrome is licensed under GPL-3.0, and Kodi has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Navidrome and Kodi?
Navidrome is written in Go and Kodi in C++. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Navidrome or Kodi?
Choose Navidrome if you want the larger community (23,632 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Kodi if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.