head to head · open source
Navidrome vs Kodi
Navidrome has 24,490 GitHub stars, 1,799 forks, 275 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Kodi has 21,422 stars, 6,655 forks, 466 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Navidrome leads on adoption by 14% (24,490 vs 21,422 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 | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 6.7K |
| 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 Music Server Navidrome is an open source web based music collection server and streamer. It gives you freedom to listen to your music collection from any browser or mobile device. It's like your personal Spotify! Note : The master branch may be in an unstable or even broken state during development. Please use releases instead of the master branch in order to get a stable set of binaries. Check out our Live Demo! Any feedback is welcome! If you need/want a new feature, find a bug or think of any way to improve Navidrome, please file a GitHub issue or join the discussion in our Subreddit. If you want to…
read the full Navidrome overview →
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…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Navidrome or Kodi more popular?
Navidrome has 24,490 GitHub stars and Kodi has 21,422. 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 (24,490 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.