head to head · open source
Kodi vs Nuclear
Kodi has 21,422 GitHub stars, 6,655 forks, 466 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Nuclear has 18,856 stars, 1,356 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Kodi leads on adoption by 14% (21,422 vs 18,856 stars). Kodi is written in C++ under a custom or non-standard licence; Nuclear is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Kodi has attracted 31% as many forks as stars, Nuclear 7%. Kodi was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (linux), 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 | Nuclear | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 19K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.7K | ⑂ 1.4K |
| 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 Nuclear if
- You want the Nuclear feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Nuclear 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 Nuclear
Nuclear Nuclear is a free, open source music player without ads or tracking. Search for any song or artist, build playlists, and start listening. Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Screenshots Nuclear comes with multiple built in themes: Download Grab the latest release for your platform from the Releases page. Features Search for music and stream it from any source Browse artist pages with biographies, discographies, and similar artists Browse album pages with track listings Queue management with shuffle, repeat, and drag and drop reordering Favorites (albums, artists, and tracks) Playlists (create, import…
read the full Nuclear overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Kodi or Nuclear more popular?
Kodi has 21,422 GitHub stars and Nuclear has 18,856. Kodi has the larger community by that measure.
Are Kodi and Nuclear free?
Both are open source. Kodi has no licence declared in this registry, and Nuclear is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Kodi and Nuclear?
Kodi is written in C++ and Nuclear 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 Nuclear?
Choose Kodi if you want the larger community (21,422 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Nuclear if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.