head to head · open source
tvheadend vs mytv-android
tvheadend has 3,524 GitHub stars, 975 forks, 107 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. mytv-android has 2,682 stars, 279 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped today. tvheadend leads on adoption by 31% (3,524 vs 2,682 stars). tvheadend is written in C under GPL-3.0; mytv-android is written in various languages under MIT. tvheadend has attracted 28% as many forks as stars, mytv-android 10%. mytv-android was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (iptv), 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
| tvheadend | mytv-android | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.5K | ★ 2.7K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | C | — |
| Last push | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 975 | ⑂ 279 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick tvheadend if
- You weight community size — 3.5K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick mytv-android if
- You want the mytv-android feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- You evaluated both and mytv-android fits your workflow better
About tvheadend
Tvheadend is an open source TV streaming server and digital video recorder for Linux. It lives in the Linux media and streaming ecosystem, and it is written in C under the GPL 3.0 license. The project provides a server that can receive television signals and streams from many input types, then make those channels available over the network.
read the full tvheadend overview →
About mytv-android
mytv android is an Android and Android TV IPTV player written in Kotlin under the MIT license, with a Material 3 Expressive interface and built in Media3, IJKplayer, and VLC support. It solves the problem of watching IPTV sources on phones and television devices by providing remote controls, touch gestures, M3U and Stalker Portal support, and a local web panel for tuning playback.
read the full mytv-android overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is tvheadend or mytv-android more popular?
tvheadend has 3,524 GitHub stars and mytv-android has 2,682. tvheadend has the larger community by that measure.
Are tvheadend and mytv-android free?
Both are open source. tvheadend is licensed under GPL-3.0 and mytv-android under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between tvheadend and mytv-android?
tvheadend is written in C and mytv-android in various languages. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, tvheadend or mytv-android?
Choose tvheadend if you want the larger community (3,524 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose mytv-android if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.