head to head · open source
neko vs tvheadend
neko has 22,592 GitHub stars, 1,648 forks, 151 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. tvheadend has 3,571 stars, 993 forks, 107 open issues and last shipped yesterday. neko leads on adoption by 533% (22,592 vs 3,571 stars). neko is written in Go under Apache-2.0; tvheadend is written in C under GPL-3.0. neko has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, tvheadend 28%. tvheadend 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| neko | tvheadend | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 23K | ★ 3.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | C |
| Last push | 2026-10-28 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.6K | ⑂ 993 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick neko if
- You weight community size — 23K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick tvheadend if
- You want the tvheadend feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and tvheadend fits your workflow better
About neko
n.eko Welcome to Neko, a self hosted virtual browser that runs in Docker and uses WebRTC technology. Neko is a powerful tool that allows you to run a fully functional browser in a virtual environment , giving you the ability to access the internet securely and privately from anywhere . With Neko, you can browse the web, run applications , and perform other tasks just as you would on a regular browser, all within a secure and isolated environment . Whether you are a developer looking to test web applications, a privacy conscious user seeking a secure browsing experience , or simply someone who wants to take…
About tvheadend
Tvheadend ========= Tvheadend is the leading TV streaming server and Digital Video Recorder for Linux. It supports the following inputs: ATSC DVB C(2) DVB S(2) DVB T(2) HDHomeRun IPTV UDP HTTP SAT IP Unix Pipe It supports the following outputs: HTSP (native protocol) HTTP SAT IP Documentation Tvheadend documentation can be found here: Support Please triage issues and ask questions in the forum: or use the hts IRC channel on Libera.Chat to speak with project staff: Please report triaged bugs via GitHub Issues. Building for Linux First you need to configure: $ ./configure If build dependencies are missing the…
read the full tvheadend overview →
More in Miscellaneous
Related comparisons
More Media & Streaming projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Media & Streaming field.
Frequently asked questions
Is neko or tvheadend more popular?
neko has 22,592 GitHub stars and tvheadend has 3,571. neko has the larger community by that measure.
Are neko and tvheadend free?
Both are open source. neko is licensed under Apache-2.0 and tvheadend under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between neko and tvheadend?
neko is written in Go and tvheadend 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, neko or tvheadend?
Choose neko if you want the larger community (22,592 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose tvheadend if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.