head to head · open source
tubearchivist vs UniversalMediaServer
tubearchivist has 8,561 GitHub stars, 433 forks, 25 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. UniversalMediaServer has 2,668 stars, 526 forks, 405 open issues and last shipped yesterday. tubearchivist leads on adoption by 221% (8,561 vs 2,668 stars). tubearchivist is written in Python under GPL-3.0; UniversalMediaServer is written in Java under GPL-2.0. tubearchivist has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, UniversalMediaServer 20%. UniversalMediaServer was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (media-server), 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
| tubearchivist | UniversalMediaServer | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 8.6K | ★ 2.7K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Java |
| Last push | 2026-10-25 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 433 | ⑂ 526 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick tubearchivist if
- You weight community size — 8.6K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick UniversalMediaServer if
- You want the UniversalMediaServer feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and UniversalMediaServer fits your workflow better
About tubearchivist
more screenshots and video Table of contents Docs with FAQ, and API documentation Core functionality Resources Installing Getting Started Known limitations Port Collisions Common Errors Roadmap Donate Core functionality Once your YouTube video collection grows, it becomes hard to search and find a specific video. That's where Tube Archivist comes in: By indexing your video collection with metadata from YouTube, you can organize, search and enjoy your archived YouTube videos without hassle offline through a convenient web interface. This includes: Subscribe to your favorite YouTube channels Download Videos using…
read the full tubearchivist overview →
About UniversalMediaServer
Universal Media Server [ ][1] Universal Media Server is a DLNA, UPnP and HTTP/S Media Server. It is capable of sharing video, audio and images between most modern devices. It was originally based on PS3 Media Server by shagrath, in order to ensure greater stability and file compatibility. Universal Media Server supports all major operating systems, with versions for Windows, Linux and macOS. The program streams or transcodes many different media formats with little or no configuration. It is powered by [FFmpeg][27], [MediaInfo][28], [Crowdin][29], [MEncoder][26], tsMuxeR, AviSynth, VLC, and more, which combine…
read the full UniversalMediaServer overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is tubearchivist or UniversalMediaServer more popular?
tubearchivist has 8,561 GitHub stars and UniversalMediaServer has 2,668. tubearchivist has the larger community by that measure.
Are tubearchivist and UniversalMediaServer free?
Both are open source. tubearchivist is licensed under GPL-3.0 and UniversalMediaServer under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between tubearchivist and UniversalMediaServer?
tubearchivist is written in Python and UniversalMediaServer in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, tubearchivist or UniversalMediaServer?
Choose tubearchivist if you want the larger community (8,561 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose UniversalMediaServer if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.