head to head · open source
tvheadend vs tunarr
tvheadend has 3,572 GitHub stars, 993 forks, 107 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. tunarr has 2,700 stars, 162 forks, 206 open issues and last shipped yesterday. tvheadend leads on adoption by 32% (3,572 vs 2,700 stars). tvheadend is written in C under GPL-3.0; tunarr is written in TypeScript under Zlib. tvheadend has attracted 28% as many forks as stars, tunarr 6%. tunarr 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 | tunarr | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.6K | ★ 2.7K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Zlib |
| Written in | C | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 993 | ⑂ 162 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick tvheadend if
- You weight community size — 3.6K 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 tunarr if
- You want the tunarr feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Zlib license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and tunarr fits your workflow better
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 →
About tunarr
Tunarr Create your own live TV channels from media on Plex, Jellyfin, Emby, or local files. What is Tunarr? Tunarr lets you build custom live TV channels out of your existing media libraries — movies, TV episodes, music videos, or local files — and stream them as if they were real broadcast channels. Tune in by adding Tunarr's spoofed HDHomeRun tuner to Plex, Jellyfin, or Emby, or grab the M3U URL for any IPTV player like Tivimate or UHF. Features Media Sources Connect Plex, Jellyfin, Emby, or local file libraries Advanced search, filter, and sort across all connected libraries Channel Management Drag and drop…
read the full tunarr overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is tvheadend or tunarr more popular?
tvheadend has 3,572 GitHub stars and tunarr has 2,700. tvheadend has the larger community by that measure.
Are tvheadend and tunarr free?
Both are open source. tvheadend is licensed under GPL-3.0 and tunarr under Zlib. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between tvheadend and tunarr?
tvheadend is written in C and tunarr 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, tvheadend or tunarr?
Choose tvheadend if you want the larger community (3,572 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose tunarr if its feature set, stack or Zlib licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.