head to head · open source
tvheadend vs iptv-tool
tvheadend has 3,572 GitHub stars, 993 forks, 107 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. iptv-tool has 1,153 stars, 297 forks, 9 open issues and last shipped 14 days ago. tvheadend leads on adoption by 210% (3,572 vs 1,153 stars). tvheadend is written in C under GPL-3.0; iptv-tool is written in PHP under GPL-2.0. tvheadend has attracted 28% as many forks as stars, iptv-tool 26%. tvheadend was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (epg, 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 | iptv-tool | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.6K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | C | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 993 | ⑂ 297 |
| 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 iptv-tool if
- You want the iptv-tool feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and iptv-tool 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 iptv-tool
📺 IPTV工具箱 IPTV 工具箱， Docker 部署，支持 EPG 管理 、 直播源管理 、 台标管理 ，兼容 DIYP/百川 、 超级直播 以及 xmltv 格式。 [!TIP] ⚠️ 使用前请仔细阅读「管理页面」底部的「使用说明」 原贴：【IPTV工具箱】EPG节目单管理、直播源管理、台标管理 xmltv 用户使用方法：【一键生成】匹配 M3U 文件的 XML 节目单 直播源管理 使用方法：【IPTV工具箱】直播源管理使用说明 自定数据源 使用方法：【IPTV工具箱】自定义数据源（timetv、51livetv、diyp） 💻 主要功能 📡 多格式 ：支持返回 DIYP/百川、超级直播以及 xmltv 格式文件。 🐳 多架构 ：提供 amd64、arm64 和 armv7 架构的 Docker 镜像。 📦 小体积镜像 ：基于 Alpine 构建，压缩后仅 20 MB。 🗃️ 数据库管理 ：支持 SQLite 和 MySQL 数据库，内置 phpLiteAdmin 管理工具。 🖼️ 台标管理 ：支持台标模糊匹配，支持 tvbox 接口。 ➰ 直播源管理 ：支持聚合 TXT/M3U 直播源、测速校验、直播源代理。 🔒 访问权限控制 ：支持设置 TOKEN 、User Agent、IP 黑白名单。 ⏱️ 缓存支持 ：集成 Memcached，支持 Redis。 🔄 频道匹配…
read the full iptv-tool overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is tvheadend or iptv-tool more popular?
tvheadend has 3,572 GitHub stars and iptv-tool has 1,153. tvheadend has the larger community by that measure.
Are tvheadend and iptv-tool free?
Both are open source. tvheadend is licensed under GPL-3.0 and iptv-tool under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between tvheadend and iptv-tool?
tvheadend is written in C and iptv-tool in PHP. 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 iptv-tool?
Choose tvheadend if you want the larger community (3,572 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose iptv-tool if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.