head to head · open source
tvheadend vs Megacubo
tvheadend has 3,572 GitHub stars, 993 forks, 107 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Megacubo has 615 stars, 93 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. tvheadend leads on adoption by 481% (3,572 vs 615 stars). tvheadend is written in C under GPL-3.0; Megacubo is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0. tvheadend has attracted 28% as many forks as stars, Megacubo 15%. tvheadend 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 | Megacubo | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.6K | ★ 615 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 993 | ⑂ 93 |
| 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 Megacubo if
- You want the Megacubo feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and Megacubo 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 Megacubo
Megacubo Megacubo Cross platform IPTV player for Windows, Linux, macOS and Android with support for M3U playlists, live TV streams, bookmarks, history, miniplayer mode and community lists. Website · Releases · Download · Issues Why use Megacubo? The internet already contains thousands of publicly available TV channels, radio stations, live streams and community broadcasts from around the world. Many broadcasters distribute their own streams online, including free to air channels, public networks and independent media. Megacubo helps users organize and access this open media ecosystem in one place through…
read the full Megacubo overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is tvheadend or Megacubo more popular?
tvheadend has 3,572 GitHub stars and Megacubo has 615. tvheadend has the larger community by that measure.
Are tvheadend and Megacubo free?
Both are open source. tvheadend is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Megacubo under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between tvheadend and Megacubo?
tvheadend is written in C and Megacubo in JavaScript. 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 Megacubo?
Choose tvheadend if you want the larger community (3,572 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Megacubo if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.