head to head · open source
tvheadend vs netv
tvheadend has 3,578 GitHub stars, 995 forks, 107 open issues and last shipped yesterday. netv has 515 stars, 47 forks, 8 open issues and last shipped yesterday. tvheadend leads on adoption by 595% (3,578 vs 515 stars). tvheadend is written in C under GPL-3.0; netv is written in Python under Apache-2.0. tvheadend has attracted 28% as many forks as stars, netv 9%. tvheadend was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (hdhomerun, 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 | netv | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.6K | ★ 515 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-09 | 2026-11-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 995 | ⑂ 47 |
| 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 netv if
- You want the netv feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and netv 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 netv
neTV 📺 A fast, self hosted IPTV experience for the web, Apple TV, iPhone, macOS, Chromecast, and Xtream compatible players. What it does: neTV plays your own Xtream Codes or M3U IPTV subscription with a clean, minimal interface — live TV with an EPG grid guide, catchup playback, Intelligent Handoff between devices, movies & series, favorites and playlists, Chromecast and AirPlay, and optional real time 4K AI upscaling — on desktop, tablet, mobile, and TV. Quick Start Requires Python 3.12+ and uv. The server and gateway also require FFmpeg. Web server Open create an admin account, and add your IPTV source…
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Frequently asked questions
Is tvheadend or netv more popular?
tvheadend has 3,578 GitHub stars and netv has 515. tvheadend has the larger community by that measure.
Are tvheadend and netv free?
Both are open source. tvheadend is licensed under GPL-3.0 and netv under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between tvheadend and netv?
tvheadend is written in C and netv in Python. 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 netv?
Choose tvheadend if you want the larger community (3,578 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose netv if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.