Jellyfin
Media server for audio, video, books, comics, and photos with a sleek interface and robust transcoding capabilities. Almost all modern platforms have clients, including Roku, Android TV, iOS, and Kodi.
Jellyfin vs Kodi
Two self-hosted Media Streaming - Multimedia Streaming apps, compared on the facts we track: GitHub popularity and activity, license, language, Docker images and a rough hosting estimate.
Side by side
| Jellyfin | Kodi | |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Media server for audio, video, books, comics, and photos with a sleek interface and robust transcoding capabilities. Almost all modern platforms have clients, including Roku, Android TV, iOS, and Kodi. | Multimedia/Entertainment center, formerly known as XBMC. Runs on Android, BSD, Linux, macOS, iOS and Windows. |
| GitHub stars | 59,022 | 21,436 |
| Forks | 5.8k | – |
| Open issues (incl. PRs) | 863 | – |
| Commits (12 months) | 2k | 4.5k |
| Last activity | 2026-11-05 | 2026-11-05 |
| Latest release | v12.4 (2026-10-26) | 22.0rc1-Piers (2026-09-27) |
| Maintenance health | Active | Active |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language / platform | C#, deb, Docker | C++, deb |
| Docker Hub image | – | – |
| Docker pulls | – | – |
| Est. server size | ~2 GB, 1 vCPU | ~4 GB, 2 vCPU |
| Est. hosting from | $10/mo | $20/mo |
| Categories | Media Streaming - Multimedia Streaming | Media Streaming - Multimedia Streaming |
| Links | Website · Source | Website · Source |
What the numbers say
- Jellyfin is more popular on GitHub: 59k stars vs 21.4k for Kodi.
- Kodi had more commits in the last 12 months (4,461 vs 2,016).
- Jellyfin published a release more recently (v12.4 on 2026-10-26; Kodi's latest is 22.0rc1-Piers on 2026-09-27).
- Both are licensed under GPL-2.0.
- Jellyfin is written in C#; Kodi in C++.
- Deployment options listed upstream: Jellyfin: deb, Docker; Kodi: deb.
- Our rough hardware estimate is lighter for Jellyfin (~2 GB server) than Kodi (~4 GB); this is an estimate from the stack and category, not a benchmark.
Summary: Jellyfin leads on GitHub popularity; Kodi leads on commit activity. The right choice depends on the features you need — read both project descriptions and docs.
This summary is generated from GitHub, Docker Hub and awesome-selfhosted data as of 2026-11-05. It does not rate features or quality.
Frequently asked questions
Is Jellyfin or Kodi more popular?
Jellyfin has more GitHub stars (59,022 vs 21,436 for Kodi, as of 2026-11-05). Stars measure interest, not quality.
Which is more actively maintained, Jellyfin or Kodi?
Kodi had more commits over the last 12 months (4,461 vs 2,016). Both had repository activity on 2026-11-05. Our health labels: Jellyfin is “Active”, Kodi is “Active”.
What licenses do Jellyfin and Kodi use?
Both use GPL-2.0.
Can I run Jellyfin and Kodi with Docker?
We did not detect a Docker Hub image for either app. The upstream listing mentions Docker as a deployment option for Jellyfin. Check each project's documentation for install options.
Read more
Kodi
Multimedia/Entertainment center, formerly known as XBMC. Runs on Android, BSD, Linux, macOS, iOS and Windows.
Browse all self-hosted Media Streaming - Multimedia Streaming apps.