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.
Best self-hosted Media Streaming - Multimedia Streaming software in 2026
Multimedia streaming tools and software.
We track 17 open-source, self-hosted Media Streaming - Multimedia Streaming apps. 13 of them had commits in the last 90 days, 10 can run with Docker, and the most common licenses are GPL-2.0 (4), MIT (3), GPL-3.0 (3). The most-used languages are C++, C, Go. Below are the top picks by GitHub stars, followed by every app ranked by stars weighted by maintenance health.
Alternatives to PlexAlternatives to NetflixAlternatives to TwitchAlternatives to EmbyAlternatives to Jellyfin
Top 5 by GitHub stars
| # | App | Stars | Health | Last activity | License | Language | Docker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jellyfin | 59.3k | Active | 2026-11-06 | GPL-2.0 | C#, deb | ✓ |
| 2 | Kodi | 21.5k | Active | 2026-11-09 | GPL-2.0 | C++, deb | – |
| 3 | MediaMTX | 20.7k | Active | 2026-11-07 | MIT | Go, Docker | ✓ |
| 4 | Stash | 13.4k | Active | 2026-11-07 | AGPL-3.0 | Docker, Go | ✓ |
| 5 | NymphCast | 2.6k | Maintained | 2026-01-10 | BSD-3-Clause | C++ | – |
- 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.
- Kodi — Multimedia/Entertainment center, formerly known as XBMC. Runs on Android, BSD, Linux, macOS, iOS and Windows.
- MediaMTX — Ready-to-use, zero-dependency real-time media server and proxy to publish, read, record, playback and route video/audio streams over SRT, WebRTC, RTSP, RTMP, HLS, MPEG-TS, RTP.
- Stash — Web-based library organizer and player for your adult media stash, with auto-tagging and metadata scraping support.
- NymphCast — Turn your choice of Linux-capable hardware into an audio and video source for a television or powered speakers (alternative to Chromecast).
Head-to-head comparisons
All 17 self-hosted Media Streaming - Multimedia Streaming apps
Ranked by GitHub stars weighted by maintenance health.
Kodi
Multimedia/Entertainment center, formerly known as XBMC. Runs on Android, BSD, Linux, macOS, iOS and Windows.
MediaMTX
Ready-to-use, zero-dependency real-time media server and proxy to publish, read, record, playback and route video/audio streams over SRT, WebRTC, RTSP, RTMP, HLS, MPEG-TS, RTP.
Stash
Web-based library organizer and player for your adult media stash, with auto-tagging and metadata scraping support.
Kyoo
Innovative media browser designed for seamless streaming of anime, series and movies, offering advanced features like dynamic transcoding, auto watch history and intelligent metadata retrieval.
µStreamer
Lightweight and very quick server to stream MJPEG video from any V4L2 device to the net.
Meelo
Personal Music Server, designed for collectors and music maniacs.
Gerbera
UPnP Media Server, which allows you to stream your digital media throughout your home network and listen to/watch it on a variety of UPnP compatible devices.
Karaoke Eternal
Host awesome karaoke parties where everyone can easily find and queue songs from their phone's browser. The player is also fully browser-based with support for MP3+G, MP4 and WebGL visualizations.
NymphCast
Turn your choice of Linux-capable hardware into an audio and video source for a television or powered speakers (alternative to Chromecast).
MistServer
Public domain streaming media server that works with any device and any format.
mikochi
Browse remote folders, upload files, delete, rename, download and stream files to VLC/mpv.
ClipBucket
Start your own video sharing website (YouTube/Netflix Clone) in a matter of minutes.
cmyflix
Minimalist Plex/Jellyfin alternative to stream video.
Rygel
UPnP AV MediaServer that allows you to easily share audio, video, and pictures. Media player software may use Rygel to become a MediaRenderer that may be controlled remotely by a UPnP or DLNA Controller.
Icecast 2
Streaming audio/video server which can be used to create an Internet radio station or a privately running jukebox and many things in between.
üWave
Collaborative listening platform. Users take turns playing media—songs, talks, gameplay videos, or anything else—from a variety of media sources like YouTube and SoundCloud.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best self-hosted Media Streaming - Multimedia Streaming software in 2026?
By GitHub stars, the most popular self-hosted Media Streaming - Multimedia Streaming apps are Jellyfin (59,335 stars), Kodi (21,454 stars), MediaMTX (20,653 stars). Popularity is only one signal: also check maintenance health, license and whether it fits your setup.
How many self-hosted Media Streaming - Multimedia Streaming apps are actively maintained?
13 of the 17 apps listed had commits in the last 90 days and 3 more in the last 12 months; for 1 we have no repository activity data.
Which self-hosted Media Streaming - Multimedia Streaming apps can I run with Docker?
10 of the 17 apps can run with Docker; 2 publish an image on Docker Hub, including MediaMTX and MistServer.
Which licenses do self-hosted Media Streaming - Multimedia Streaming apps use?
The most common licenses in this category are GPL-2.0 (4 apps), MIT (3 apps), GPL-3.0 (3 apps).
How much does it cost to self-host Media Streaming - Multimedia Streaming software?
The software itself is free to download. Based on our rough hardware estimates, the cheapest suitable VPS plan starts at about $10/month (median $20/month across apps in this category). Several light apps can share one server.
Related categories
Figures from GitHub and Docker Hub as of 2026-11-15; hosting costs are rough estimates.