ErsatzTV vs Kodi

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureErsatzTVKodi
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseGPL-3.0GPL-2.0
LanguageC#C++
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, binarybinary, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 2,905★ 21,064
First released20212002
ReplacesCable TVPlex

Why pick each one

Choose ErsatzTV if…

  • Powerful scheduling options
  • Works with major media servers
ErsatzTV details

Choose Kodi if…

  • Extremely flexible
  • Massive add-on library
  • Long-standing project
Kodi details

Frequently asked questions

Is ErsatzTV or Kodi better?

Neither is universally better. Kodi has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are ErsatzTV and Kodi free and open-source?

Yes. ErsatzTV is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Kodi under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run ErsatzTV and Kodi with Docker?

ErsatzTV: yes. Kodi: check the project docs for container support.

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