SHSelfHostIndex

ErsatzTV vs Threadfin

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?
ER ErsatzTV IPTV streaming server that creates custom TV channels VS TH Threadfin M3U proxy that emulates an HDHomeRun tuner for IPTV
FeatureErsatzTVThreadfin
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseGPL-3.0MIT
LanguageC#Go
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, binarydocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 2,905★ 1,681
First released20212022
ReplacesCable TVCable TV

Why pick each one

Choose ErsatzTV if…

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

Choose Threadfin if…

  • Simple lightweight binary
  • Good IPTV integration
Threadfin details

Frequently asked questions

Is ErsatzTV or Threadfin better?

Neither is universally better. ErsatzTV has the larger community, while Threadfin is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are ErsatzTV and Threadfin free and open-source?

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

Can I run ErsatzTV and Threadfin with Docker?

ErsatzTV: yes. Threadfin: yes.

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