Headphones vs Jellyfin
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?
Compare Headphones with
choose an app… qBittorrent SRS Navidrome Kodi Koel Jackett Beets PeerTube Transmission
Compare Jellyfin with
choose an app… Free Programming Books Immich Paperless-ngx PhotoPrism qBittorrent SRS KOReader Ente Photos Koodo Reader Calibre DeepFace Readest Navidrome Kodi Ebook2audiobook gallery-dl Calibre-Web Koel Jackett Beets DeDRM Tools PeerTube Transmission Sonarr MeTube Radarr Audiobookshelf Color Thief darktable Stash Stremio Web Seerr Owncast Kavita Thumbor Streama Feishin Ladder Wikidpad Notes Mopidy Tube Archivist LibrePhotos Snapcast Prowlarr Tautulli Photoview imaginary Google Photos Takeout Helper Jellyfin Media Player Lidarr Pinchflat Streamyfin MediaCMS Overseerr Emby musikcube Ant Media Server Community Edition Jellyfin for Android TV Black Candy Sonus Note - Black Candy Qui Tdarr Findroid Bazarr Finamp Ombi Dim Swiftfin Plex AzuraCast Strawberry Music Player Ampache Dispatcharr Moodist Ryot Tvheadend Yamtrack OvenMediaEngine Wizarr SABnzbd Music Assistant ytdl-sub ErsatzTV Flood TubeSync mpd Polaris Funkwhale Universal Media Server NymphCast yt-dlp Web UI OwnTone Profilarr Tunarr Gonic Kyoo Fladder Unmanic Jellystat mStream Reiverr Jellyfin MPV Shim Broadcast Box Supersonic xTeVe Tempo Maintainerr Recyclarr Airsonic Swing Music Podgrab Sonixd Musicn Maloja Lyrion Music Server Quod Libet Jellyfin Vue Threadfin Amperfy LMS CyTube Cross-Seed ViewTube WatchYourLAN Note - CineMatic Watcharr Fireshare Airsonic-Advanced moOde audio player Gerbera nefarious Mopidy-Iris Meelo multi-scrobbler MyTube Whisparr Castopod PinePods LibreTime Rapidbay Karaoke Eternal Audioserve CodeX.docs Movary Cinemataztic Note Webtrees-no Kitsu Self-Hosted Reaparr Stretto Icecast Lidify ympd myMPD Lidarr on Steroids LinkStack MistServer Ultrasonic PodFetch Airsonic-Refix Downtify SyncTube vod2pod-rss LidaTube Deleterr ChannelTube Stremio Server YoutubeDL-Server gpodder.net (mygpo) Olaris Supysonic AntennaPod gpodder Sync Server Nextcloud GPodder ydl_api_ng Jellyfin for Roku RompR MiniDLNA Rygel Submariner cmyflix Cantata Stream Master OctoStream Note - mediarr OliveTin-no ClipBucket Snapweb BotWave Audinaut Sublime Music NextPVR Volumio MKVPriority Podverse TrackWatch tinyMediaManager Vibin Note - Beatbump alt Murmur-no Channels DVR Server Deemix Deluge Just. Download. Sickchill Stalwart Mail Subsonic Tube VideoLAN Client (VLC) üWave
Feature Headphones Jellyfin Category Media Servers Media Servers License GPL-3.0-or-later GPL-2.0 Language Python C# Setup difficulty Easy Easy Min. RAM 50 MB 512 MB Deployment bare-metal docker, bare-metal, binary GitHub stars ★ 3,751 ★ 55,528 First released 2023 2018 Replaces — Plex, Emby
Why pick each one
Choose Headphones if… Released under the GPL-3.0-or-later license Easy to set up — beginner-friendly Active community (3.8k GitHub stars) Written in Python Headphones details Choose Jellyfin if… No subscription or account needed Active community development Wide client support Jellyfin details
Frequently asked questions Is Headphones or Jellyfin better? Neither is universally better. Jellyfin has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Headphones and Jellyfin free and open-source? Yes. Headphones is licensed under GPL-3.0-or-later and Jellyfin under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Headphones and Jellyfin with Docker? Headphones: check the project docs for container support. Jellyfin: yes.