Kodi vs Tube

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?
FeatureKodiTube
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseGPL-2.0MIT
LanguageC++
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB50 MB
Deploymentbinary, bare-metalbare-metal
GitHub stars★ 21,064
First released20022023
ReplacesPlexDailymotion, Vimeo, YouTube

Why pick each one

Choose Kodi if…

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

Choose Tube if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Tube details

Frequently asked questions

Is Kodi or Tube better?

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

Are Kodi and Tube free and open-source?

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

Can I run Kodi and Tube with Docker?

Kodi: check the project docs for container support. Tube: check the project docs for container support.

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