Kodi vs ympd

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?
FeatureKodiympd
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseGPL-2.0GPL-2.0
LanguageC++C
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB64 MB
Deploymentbinary, bare-metalbare-metal, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 21,064★ 544
First released20022014
ReplacesPlexSonos app

Why pick each one

Choose Kodi if…

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

Choose ympd if…

  • Extremely lightweight
  • Easy to deploy
ympd details

Frequently asked questions

Is Kodi or ympd 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 Kodi and ympd free and open-source?

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

Can I run Kodi and ympd with Docker?

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

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