SRS vs Tvheadend

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?
FeatureSRSTvheadend
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseMITGPL-3.0
LanguageC++C
Setup difficultyMediumHard
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentdockerdocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 29,105★ 3,502
First released20252007
ReplacesTiVo, Cable DVR

Why pick each one

Choose SRS if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 29.1k GitHub stars
  • Written in C++
SRS details

Choose Tvheadend if…

  • Mature and reliable
  • Supports many tuner types
Tvheadend details

Frequently asked questions

Is SRS or Tvheadend better?

SRS is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Tvheadend if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are SRS and Tvheadend free and open-source?

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

Can I run SRS and Tvheadend with Docker?

SRS: yes. Tvheadend: yes.

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