Having a good and trusted media player is a big part of enjoying watching movies. Luckily there are many options available out there, and you will definitely find the one that fits perfectly. Two of the most popular choices are Kodi and Jellyfin. They are both pretty similar and have amazing capabilities. We are here to help you with a comparison article, so you will know which one is better for you. Which you should choose when it comes to Kodi vs. Jellyfin?

All you need to know about Jellyfin

Compared to Kodi, Plex, and other media players, Jellyfin is the new kid on the block, but it shouldn’t be underestimated. Similar to some of its competitors, it is an open-source software used as a media player.

To give you a bit of history — Jellyfin actually emerged as a side project of Emby. As you probably know, Emby is another media player that, in its main part, is also open-sourced but has a couple of closed-source functionalities and components. In order to stay competitive, Emby’s creators decided to offer a fully customizable media player still, and this is how Jellyfin was born.

Something we will mention as a downfall of Jellyfin is that the installation process is extremely long compared to other similar media players, especially on some platforms. Once you go through all the installation steps, things get a bit easier. The interface is easy to navigate, and we would say it is pretty simple since the product itself is considerably new. This also means they don’t offer good support yet for some gaming consoles, for example.

As this is an open-source solution, you probably already can guess that you can modify the interface as you want it. You can do this customization using the dedicated Android application, or if you are not an Android user or prefer to do it over the web client, you can also do that. You can take advantage of some already pretty recommendations about the interface face.

The most significant disadvantage of Jellyfin is that, for the moment, it can support any remote or local streaming. Another thing that needs to be added is hardware-accelerated transcoding. And honestly, those are the functionalities most people want in a media player. If you wish to explore customization options and play around with an open-source product, this one is a great option. But don’t expect too much from it.

All you need to know about Kodi

Kodi is one of the best open-source media players that you can find. It is already very well established, and its popularity is not for nothing. Many users have already stuck to this media center for decades since it has been on the market for so long. When it comes to Jellyfin vs. Kodi there are tons of things to know about them.

We should say that this product is not for people without knowledge about media centers or open-source products. You will need to dig deeper to find some code parts or functionalities. But as we said, Kodi has been on the market for so long and has an extensive fan base, so you will find almost anything you need online. 

The greatest thing about Kodi is the add-ons that are supported. The number of those add-ons is just endless, and you can find one for any purpose you can imagine. The Crew Kodi addon, for example, will offer you great interface skins and the possibility to stream movies, TV, events, etc. Others will be more focused on live sports events, for example, or will offer you a variety of skins that will fit you like a glove.

Installing and configuring Kodi is straightforward. You will have it ready in a couple of clicks and can use it on any software system. Most of them are officially supported, but the ones that are not also can be compatible with Kodi — you will just have to explore the code of the media center and modify it. 

Kodi offers many functionalities, making it a perfect fit for any need. This is why it is the preferred choice of many people and is an excellent competition to Jellyfin, Emby, and Plex. It is open-source, so you can do almost anything, and the add-ons offered are just stunning.

Kodi vs. Jellyfin - Difference and Similarity

Feature	Kodi	Jellyfin
Type	Media player	Media server
Free/Open Source	Free and open-source software	Free and open-source software
Supported OS	Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, and others	Windows, Mac, Linux, FreeBSD, and others
User Interface	User-friendly and customizable interface	User-friendly and customizable interface
Content Sources	Local files, network shares, and add-ons	Local files, network shares, and add-ons
Streaming Support	Limited streaming support	Comprehensive streaming support
Remote Access	Limited remote access	Comprehensive remote access via web and mobile apps
Live TV Support	Limited live TV support	Comprehensive live TV support with a compatible tuner
Addon Support	Large collection of third-party add-ons	Limited third-party addon support
Media Management	Basic media management features	Comprehensive media management features
Community Support	Large community and forum support	Growing community and forum support

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