Kodi is a free, open-source home theater software from the XBMC Foundation. See its features, supported platforms, and how it compares to Plex and Jellyfin.
Kodi is a free, open-source media center application with origins going back to 2002 as Xbox Media Player, later renamed XBMC in 2004 and then Kodi in July 2014. It is developed by a global volunteer community and governed by the non-profit XBMC Foundation, established in 2009.
The software organizes and plays local and network video, music, photos, podcasts, and live TV, and runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, tvOS, and BSD, making it a favorite for home theater PCs and DIY streaming boxes.
Kodi supports an extensive range of audio and video formats, scrapes rich metadata for movie and TV libraries, and can sync a shared library across devices via a central MySQL or MariaDB database. Live TV and DVR functionality is available through PVR add-ons.
Its skinnable interface and large add-on repository let users heavily customize the experience, from new themes to streaming plugins and remote-control apps, and it is commonly paired with dedicated distributions like LibreELEC and OSMC on Raspberry Pi hardware.
Kodi is completely free with no subscription, license fee, or paid tier of any kind. It is funded through donations to the XBMC Foundation rather than commercial revenue.
Because there is no company selling the software, Kodi's continued availability does not depend on a business remaining profitable, distinguishing it from freemium alternatives like Plex and Emby that gate certain features behind paid plans.
Yes, Kodi is completely free and open source, with no subscription fees, distributed under the GPL version 2 or later license.
Kodi is developed by a global community of volunteer contributors and governed by the XBMC Foundation, a non-profit established in 2009.
Kodi was originally released in 2004 as Xbox Media Center, or XBMC, before being renamed Kodi in July 2014.
Kodi itself is fully legal open-source software; legal risk comes only from unofficial third-party add-ons that stream copyrighted content without authorization.
Kodi runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, tvOS, and BSD, and is commonly installed on Raspberry Pi and dedicated home theater PC hardware.
Kodi is a standalone, local media player app you install directly on your playback device, while Plex uses a client-server model with a central media server and offers commercial premium features like remote streaming.