Gerbera is a free, open-source UPnP media server that streams your digital media to TVs, PlayStations, smartphones, and other compatible devices on your home network.

---

🚀 Overview

Gerbera is a full-featured, open-source UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) media server designed to organize and stream your personal media collection—including audio, video, and images—across your home network to any UPnP/DLNA-compatible device.

It solves the problem of accessing a centralized media library from multiple devices like smart TVs, gaming consoles, phones, and tablets without proprietary software or cloud dependencies, offering a self-hosted alternative to commercial media servers.

Built for home users, media enthusiasts, and self-hosters who want customizable control over their media streaming. Gerbera evolved from the MediaTomb project to provide modern features like advanced metadata handling and transcoding while remaining lightweight and cross-platform.

---

✨ Key Features

• Web-based user interface for browsing, adding, editing, and managing media files with a tree view.
• Automatic metadata extraction from audio (MP3, FLAC, AAC, etc.) and image files, plus on-the-fly thumbnail generation for videos.
• Flexible transcoding via FFmpeg integration and custom scripts for compatibility with various devices.
• Directory watching with inotify or timed rescans to automatically update the library.
• Customizable server layout based on metadata, Last.fm scrobbling, and support for external URLs.
• Optional: MySQL/PostgreSQL support, JavaScript extensions via Duktape.

---

🛠 Tech Stack

• Core: C++
• Web UI: JavaScript, HTML, CSS
• Build System: CMake
• Database: SQLite (default), optional MySQL, PostgreSQL
• Key Libraries: libupnp, FFmpeg, TagLib, pugixml, jsoncpp, fmtlib, spdlog, ICU
• Packaging: Docker images available
• Platforms: Linux, BSD, macOS (x86, ARM, MIPS)

---

👥 Who Is This For?

This project is useful for:

• Media enthusiasts who want to stream personal collections to smart TVs, consoles, and mobiles.
• Self-hosters looking for a lightweight, open-source UPnP/DLNA server.
• Developers building custom plugins or scripts for media processing.

---

📸 Screenshots / Demo

• Live demo: N/A (self-hosted application)
• GitHub: https://github.com/gerbera/gerbera

---

🔥 Project Status

• 🟢 Actively building

Last updated: 2026-03-22

---

❓ FAQ

Is this project free?

Yes — Open Source (GPLv2). (Completely free to use, modify, and distribute.)

---

Is the source code available?

Yes — https://github.com/gerbera/gerbera

---

Can I contribute?

Yes — Check CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines. Open issues for bugs/features, submit PRs for improvements, or provide feedback on the GitHub repository.

---

📬 Contact & Links

• Website: https://gerbera.io
• GitHub: https://github.com/gerbera/gerbera
• Documentation: https://docs.gerbera.io
• Twitter/X: N/A
• Email: N/A (use GitHub issues)

---

Built with ❤️ and kept warm on WarmIndex.