Open Source Home Theater Software | Kodi
Kodi is a free media player that is designed to look great on your big screen TV but is just as at home on a small screen.
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Kodi is a free and open-source home theater software that plays and organizes videos, music, podcasts, photos, live TV, and games on a wide range of devices.
🚀 Overview
Kodi is an award-winning free and open-source media player and entertainment hub developed by the Kodi Foundation, a non-profit community-driven project formerly known as XBMC.
It solves the problem of rigid and limited media playback on smart TVs and consumer devices by offering support for nearly all digital media formats from local storage, networks, or the internet, with automatic metadata scraping, artwork, and library organization.
Kodi is built for media enthusiasts, home theater PC (HTPC) users, Raspberry Pi tinkerers, and anyone seeking a customizable 10-foot interface for TVs and remotes on platforms like Android, Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, and more.
The community built it to provide a powerful, extensible alternative to proprietary media centers, emphasizing user freedom and endless customization through add-ons and skins.
✨ Key Features
- Universal playback: Supports almost every video, audio, and image format, including playlists, party mixes, visualizations, and network streaming.
- Intelligent library: Organizes movies, TV shows, music with scraped artwork, cast info, genres, perfect for binge-watching or collections.
- Live TV & PVR: Watch and record TV via backends like Tvheadend, MediaPortal, with an intuitive EPG interface.
- Gaming: Emulators, standalone games, extensive controller support.
- Add-ons & skins: Thousands of community extensions for streaming, customization; change the entire look.
- Extras: Photo slideshows, internet radio, weather; 10-foot UI for remotes.
🛠 Tech Stack
- Core: C++ (primary language), Python (scripting & add-ons), C, JavaScript, Objective-C++
- Build: CMake
- Database: SQLite (local), MySQL/MariaDB (shared/multi-user)
- Platforms: Android, Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS, tvOS, BSD, Raspberry Pi
- Auth: N/A
- Hosting: Self-hosted downloads via mirrors
👥 Who Is This For?
This project is useful for:
- Media collectors and enthusiasts who want to organize personal libraries with metadata
- HTPC and Raspberry Pi users building custom home theaters
- Users seeking free, customizable playback beyond smart TV limits
📸 Screenshots / Demo
- Live demo: https://kodi.tv/download
- GitHub: https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc
- Screenshots: https://mirrors.kodi.tv/screenshots/
🔥 Project Status
- 🟢 Actively building
Last updated: 2026-03-24
❓ FAQ
Is this project free?
Yes — 100% free and open source, no extra costs. (Explain briefly.)
Is the source code available?
Yes — link to repository https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc
Can I contribute?
Yes — Join via coding (C++ bugs/features), add-on development (Python/XML), support on forums, localization, documentation, donations. See https://kodi.tv/contribute
📬 Contact & Links
- Website: https://kodi.tv
- GitHub: https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/KodiTV
- Forum: https://forum.kodi.tv
Built with ❤️ and kept warm on WarmIndex.
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