Audiobookshelf vs Emby
Audiobookshelf and Emby are both media server software. Audiobookshelf is open source under GPL-3.0, with 15k GitHub stars. Emby is a commercial product from Emby LLC.
Which to pick
- Pick Audiobookshelf when
- You own audiobook files or follow podcasts and want them streamed to your phone with synced progress.
- Pick Emby when
- You want a self-hosted media server with less dependence on a vendor cloud than Plex, and live TV recording.
Side by side
A self-hosted audiobook and podcast server with progress sync, metadata matching and mobile apps.
A personal media server that organises and streams your videos, music, photos and live TV to client apps, with a paid Premiere tier.
Mobile apps are still in beta, and much of it rests on one lead developer.
Key features need Emby Premiere, and the free open-source fork Jellyfin covers much of the same ground.
Production-ready (both)
Self-hosted server and mobile app
Self-hosted server, mobile app and desktop app
JavaScript, Node.js, Vue and SQLite
C# and .NET
Open source, GPL-3.0 (strong copyleft)
Closed source, sold by Emby LLC
Use inside your business is unrestricted, but anything you distribute that includes it must be released under the same license.
Closed source: you use it under the maker's terms and cannot change or resell the code.
15k GitHub stars
522 Wikipedia readers a month on phones
Established: started 5 years ago, latest release v2.37.2.
Not known
Other comparisons
More media servers
Both sides were judged on 2026-11-03 from makers' descriptions, Wikipedia, READMEs and GitHub data. License, age and popularity lines are worked out directly.