Audiobookshelf vs Jellyfin
Audiobookshelf and Jellyfin are both media server software. Audiobookshelf is open source under GPL-3.0, with 15k GitHub stars. Jellyfin is open source under GPL-2.0, with 59k GitHub stars.
Which to pick
- Pick Audiobookshelf when
- You own audiobook files or follow podcasts and want them streamed to your phone with synced progress.
- Pick Jellyfin when
- You want Plex or Emby features without accounts, subscriptions or a vendor cloud.
Side by side
A self-hosted audiobook and podcast server with progress sync, metadata matching and mobile apps.
A free media server that organises and streams your movies, TV, music and photos to web, mobile and TV clients, with transcoding and live TV.
Mobile apps are still in beta, and much of it rests on one lead developer.
Client apps on some TV platforms are less polished than Plex's, and hardware transcoding needs setup.
Production-ready (both)
Self-hosted server and mobile app
Self-hosted server
JavaScript, Node.js, Vue and SQLite
C#, .NET and FFmpeg
Open source, GPL-3.0 (strong copyleft)
Open source, GPL-2.0 (strong copyleft)
Use inside your business is unrestricted, but anything you distribute that includes it must be released under the same license. (both)
15k GitHub stars
59k GitHub stars
Established: started 5 years ago, latest release v2.37.2.
Established: started 8 years ago, latest release v12.4.
Other comparisons
More media servers
Both sides were judged on 2026-11-03 from each project's README and GitHub data. License, age and popularity lines are worked out directly.