Windows Media Center Alternatives
Windows Media Center is described as '(WMC) turns your computer into a home entertainment hub, compiling media from your computer and the internet (plugins required) into one interface. You can even use WMC to record TV (TV tuner required)' and is a popular Media Center in the video & movies category. There are more than 25 alternatives to Windows Media Center for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Linux, Mac, iPhone and iPad. The best alternative is Kodi, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Windows Media Center are Plex, Emby, Universal Media Server and Infuse.
Windows Media Center alternatives are mainly Media Centers but may also be Media Servers or Media Players. Filter by these if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Windows Media Center.
- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- BSD
- iPad
- Raspberry Pi
- Fire TV
Kodi, formerly XBMC, is a free and open source media player and entertainment center for Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, XBox, and iOS.
- Freemium • Proprietary
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Chrome OS
- Windows S
- Android Tablet
- Windows Phone
- iPad
- Apple TV
- Daydream
- Kindle Fire
- Android TV
- Kodi
- Roku
Plex bridges the gap between your computer and your home theater, doing so with a visually appealing user interface that provides instant access to your media. Plex can play a wide range of video, audio and photo formats as well as online streaming audio and video.
Plex vs Windows Media Center opinions
plex's website does not mention anything of live tv.
- Freemium • Proprietary
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- BSD
- Windows Phone
- iPad
- Self-Hosted
- Apple TV
- Kindle Fire
- Roku
- Cloudron
- Playstation
- Xbox
Emby, formerly Media Browser, is a media aggregator plugin for Media Center that takes your recorded, digital, or ripped media and presents it in a simple, easy to use interface. Emby prides itself on delivering a fast, intuitive, media rich experience for the whole family.
Universal Media Server is a media server capable of serving videos, audio and images to any DLNA-capable device. It supports any device capable of DLNA and runs on all major operating systems: Windows, OS X and Linux.
- Freemium • Proprietary
- iPhone
- iPad
- Apple TV
- Mac
Ignite your video content with Infuse – the beautiful way to watch almost any video format on your iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. No need to convert files! Infuse is optimized for iOS 12, with powerful streaming options, trakt sync, and unmatched AirPlay & subtitle support.
- Freemium • Proprietary
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
Serviio is a free media server. It allows you to stream your media files (music, video or images) to any DLNA-certified renderer device (e.g. a TV set, Bluray player, games console) on your home network.
- Free • Open Source
- Linux
- Raspberry Pi
Open Embedded Linux Entertainment Center (OpenELEC) is a small Linux based Just Enough Operating System (JeOS) built from scratch as a platform to turn your computer into a Kodi (previously XBMC) media center.
Discontinued
Since 2017 source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenELECalso, the website is dead.
MiniDLNA (aka ReadyDLNA) is server software with the aim of being fully compliant with DLNA/UPnP-AV clients. It is developed by a NETGEAR employee …
- Free • Open Source
- Apple TV
- Raspberry Pi
OSMC (Open Source Media Center) is a free and open source media player based on Linux and founded in 2014 that lets you play back media from your local network, attached storage and the Internet.
MediaPortal transforms your PC into a complete media solution. It runs on basic hardware, connects directly to your TV and displays your TV Series, Movies, Photos and Music in a much more dynamic way.
