Kodi Alternatives for Windows

Kodi's media library and playing functionality is second to none, with the ability to index and transcode your favorite audiovisual content with relative ease. Though Small Plex iconPlex also functions as a media player alternative to Kodi, its true strength lies in its ability to act as an efficient and effective local media server, whereas Kodi excels at being both a single machine and local network-based media player. In addition, Kodi's support for Internet Protocol television (IPTV) enables its users to enjoy live TV from the comfort of the app.

Though Kodi has the ability to stream media over a local network, there are alternatives with more robust network streaming abilities to peruse in order to get the best of both worlds when needed.

The list of alternatives was last updated: 3/19/2019 5:48:00 PM
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Alternatives to Kodi for Windows with any license

  • Plex

    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. The real power of Plex is found in its library features: Organize your media into versatile libraries, automatically retrieve metadata from the Internet, and display your libraries using one of the visually stunning skins.

    • As already mentioned, a streaming platform isn't an alternative to a media player. Guest • Aug 2017 • 38 agrees and 11 disagrees Disagree   Agree
    • Plex is a server program, kodi is a media program for end users. Where they can overlap in use, they are not the same kind of program. Guest • Mar 2017 • 35 agrees and 16 disagrees Disagree   Agree
    • Kodi is a media client. Plex is a media server. Guest • Oct 2017 • 14 agrees and 8 disagrees Disagree   Agree
    • I have been using plex for over a year now. It's over all the best media server/client available on the market. I have no doubt. I will be using plex the next coming years. Guest • Dec 2017 • 3 agrees and 1 disagrees Disagree   Agree
    • Plex is server & client software whereas Kodi can be used standalone. akanealw • Jul 2018 • 1 agrees and 0 disagrees Disagree   Agree
    • Kodi is a media client. Plex is a media server. Guest • Mar 2019 Disagree   Agree
    • I'm a PC Dummy and i had to install it on my Fire TV 3 times before i realized it wasn't going to work anyway. I was able to install Kodi 17.1 plus Exodus though and after adding Phoenix,Droid Buddy,ES Explorer and a couple other Addons,i think i have enough to last a lifetime. patchho7 • Apr 2017 • 2 agrees and 3 disagrees Disagree   Agree
    • It's probably the best alternative in terms of support and features but damn this program is frustrating to use and resource intensive on your system. ExquisiteDisaster • Jan 2017 • 9 agrees and 10 disagrees Disagree   Agree
    • Resource heavy. Lacks customization. Difficult to manage transcoding options. Guest • Nov 2016 • 7 agrees and 9 disagrees Disagree   Agree
    • Not as many options as Kodi, and somewhat harder to manage but it's still a decent program if for whatever reason you can't use Kodi. EricaP • Jan 2017 • 4 agrees and 8 disagrees Disagree   Agree

    Freemium $ $ $ Mac Windows Linux Android iPhone ... Chrome OS Windows S Android Tablet Windows Phone iPad Apple TV Daydream Kindle Fire Android TV Kodi Roku

    Play local content Media sharing Media Transcoding Media Streaming ... Dedicated Server Hosting DNLA Server Local server Media Streaming Offline sync of media files Remote File Access Remote Media Access Stream audio Add a feature

    Plex icon
    Video playback
    Daydream

  • Popcorn Time

    Popcorn Time is a multi-platform, free and open source media player. The program is intended as a free alternative to subscription-based video streaming services such as Netflix. The program streams torrents directly from the swarm and can be used to stream any number of different multimedia sources.

    Free Open Source Mac Windows Linux Android

    Media Streaming Ad-free Support AirPlay Automatic subtitles download ... Built-in viewer Apps with Chromecast Support Peer-To-Peer Support for subtitles Video library VOD Add a feature

    Popcorn Time icon

  • Stremio

    Media center allowing to watch movies, series, YouTube channels instantly. You can watch in HD, with subtitles, and easily cast any file to TV through DLNA, Chromecast, AppleTV with one click! Stremio also gives you notifications for new episodes / movies, as well as recommendations for content you might like. Stremio's content is so rich because it has an Add-ons system, allowing different sources, such as YouTube, Filmon, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, etc.

    • I s one the best alternative software, 1- is free, 2- give choice to watch a TV show or movie, 3- the quality of content range from media to high and 4- the speed is quite good, the only small issue with this soft, is adaptability to remote control, and l think that they can correct soon.. Guest • Feb 2016 • 7 agrees and 4 disagrees Disagree   Agree
    • Easy to use, fast and allows more content. From my experience this is what I expected of Kodi, but now I am missing a few features ;) Guest • Jan 2018 • 1 agrees and 5 disagrees Disagree   Agree
    • Super easy and fast to use. Excelent! The best! Guest • Apr 2017 • 4 agrees and 9 disagrees Disagree   Agree

    Free Personal Mac Windows Linux Android iPhone ... Android Tablet

    Casting to TV Apps with Chromecast Support Cloud sync DNLA Server ... Legacy addons support Add a feature

    Stremio icon
    Playing - showing the casting UI
    Library - showing your shows
    Discover - most popular movies
    Library - showing your channels

  • Emby

    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. The source code is available on GitHub, but Emby requires a subscription to use full functionality.

    • Like Plex, Emby is a server/player hybrid. Allowing you to manage users with unique watch histories and transcoding for any device. The player is robust, covering Windows, iOS, Android, Windows Phone amongst others, along with the most robust web player on the market. Guest • Aug 2015 • 9 agrees and 4 disagrees Disagree   Agree
    • Kodi has addons and many extra features Guest • Nov 2016 • 1 agrees and 0 disagrees Disagree   Agree

    Freemium $ $ $ Mac Windows Linux Android iPhone ... BSD Windows Phone iPad Self-Hosted Apple TV Kindle Fire Playstation Roku Xbox

    Media Streaming Media Transcoding Apps with Chromecast Support Local server ... Optimized for Mobile Remote Media Access Remote playback Add a feature

    Emby icon

  • Butter Project

    Butter allows any user to easily watch movies through torrent streaming, without any prerequisites. Skip the downloads with Butter! The perfect container to plug in any video content. Available for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android.

    • Discontinued In heavy development. No releases yet.
    • It offers p2p streams as opposed to scrappers and does a very good job. lets you change the player to open the stream VLC or wvwn Kodi. Guest • Feb 2017 • 7 agrees and 7 disagrees Disagree   Agree

    Free Open Source Mac Windows Linux Android

    Peer-To-Peer Add a feature

    Butter Project icon

  • Playon

    PlayOn is both browser and media server for your Windows PC which lets you magically stream your favorite shows, movies, even your personal media from your PC to your TV, smartphone or tablet. To display videos on your TV, PlayOn relies on a friend such as a game console like the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, WiiU or another supported device like a Roku.

    Commercial Windows Android iPhone Blackberry Android Tablet ... iPad Blackberry 10

    Support for DLNA Add a feature

    Playon icon

  • nextPVR

    NextPVR is a free Personal Video Recorder (PVR) and Media Centre application for Microsoft Windows. At its heart lies the Electronic Programme Guide from where you can watch (and pause) live TV and schedule your favourite shows for later viewing. Relax with a DVD or play back your music, videos and photos stored on your PC or on other devices across your home network.

    Free Windows

    No features added Add a feature

    nextPVR icon

  • JRiver Media Center

    JRiver Media Center is a multimedia application that allows the user to play and organize various types of media on a computer running Windows. Media Center is a "jukebox"-style media player, like iTunes, which usually uses most of the screen to display a potentially very large library of files. JRiver Media Center is more than a world class player. A Media Network, a whole house music, movie, TV, and photo solution. The leader in audiophile quality sound.

    Commercial Mac Windows

    Configurable Music Library Add a feature

    JRiver Media Center icon

  • PS3 Media Server

    PS3 Media Server is a DLNA compliant Upnp Media Server for the PS3, written in Java, with the purpose of streaming or transcoding.

    • Discontinued The project seems to be no longer developed, but last version, 1.90.1, released in August 2013, can be still downloaded from the official website.
    • Kodi is primarily a front-end ("10-foot interface"), PS3 Media Server is primarily a back-end. nandhp • May 2015 • 2 agrees and 0 disagrees Disagree   Agree

    Free Open Source Mac Windows Linux

    DNLA Server Support for DLNA Add a feature

    PS3 Media Server icon

  • LeonFlix

    Leonflix is a search tool for movies and TV shows. It scrapes video/file hosting websites and has the ability to stream the videos hosted on those sites. Every time a video changes hands, from the host to the Putlocker-esque site that shows it, more ads are added. By the time it gets to the viewer, the content has been "stepped on" so many times that it is nearly unwatchable.

    Free Mac Windows Linux

    Spotlight Track movies TV Shows Add a feature

    LeonFlix icon

  • Pith

    Pith sits on a server or NAS. It scans your media for movies and tv shows and you access it through a modern web UI from your tablet, phone or PC. From there you can stream your media directly to any DLNA Media Renderer.

    Free Open Source Mac Windows Linux

    Support for DLNA Add a feature

    Pith icon

  • Moovida

    Moovida is transforming the way consumers experience digital entertainment media. In a world where the promise of on-demand media has yet to be realized, Moovida develops software and services to simplify and enhance media consumption, effectively filling the gap between the physical and digital worlds. Its team of engineers is expert at developing 3D multimedia content for the powerful GStreamer Multimedia Framework.

    • Discontinued The official website is no longer available. Last version, 2.1.1, released in October 2011, can be still downloaded from Wayback Machine.

    Free Open Source Windows

    No features added Add a feature

    Moovida icon

  • TeaTV

    TeaTV has the latest Free Movies and is the latest add-on with Movies and TV Shows in Full HD 1080p & HD 720p, It provides almost any TV shows and movies. did I mention it's absolutely FREE with NO login required Many genres such as Drama, Crime, Comedy, Adventure, Family, Horror, Thriller, Romance, Western, Animation, Biography and more. No login required and you can use your Real-Debrid account, Alluc, and Trakt.tv Also, TeaTV works on Android TV, Mac OSX 10.

    Free Open Source Mac Windows Android

    TV Shows Add a feature

    TeaTV icon

  • Kantaris

    Kantaris is an all new media player based on code from Videolan client (VLC Media Player) and Bass audio library. Kantaris has a graphical user interface similar to that of Windows Media Player. In very simple terms, Kantaris modifies and upgrades the celebrated VLC player with a slick new user interface. It also integrates several new functions, like support and integration of Last.fm and Apple Trailers.

    Free Open Source Windows

    Extensible by Plugins/Extensions Support for subtitles Add a feature

    Kantaris icon

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  • HD Movie Center

    We are a group of people passionate about movies. We want to provide every movie lover the best experience on movies. We provide all the movie & cast information you may need including ratings, trailers, plot, movie cast posters, reviews from reliable sources etc, from the most advanced and complete movie database out there. The TMDB. We are BACK...

    Free Mac Windows Web

    Apps with Chromecast Support Peer-To-Peer Torrent search Add a feature

    HD Movie Center icon

  • Video Hub App

    Video Hub App allows you to browse, search, and preview your videos. It extracts 10 screenshots from every video in a directory and provides an easy to search and preview interface. It shows the preview as you hover over with your mouse. Clicking in the gallery opens the file. You can scan videos from external hard drives for searching even when the hard drives are not connected.

    Freemium $ $ $ Mac Windows Linux

    File-organization File Searching Indexed search Add a feature

    Video Hub App icon

  • Easy-Data Mediacenter

    Easy-Data Mediacenter is a video and audio player with lots of tools. It is able to deliver bit perfect audio, and does not require any external codecs. It is able to run from a memorystick and does not require installation. Some of the tools are: CD ripper, video converter, video merger, pictures and audio to video, recording studio, audio library, search engine, video playlist.

    Free Windows

    Batch rename files Built-in Media converter Capture image from video Create PlayList ... Portable Capture Screen / Take screenshots Add a feature

    Easy-Data Mediacenter icon

  • Vidine

    Organize all your videos in one place. Adding videos is fast, easy and automatic. You can browse and get a quick overview of all your videos straight from the program regardless of where they are stored. You can start playing videos straight from the shown thumbnails. Vidine lets you explore and enjoy your private video collection like you have never done before.

    Commercial Windows

    Photo Organization Convert video to DVD Add a feature

    Vidine icon

  • Portitle

    Portitle Web App is a smart launcher to dozens of movie and TV related websites. Portitle will intelligently identify any video file stored at your HTPC, and then will bring you a full wealth of information, reviews or subtitles to that movie or episode. Portitle is HTPC friendly, Designed for HTPC / Mouse / Touch / Keyboard-less usage.

    • This gives media information, NOT streaming. It's not an alternative to kodi. It's more like an accessory to kodi. Guest • Feb 2017 • 1 agrees and 0 disagrees Disagree   Agree

    Free Windows Chrome OS

    No features added Add a feature

    Portitle icon

  • DVBViewer

    DVBViewer allows you to experience Digital TV on your PC. With a proper DVB card you can enter the world of digital entertainment and experience high quality, incredibly sharp TV pictures and near CD quality radio! It provides all basic functions you need to enjoy digital television and radio programs.

    Commercial Windows

    Support for IPTV Add a feature

    DVBViewer icon

  • Freevo

    Freevo is an open source HTPC media centre software integrating PVR / DVR funtionality along with music, video, gaming, home automation and more. It is written in python and uses existing popular software such as mplayer, xine and vlc. Primarily aimed at the Linux platform it is also possible to run on OSX and for the determined on Windows.

    • Discontinued The project seems to be no longer maintained. Last stable version, 1.9.2 Beta, released in March 2011, can be still downloaded from GitHub.

    Free Open Source Mac Windows Linux

    No features added Add a feature

    Freevo icon
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