Kodi
Open-source media center app for playing local and network video, music, and photos.
HN commenters like it for playing media straight from a NAS or network share,123 as a Jellyfin client,456 and as an appliance-style build on cheap hardware.789 The most common complaints are clunky keyboard and TV navigation1011 and general flakiness, including frequent crashes on Apple TV.121314
Why people recommend it
Jellyfin client · 3
Several commenters use Kodi's Jellyfin add-on as their main client and call it decent.
“Kodi has a decent Jellyfin client.”
“I have been using the Jellyfin addon for Kodi as my main client”
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“even my parents use it via Kodi.”
Appliance builds · 3
Runs as a set-and-forget box via LibreELEC, Raspberry Pi images, or Debian-based Vero hardware.
“I just put an appropriate build of Kodi on an SD card, booted it up like an appliance, pointed it at my network share, and used it.”
“the experience with Kodi is far better. Simple setup, too.”
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“it runs Debian + Kodi, so it is all open source.”
Network shares · 3
Plays files directly from NFS, SMB, or NAS shares without extra server software.
“XBMC/Kodi pointed at NFS has served me and my family well for 15+ years.”
“I just put an appropriate build of Kodi on an SD card, booted it up like an appliance, pointed it at my network share, and used it.”
Show 1 more
“it works pretty well for content directly from my nas/cifs/smb via Kodi.”
Long-term reliability · 3
Some report years of trouble-free family use and say it works flawlessly.
“XBMC/Kodi pointed at NFS has served me and my family well for 15+ years.”
“even my parents use it via Kodi.”
Show 1 more
“Open Office and Kodi work flawlessly.”
Simple setup · 2
Commenters describe setup as simple, with one preferring it to Roku.
“the experience with Kodi is far better. Simple setup, too.”
“I just put an appropriate build of Kodi on an SD card, booted it up like an appliance, pointed it at my network share, and used it.”
Caveats and dissent
TV navigation · 2
Keyboard and on-TV controls are called clunky, with one commenter calling it unusable on a TV.
“it's unusable on a TV. Just the keyboard is reason enough not to use it.”
“Kodi, has always been a bit of a faff on the keyboard, and that works well with the gamepad.”
Flakiness · 3
Described as flaky and suffering many small problems, and it crashes often on Apple TV.
“it's a hell of a lot less flaky than something like Kodi”
“it's unusable on a TV. Just the keyboard is reason enough not to use it.”
Show 1 more
“Kodi on AppleTV is not well supported so it crashes a ton.”
Breaking add-ons · 1
One commenter left because streaming-service add-ons broke periodically.
“Kodi has a decent Jellyfin client.”
Skinning docs · 1
Making a custom skin is described as an awful, poorly documented experience.
“Have you tried making a skin for Kodi? Awful experience, poorly documented”
Users left · 2
Some longtime XBMC/Kodi users moved to Plex, one citing issues with Kodi.
“I used to love using this, and then when it switched to Kodi I got a bit confused but kept using it.”
“I moved from running XBMC then a bit of Kodi to Plex”
Often compared with
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- The Corporate Creep of Plex: Why it may be time to move to Jellyfin 3 mentions
- Plex laid off the whole player team 1 mention
- New Apple TV 4K 1 mention
- Sorry, I'm in a meeting 1 mention
- God of War on PSP, recompiled to WebAssembly and running in the browser 1 mention
- Jellyfin 12.0 1 mention
Data: kodi.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 20
“it's unusable on a TV. Just the keyboard is reason enough not to use it.”
“it's a hell of a lot less flaky than something like Kodi”
“the experience with Kodi is far better. Simple setup, too.”
“Have you tried making a skin for Kodi? Awful experience, poorly documented”
“I have been using the Jellyfin addon for Kodi as my main client”
“Kodi, has always been a bit of a faff on the keyboard, and that works well with the gamepad.”
“I moved from running XBMC then a bit of Kodi to Plex”
“I use Kodi.”
“even my parents use it via Kodi.”
“XBMC/Kodi pointed at NFS has served me and my family well for 15+ years.”
“hook up and old laptop to it with Kodi”
“Kodi has a decent Jellyfin client.”
“I just put an appropriate build of Kodi on an SD card, booted it up like an appliance, pointed it at my network share, and used it.”
“Also great integration into Kodi and Jellyfin.”
“it works pretty well for content directly from my nas/cifs/smb via Kodi.”
“alongside Kodi and YT Leanback mode”
“Kodi on AppleTV is not well supported so it crashes a ton.”
“Open Office and Kodi work flawlessly.”
“it runs Debian + Kodi, so it is all open source.”
“I used to love using this, and then when it switched to Kodi I got a bit confused but kept using it.”