Kodi is a free and open source media center and entertainment hub that runs natively on Android, Linux, BSD, macOS, iOS, tvOS, and Windows.
Kodi solves the problem of organizing and playing digital media across a home network by combining a media player with library management and a customizable interface. It automatically scans media collections and builds personalized libraries with metadata like cover art, descriptions, and fanart. The tool supports nearly all popular audio and video formats and can stream multimedia from anywhere in the house or from the internet using various protocols. Its powerful skinning engine allows extensive customization of the user interface, making it particularly suited for use with remote controls in a home theater setting.
Kodi is best suited for users building a home theater PC or media center who want a single unified application to manage and play their entire digital media collection. It works well for those who value a polished, couch-friendly interface and want to avoid proprietary solutions. The project includes playlist and slideshow functions, weather forecasts, and audio visualizations as part of its core feature set.
The project maintains active development with continuous integration through Jenkins and welcomes pull requests and contributions. Development is distributed across volunteers located worldwide, with the codebase written primarily in C++ and supplemented by Python. The tool has an established ecosystem of add-ons and extensive documentation, supported by a community forum and wiki.
