Media Portal

What Media Portal does

MediaPortal is a free, open source Home Theater PC (HTPC) media center application for Windows, released under the GNU/GPL license and maintained by a small volunteer team. The software transforms a Windows PC into a unified entertainment hub that handles live TV viewing with PVR recording and scheduling, video and Blu-ray playback, music and internet radio, photo slideshows, home network media streaming, and remote or mobile access. The platform is built on the .NET framework with a DirectShow-based TV engine and is differentiated by an extensible plugin and skin architecture supporting hundreds of community-developed extensions covering web video, YouTube, internet radio, game emulation, codec packs, and customizable user interfaces.

The product portfolio comprises three offerings: MediaPortal as the core media center, MPTagThat as a music metadata tagging utility, and the broader Plugins & Skins extensions ecosystem. Technology integrations span metadata sources (The Movie Database), developer tooling (JetBrains open source licenses), TV tuner hardware vendors (Hauppauge, TBS Technologies, TechniSat, Digital Devices, DViCO), audio/video processing (MediaLooks), and testing utilities (Typemock, BugShooting).

MediaPortal operates as a community-driven open source project without a formal corporate entity, employees in the conventional sense (1-10 volunteer contributors), or direct revenue generation. The business model is freemium in form: the software is free to download, with voluntary PayPal donations used to cover hosting, hardware testing, and infrastructure costs. Go-to-market is entirely community-led, relying on the official website, GitHub repository, wiki documentation, support forum, and social media for distribution and user acquisition. There are no institutional investors, no parent company, and no disclosed funding rounds.

Name

Media Portal

Legal name

MediaPortal

Website

https://team-mediaportal.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

MediaPortal is a free, open source Windows media center application maintained by a volunteer community, offering live TV with PVR, video/music playback, home streaming, and an extensible plugin and skin ecosystem for HTPC enthusiasts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Home Theater PC Media Center Software

NAICS

Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (51621)

akta.pro primary industry

Developer & Open-Source Communities (MPACAJAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Codec & Format Support (HEVC/AV1/VVC, HDR, IMF, MXF) (MPAHAHAE)

Keywords

• Open source media center
• HTPC software
• Windows PVR application
• Live TV recording software
• Home theater software

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Software Distribution: Free open source software distributed under GNU/GPL license with no direct revenue generation. The project operates on volunteer contributions and community donations.
2. Donations and Sponsorships: Community donations support hosting, hardware testing, team meetings, and server upgrades. Organizations can sponsor the project via contact with project management.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

MediaPortal is a free, open-source HTPC (Home Theater PC) media center software for Windows that enables users to watch and record live TV, play videos/DVDs/Blu-ray, listen to music and radio, view photos, and stream media throughout the home network. The product is distributed under the GNU/GPL license and supported by a community of volunteer developers contributing plugins, skins, translations, and documentation. Companion offerings include MPTagThat for music metadata editing and an extensive ecosystem of community-developed plugins and skins.

Product overview

MediaPortal is a free open-source HTPC media center application for Windows that transforms a PC into a complete multimedia entertainment system. The core MediaPortal platform provides TV/PVR support, video playback (including DVDs and Blu-ray), music playback with DSP processing, photo management, weather and news displays, and home network streaming capabilities. The ecosystem includes MPTagThat for music tag management and an extensive library of community-developed plugins and skins that extend functionality to include web video streaming (OnlineVideos, YouTube), game emulation, TV channel logos, codec support (LAV Filters), and customizable interface themes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MPTagThat: A plugin for MediaPortal that allows tagging and managing music metadata.
• MediaPortal 2

Products and services

• MediaPortal Free, open-source HTPC (Home Theater PC) media center software for Windows that enables users to watch and record live TV, play videos, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs, listen to music and radio, view pictures and create slideshows, stream media throughout the home network, and access content via remote or mobile devices.
• MPTagThat Standalone music tag editor tool that allows users to manage and organize their digital music collection by editing metadata tags, retrieving album information, and batch processing music files.
• MediaPortal Plugins & Skins Extensions Extensible platform supporting hundreds of community-developed plugins and skins that add functionality such as streaming web TV, YouTube videos, internet radio, game emulation, visualizations, and custom user interface themes to the MediaPortal media center.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• The Movie Database (TMDb)coreTechnology or IntegrationTMDb, started in 2008, is a popular user-editable database for movies and TV shows. It provides a free API used in MediaPortal and its extensions to supply localized data and images for media metadata.
• JetBrainscoreTechnology or IntegrationJetBrains provides professional software development tools including ReSharper, dotTrace, dotMemory, dotCover, ReSharper C++, dotPeek, and TeamCity. They support open source projects with free licenses.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Plex: Plex is a media server and player that organizes personal video, music, and photo libraries for streaming to multiple devices. While Plex has evolved into a freemium SaaS model (Plex Pass, free ad-supported movies), its core function — a self-hosted personal media center — is directly comparable to MediaPortal's value proposition.
• Emby: Emby is a personal media server and player with live TV, DVR, and plugin support. It overlaps almost entirely with MediaPortal's feature set (media library, live TV, plugins, transcoding), but operates as a hybrid open-core project with a paid Premiere tier, providing a useful monetization comparator.
• Jellyfin: Jellyfin is a free software media system born from the Emby fork, offering server-based personal media streaming with live TV/DVR support. Like MediaPortal, it is community-driven and free, targeting users who want self-hosted alternatives to commercial streaming platforms, making it a direct open-source peer.
• Kodi (formerly XBMC): Kodi is the most direct competitor to MediaPortal — a free, open-source media center application originally for Xbox and now cross-platform. Both serve the HTPC community with plugin-based extensibility, skins, and live TV/PVR functionality. Kodi's broader platform reach (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS) makes it the closest functional and community analog.
• MythTV: MythTV is an open-source DVR and home media center application originally for Linux. It shares MediaPortal's focus on live TV recording, PVR functionality, and extensible plugin architecture, making it a fellow open-source community project in the same niche.

Emerging players

• LibreELEC: LibreELEC is a lightweight Linux distribution built around Kodi for HTPC use. It targets the same end-user segment as MediaPortal — turning a small PC into a dedicated media center — and competes as a turnkey alternative to MediaPortal's DIY Windows setup.
• Serviio: Serviio is a free media server for Windows, macOS, and Linux that streams local media to DLNA devices. While more narrowly a streaming server (not a full media center), it overlaps with MediaPortal's home-network streaming and media-library use cases for users who want a lighter alternative.
• NextPVR: NextPVR (formerly GB-PVR) is a free personal video recorder application for Windows that competes with MediaPortal specifically in the live TV/PVR use case. It targets the same HTPC audience but with a smaller ecosystem, making it a focused niche peer.
• OSMC (Open Source Media Center): OSMC is a Debian-based open-source media center distribution also built around Kodi. Like LibreELEC, it is a comparable turnkey HTPC operating system targeting MediaPortal's end-user persona, though built on different underlying technology.

Broad incumbents

• Windows Media Center: Windows Media Center was Microsoft's discontinued media center software bundled with Windows. As the historical incumbent that MediaPortal was originally built to replace and extend, it remains the broadest competitor in the Windows HTPC category despite being officially retired.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TeamMediaPortal
• GitHubgithub.com/MediaPortal
• Facebookfacebook.com/teammediaportal

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Media Portal