Self-host GhostHub
v5.3.0Raspberry Pi media hub for local streaming and TV casting
- Stars
- 282
- CPU
- Raspberry Pi 4 (ARM64 recommended, ARMHF fallback)
- RAM
- 2 GB (LITE tier), 4 GB (STANDARD), 8 GB+ (PRO)
- Storage
- microSD card for OS + USB drive for media storage
- Port
- 5000 (GhostHub HTTP/WebSocket service)
- Requires
- Ffmpeg, Python, SQLite
What is GhostHub?
GhostHub is a self-hosted media server built for the Raspberry Pi 4. It converts a Pi and attached USB storage into a personal media center reachable from phones, tablets, computers, or an HDMI display. The service listens on port 5000 and operates in two network modes: a standard home network over Ethernet, or an access-point mode where the Pi hosts its own Wi-Fi. Main capabilities include two browsing views (a couch-style streaming layout and a date-organized gallery), user profiles with avatars and playback history, a built-in theme editor plus a community theme gallery, full file management (upload, download, rename, delete), tools to organize media with folders, playlists, sorting and search, subtitle support for common formats, casting to an HDMI display, synchronized playback and chat across viewers, an admin dashboard for updates, storage, Wi-Fi, cache, restarts, logs and system status, and optional remote access using a Cloudflare Tunnel or a Tailscale/Headscale mesh. Standard web formats (MP4 H.264/AAC, WebM) play natively; other codecs such as MKV, HEVC, AV1, DTS need the separate experimental GhostStream transcoder on another machine. You can install by flashing a ready-made SD card image, doing a DIY install on the specific 2022-01-28 Raspberry Pi OS Lite Bullseye release, or deploying your own source tree via a CLI. The stack runs on Python 3.9 with Flask, the SPECTER backend framework, the RAGOT frontend framework, and SQLite for persistence. Licensed under AGPL-3.0.
Should you self-host GhostHub?
GhostHub scores 48/100 on selfhost.directory (how scoring works) and ranks #66 of 118 in Media Server. It has 282 GitHub stars.
It shipped 6 stable releases in the past year. The latest, v5.3.0, came out on 25 May 2026. New versions land roughly every 8 days.
Setup is moderate: expect some configuration beyond a single command. It is Other-licensed and written mostly in JavaScript.
Its closest alternative on selfhost.directory is Jellyfin (88/100, 58 744 stars). It scores higher overall, so compare the two before you pick. See GhostHub vs Jellyfin side by side.
Features
- Access point mode
- Admin Panel
- Categories and organization
- Custom themes
- File Management
- Gallery layout
- Media streaming
- Remote access via mesh
- Streaming layout
- Subtitle Support
- Sync watching and chat
- Transcoding support (experimental)GhostStream is not bundled, is off by default, and has not been heavily tested inside GhostHub yet
- TV casting
- User Profiles
GhostHub README
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