A mini PC under the TV is the modern answer to the streaming stick era. The hardware is cheap, the software is not locked to a specific storefront, and the same box that plays movies also runs Steam remote play, a browser for the couple of sites the smart TV never handled, and any container the household wants next. The Fire TV, Roku, and Apple TV boxes all made trade-offs to keep the price low; a $150 refurb mini PC skips those trade-offs while staying quiet, cool, and manageable.
We tested the 7 best apps for turning a mini PC into a smart TV replacement in 2026, all running on the desktop side of the stack. The list starts with the front-end players that render the couch experience, moves through the ready-to-boot appliance distributions, and ends with the utilities that fill in the gaps the front-end does not cover.
What to look for in a mini PC streaming app
Pick software that:
- Uses hardware video acceleration on the mini PC’s iGPU. Intel Quick Sync, AMD VCN, and Nvidia NVDEC all matter more than raw CPU power for 4K playback.
- Runs a real 10-foot UI. A desktop-style menu feels wrong on a couch six feet from the screen.
- Handles remote control input cleanly. Keyboard-and-mouse is fine at the desk; the TV wants a real remote, a phone app, or a game controller.
- Does not depend on a specific storefront to work. The whole point of moving off a Fire TV Stick is not to swap one platform lock for another.
- Survives being suspended and resumed. The mini PC will sleep between sessions; the app has to come back cleanly.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Interface | Hardware acceleration | Runs on Windows/macOS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jellyfin Media Player | Jellyfin front end on the mini PC | 10-foot | Yes | Yes |
| Kodi | The classic media center | 10-foot | Yes | Yes |
| Plex | Plex client with Plex Pass features | 10-foot | Yes | Yes |
| LibreELEC | Boot-to-Kodi appliance distro | 10-foot (Kodi) | Yes | Linux only |
| Stremio | Streaming aggregator with add-ons | 10-foot | Yes | Yes |
| VLC media player | Universal fallback player | Desktop, remote-friendly | Yes | Yes |
| moonlight-qt | Steam remote play and NVIDIA GameStream client | 10-foot | Yes | Yes |
Why mini PCs are winning the living room
The streaming stick model was built for a moment (2015-2020) when the software ecosystem could not be trusted to run on generic hardware. That moment is gone. Modern Intel N100 mini PCs decode 4K HEVC and AV1 at 15 watts, cost less than a decent controller, and expose the whole Linux and Windows software catalogue to the TV. The compression of everything into the same handful of streaming apps that also run on the stick is a plus, not a limit — you get those and Kodi and Jellyfin and Plex and Steam Link and a browser and a file manager and a way to write to a USB drive.
The second driver is honesty about the ad-and-tracking layer. Every streaming stick platform now runs its own ad tier, its own recommendation engine, and its own home screen the household did not ask for. A mini PC running LibreELEC or a Windows install boots to whatever the household wants and no further.
The apps
1. Jellyfin Media Player — best Jellyfin front end on the mini PC
Jellyfin Media Player is the desktop client for the self-hosted Jellyfin media server. Combined with a Jellyfin server on the same LAN (or on a home NAS), it gives the household a proper Netflix-shaped browsing experience over their own library, plays every codec through mpv underneath, and handles collections, playlists, and cross-device resume cleanly. The couch-friendly 10-foot mode kicks in automatically when the window is fullscreen.
Where it falls short: Requires a Jellyfin server somewhere; the client alone is not the whole story. Some Jellyfin features (Live TV integrations, some transcoding paths) are still catching up with Plex.
Platforms: Linux, Windows, macOS.
Download: Jellyfin Media Player download
Bottom line: The right default for a household running Jellyfin on the home server.
2. Kodi — best classic media center
Kodi has been the reference media center for over a decade for a reason. The 10-foot UI is native, skinnable, and works with any remote or game controller. Library scraping for movies and TV is best-in-class, the codec support is exhaustive, and the add-on ecosystem covers everything from IPTV and PVR integrations to sports streams and podcast browsers. Runs on nearly every operating system, including as an appliance distribution (see LibreELEC).
Where it falls short: First-run configuration is more work than a paid app; expect an evening of setup. The add-on ecosystem includes plenty of unofficial third-party projects that come and go.
Platforms: Linux, Windows, macOS, Android, iOS (jailbroken), tvOS (jailbroken).
Download: Kodi download
Bottom line: The right pick when you want the deepest 10-foot interface and are willing to spend an evening setting it up.
3. Plex — best Plex client with Plex Pass features
Plex on the mini PC is the paid or free-with-limitations client that pairs with a Plex Media Server. The 10-foot UI is polished, the on-boarding is friendlier than Jellyfin’s, and the ecosystem around subscription features (Plex Pass, ad-free live TV in some regions, DVR) is more established. If a household has already invested in Plex Pass, running the Plex client on a mini PC gives the same experience the Fire TV Plex app would, without the platform trade-offs.
Where it falls short: The direction of travel is toward more paid features and more Plex-hosted services, which is exactly why a lot of people are moving to Jellyfin. Also depends on Plex’s servers for account and library indexing.
Platforms: Linux, Windows, macOS.
Download: Plex download
Bottom line: The right pick when the household already runs Plex and does not want to migrate.
4. LibreELEC — best boot-to-Kodi appliance distro
LibreELEC is the minimal Linux distribution built specifically to boot Kodi and nothing else. Flash it to a USB stick or the mini PC’s internal drive, power on, and the box goes directly into Kodi in about ten seconds. Updates are handled by LibreELEC itself, add-ons install the same way they do in Kodi on any other platform, and the whole system takes up under a gigabyte on disk. Meant for boxes dedicated to the living-room role.
Where it falls short: Single-purpose by design — you do not run Steam and a browser on the same box that runs LibreELEC. For a mini PC that only ever plays media, that is a feature; for a box the household wants to use for multiple things, it is a constraint.
Platforms: Linux (as its own distribution). Images for Intel/AMD PCs, Raspberry Pi, and several ARM boards.
Download: LibreELEC downloads
Bottom line: The right pick for a mini PC dedicated to living-room media playback.
5. Stremio — best streaming aggregator with add-ons
Stremio is the aggregator that indexes multiple sources into one library view and one search box, then plays whatever the household picks through its integrated player. The add-on ecosystem is what makes it useful: connect it to a Real-Debrid or similar account, install the trackers the household actually uses, and the same interface pulls from all of them. The desktop app has a proper 10-foot mode with remote control support.
Where it falls short: The interesting add-ons live in a grey area; expect some churn in what is available. Not a self-hosted media library — it aggregates rather than owning the collection.
Platforms: Linux, Windows, macOS, Android, iOS.
Download: Stremio download
Bottom line: The right pick when the household’s library lives outside the home server.
6. VLC media player — best universal fallback
VLC media player is the fallback that plays anything you throw at it. Every codec, every container, every subtitle format. On a mini PC connected to a TV, VLC is the tool you launch when a friend sends a file no other player will open, when the household wants to test a network stream, or when the TV picture-in-picture app dies and you need a working H.265 decoder on five seconds’ notice. Works with hardware acceleration on Intel, AMD, and Nvidia GPUs when configured.
Where it falls short: The default UI is desktop-shaped; less good as a primary 10-foot experience. Library management is not really part of the model.
Platforms: Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, ChromeOS.
Download: VLC download
Bottom line: The right utility to install on every mini PC, regardless of what else runs on it.
7. moonlight-qt — best Steam remote play and NVIDIA GameStream client
moonlight-qt is the open-source client for Nvidia GameStream and Sunshine, which lets the mini PC in the living room stream games from a gaming PC in a different room. Combined with Sunshine on the gaming PC, this covers the “I want to play PC games on the TV without buying a Steam Machine” workflow that Steam Link used to cover. Low latency on a wired network, works over Wi-Fi 6 with acceptable latency for most games.
Where it falls short: Needs a gaming PC on the same network as the source; not a stand-alone streaming client. Latency depends heavily on network quality.
Platforms: Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, tvOS, Steam Deck.
Download: Moonlight download
Bottom line: The right pick when the mini PC also needs to double as a PC-gaming front-end.
How to pick the right one
- If the household runs Jellyfin: Jellyfin Media Player.
- If you want the deepest 10-foot UI and are willing to configure it: Kodi.
- If the household is already invested in Plex Pass: Plex.
- If the mini PC’s only job is media playback: LibreELEC.
- If the library lives outside the home server: Stremio.
- If you want a universal fallback that plays anything: VLC.
- If the mini PC also has to stream PC games from a gaming rig: moonlight-qt.
A workable mini PC setup for most households: a barebone mini PC with 8 GB of RAM, LibreELEC on the internal drive for dedicated media playback, or a lightweight Linux desktop with Jellyfin Media Player as the launcher and VLC as the fallback. Add moonlight-qt when someone in the household wants to play PC games on the TV.
FAQ
Do I need a beefy mini PC to stream 4K?
No. Any modern mini PC with an Intel N100, AMD Ryzen 5, or Apple silicon has enough iGPU horsepower to decode 4K HEVC and AV1 at wall power under 20 watts. The specification to check is hardware video decode for the codecs you use, not raw CPU frequency.
Can I use a Wii remote or a game controller as the TV remote?
Yes, on any of the Kodi-based options. Most modern mini PCs also accept a Bluetooth or IR remote directly, and there are Android and iOS remote apps for Kodi, Plex, and Jellyfin.
Is a mini PC actually cheaper than a Fire TV Stick?
Not upfront — a Fire TV Stick is around $30, a mini PC around $150. Over three years the mini PC comes out ahead once you factor in that it also replaces a game console remote play device, a browser box, and any HTPC-shaped device the household would otherwise need.
What about 4K HDR?
Handled by all the Kodi-based options with the right output setup. HDR passthrough on Linux is more work than on Windows, but LibreELEC has quietly gotten most of the way there through 2024 and 2025.
Will Netflix and other DRM-locked services still work?
They will run in a browser on a mini PC (up to 1080p, and up to 4K on Windows with the Edge browser). Native Netflix apps are not available on Linux, so if 4K Netflix is essential, run Windows on the mini PC rather than LibreELEC.
