I replaced my Apple TV with a Raspberry Pi, and the apps I use no longer cost me anything
This title could be clearer and more informative.Try out Clickbait Shieldfor free (5 uses left this month).
An Apple TV 4K owner swapped it for a Raspberry Pi 4 running LibreELEC and Kodi, pointing it to an SMB media server and scraping metadata via TMDB and TVDB. Unofficial Kodi add-ons from Slyguy's repo offered free-ish access to services like Discovery+, Disney+, HBO Max, and Hulu, though inconsistently, and a YouTube add-on stripped ads for subscribed content. Trade-offs include no working Dolby Vision tone-mapping or Atmos passthrough parity with Apple TV, and LibreELEC's inability to handle Widevine DRM, meaning Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video don't work reliably. The author concludes Apple TV still wins for polished, DRM-heavy streaming, while a Pi-based Kodi setup suits those who mainly stream their own media library.
Table of contents
The hardware cost gap is the whole reason I switchedSome of the paid apps on tvOS became free Kodi add-onsLive TV and library extras weren’t locked behind a paywallDolby Vision and Atmos don’t feel the same on the PiStreaming apps still require a dedicated boxQuestions this post answers
Can LibreELEC on a Raspberry Pi 4 play Netflix, Disney+, or Prime Video?
No, not reliably. LibreELEC does not support the Widevine DRM that Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video require, so those apps cannot run properly through Kodi on a Raspberry Pi 4 running LibreELEC, even though other free or unofficial add-ons work for many other services. daily.dev surfaces real-world compatibility gotchas like DRM limits before you build a media setup around them.
Does Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision work well on a Raspberry Pi running Kodi?
Not to the same degree as on an Apple TV 4K. Kodi offers Audio Passthrough for Dolby Atmos, but replicating Apple TV's simple Dolby Vision tone-mapping toggle requires adding a compatible AVR between the Raspberry Pi and the TV, since LibreELEC can't replicate that tone-mapping on its own. Developers weighing hardware trade-offs for home projects track these compatibility caveats on daily.dev.