2023-12-07, 02:35 PM
I have this copy/paste that I've been using to compare the two for a while. Should hopefully clear things up.
* [Jellyfin for Kodi](https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin-kodi) - This addon syncs metadata from selected Jellyfin libraries into the local Kodi database. This has the effect of making interacting with it feel very much like vanilla Kodi with local media (shows up under Movies/TV Shows on the home screen by default, virtually no delay, etc). However, it also tends to consume the database and not share well, so if you have local media or something else that interacts with the database directly, you'll have conflicts and it won't be happy. The sync process can take some extra time on Kodi startup if you don't leave it running 24/7, but it's mostly in the background while Kodi is running.
* [JellyCon](https://github.com/jellyfin/jellycon) - Behaves more like a standard Kodi streaming addon. Media is accessed primarily by going through the Add-ons -> JellyCon menu, however you can set up menu options to link to it and show info on the home screen. It also allows easier switching between multiple Jellyfin servers or users since it doesn't have to rely on syncing all the metadata down. By not having metadata synced, it has to request info from the server which can take a bit more time when you're browsing (typically only a second or two in my testing), but you don't have to wait for the database to sync or keep it up to date.
Personally, I just got tired of the database shenanigans whenever I wanted to watch something. Slightly slower loading times were worth knowing that things were available when I wanted them instead of having to wait for a catch up sync. And from a dev perspective, Jellycon is so much easier to wrap my head around and keep track of stuff.
* [Jellyfin for Kodi](https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin-kodi) - This addon syncs metadata from selected Jellyfin libraries into the local Kodi database. This has the effect of making interacting with it feel very much like vanilla Kodi with local media (shows up under Movies/TV Shows on the home screen by default, virtually no delay, etc). However, it also tends to consume the database and not share well, so if you have local media or something else that interacts with the database directly, you'll have conflicts and it won't be happy. The sync process can take some extra time on Kodi startup if you don't leave it running 24/7, but it's mostly in the background while Kodi is running.
* [JellyCon](https://github.com/jellyfin/jellycon) - Behaves more like a standard Kodi streaming addon. Media is accessed primarily by going through the Add-ons -> JellyCon menu, however you can set up menu options to link to it and show info on the home screen. It also allows easier switching between multiple Jellyfin servers or users since it doesn't have to rely on syncing all the metadata down. By not having metadata synced, it has to request info from the server which can take a bit more time when you're browsing (typically only a second or two in my testing), but you don't have to wait for the database to sync or keep it up to date.
Personally, I just got tired of the database shenanigans whenever I wanted to watch something. Slightly slower loading times were worth knowing that things were available when I wanted them instead of having to wait for a catch up sync. And from a dev perspective, Jellycon is so much easier to wrap my head around and keep track of stuff.