# Alternatives to Jellyfin

The fully open source Plex alternative.

Jellyfin ranks #2 of 11 in Media servers, with an Alt Score of 91. It is licensed under GPL-2.0, free and available on Windows, macOS and Linux. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/jellyfin/
Category: Media servers

## Where Jellyfin stands out

- **Transcoding (hardware)** — 2 of 7 apps with a verified answer have this
- **Client apps (TV platforms)** — 3 of 8 apps with a verified answer have this
- **Live TV & DVR** — 3 of 8 apps with a verified answer have this
- **Plugin ecosystem** — 3 of 7 apps with a verified answer have this

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: People who want to organize and stream their own movies, TV shows, and music without paying for a subscription service or handing their data to a third party — includes hobbyists running a home server and privacy-conscious users.
- **What you get**: A self-hosted media server that catalogs your movies, TV, music, and photos and streams them to nearly any device. It supports live TV/DVR, synchronized watching with others (SyncPlay), and has official and third-party clients for web, desktop, mobile, smart TVs, and Kodi. It's a free, GPL-licensed fork of Emby with no subscription tiers, premium features, or tracking.
- **How it works**: You install the Jellyfin server on your own hardware, point it at your media files, and it builds a browsable library with metadata and artwork. You then connect from any supported client app to browse and stream your collection.

## Profile

- **License**: GPL-2.0 (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Pricing model**: Free (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Starts at**: ?
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-11)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Emby](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/emby.md) | 96 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 2 | [Kodi](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/kodi.md) | 78 | GPL-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 3 | [Navidrome](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/navidrome.md) | 60 | GPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 4 | [Audiobookshelf](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/audiobookshelf.md) | 46 | GPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 5 | [Calibre-Web](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/calibre-web.md) | 46 | GPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 6 | [Komga](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/komga.md) | 46 | MIT | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 7 | [Kavita](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/kavita.md) | 42 | GPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 8 | [Plex](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/plex.md) | building | Proprietary | ? |
| 9 | [Stremio](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/stremio.md) | building | ? | ? |
| 10 | [Universal Media Server](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/universal-media-server.md) | building | ? | ? |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Media servers checklist | Jellyfin | Emby | Kodi | Navidrome | Audiobookshelf | Calibre-Web |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Freemium | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| Starts at | ? | $4.99/mo (or $119 lifetime) | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Proprietary | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Transcoding (hardware) | Yes | Yes | Partial | No | ? | No |
| Live TV & DVR | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Mobile sync/downloads | Partial | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Multi-user profiles | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Metadata scraping | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Music support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No |
| Photos support | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | ? | No |
| Plugin ecosystem | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | Partial |
| Client apps (TV platforms) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | No | No |
| Fully offline / no account | Yes | Partial | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for Jellyfin. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **License**: GPL-2.0 — <https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin/blob/master/LICENSE> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE”
- **Pricing model**: Free — <https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “There are no strings attached, no premium licenses or features, and no hidden agendas”
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux — <https://jellyfin.org/docs/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Jellyfin is a Free Software Media System that puts you in control of managing and streaming your media.”
- **Status**: active — <https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin/releases> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “12.0 RC2”
- **Transcoding (hardware)**: Yes — <https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/post-install/transcoding/hardware-acceleration/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “The supported and validated video hardware acceleration (HWA) methods are: Intel Quick Sync Video (QSV), NVIDIA NVDEC/NVENC (NVENC), AMD Advanced Media Framework (AMF), Intel/AMD Video Acceleration AP”
- **Live TV & DVR**: Yes — <https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/server/live-tv/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “watch and record live television using supported hardware, as well as listen to internet radio”
- **Mobile sync/downloads**: Partial — <https://jellyfin.org/downloads/clients/all/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “A third party app for music playback with support for offline mode/downloading songs.”
- **Multi-user profiles**: Yes — <https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/server/users/adding-managing-users/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Here you can see your current users or add new ones. And manage your users' settings.”
- **Metadata scraping**: Yes — <https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/server/metadata/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “The Movie Database (TMDb)”
- **Music support**: Yes — <https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/server/libraries/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “The three most common types of content are movies, shows, and music. These will have the best support in client apps.”
- **Photos support**: Partial — <https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/server/libraries/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Jellyfin allows you to add other types of media such as books or photos to your media library.”
- **Plugin ecosystem**: Yes — <https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/server/plugins/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Many plugins are available in a repository hosted on our servers, which can be easily installed using the plugin catalog in the settings.”
- **Client apps (TV platforms)**: Yes — <https://jellyfin.org/downloads/clients/all/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “The official Jellyfin app for Android TV and Fire TV devices.”
- **Fully offline / no account**: Yes — <https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “There are no strings attached, no premium licenses or features, and no hidden agendas”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/