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.
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.
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.
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.
Where Jellyfin stands out
Verified capabilities most alternatives don't have.
Why people leave Jellyfin
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
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Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Feature comparison
How Jellyfin compares with its alternatives, feature by feature.
| Media servers checklist | Jellyfin | Emby | Kodi | Navidrome | Audiobookshelf | Calibre-Web |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
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| License | ||||||
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| Transcoding (hardware) | ||||||
| Live TV & DVR | ||||||
| Mobile sync/downloads | ||||||
| Multi-user profiles | ||||||
| Metadata scraping | ||||||
| Music support | ||||||
| Photos support | ||||||
| Plugin ecosystem | ||||||
| Client apps (TV platforms) | ||||||
| Fully offline / no account |
Every fact and feature listed for Jellyfin is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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License GPL-2.0 verified 2026-07-11
GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin/blob/master/LICENSE -
Pricing model Free verified 2026-07-11
There are no strings attached, no premium licenses or features, and no hidden agendas
https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin -
Platforms Windows, macOS, Linux verified 2026-07-11
Jellyfin is a Free Software Media System that puts you in control of managing and streaming your media.
https://jellyfin.org/docs/ -
Status active verified 2026-07-11
12.0 RC2
https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin/releases -
Transcoding (hardware) Yes verified 2026-07-11
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
https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/post-install/transcoding/hardware-acceleration/ -
Live TV & DVR Yes verified 2026-07-11
watch and record live television using supported hardware, as well as listen to internet radio
https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/server/live-tv/ -
Mobile sync/downloads Partial verified 2026-07-11
A third party app for music playback with support for offline mode/downloading songs.
https://jellyfin.org/downloads/clients/all/ -
Multi-user profiles Yes verified 2026-07-11
Here you can see your current users or add new ones. And manage your users' settings.
https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/server/users/adding-managing-users/ -
Metadata scraping Yes verified 2026-07-11
The Movie Database (TMDb)
https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/server/metadata/ -
Music support Yes verified 2026-07-11
The three most common types of content are movies, shows, and music. These will have the best support in client apps.
https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/server/libraries/ -
Photos support Partial verified 2026-07-11
Jellyfin allows you to add other types of media such as books or photos to your media library.
https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/server/libraries/ -
Plugin ecosystem Yes verified 2026-07-11
Many plugins are available in a repository hosted on our servers, which can be easily installed using the plugin catalog in the settings.
https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/server/plugins/ -
Client apps (TV platforms) Yes verified 2026-07-11
The official Jellyfin app for Android TV and Fire TV devices.
https://jellyfin.org/downloads/clients/all/ -
Fully offline / no account Yes verified 2026-07-11
There are no strings attached, no premium licenses or features, and no hidden agendas
https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin
FAQ
Yes. Emby, Kodi and Navidrome have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
Kodi, Navidrome and Audiobookshelf — every license claim links its source.