I use Plex every day. Lately, I’ve been wondering if I should quit.
The software, which allows you to turn your personal collection of TV shows and movies into a Netflix-style streaming service, is very user-friendly. But the Plex offering by the company, as of late, seems to be more focused on adding features than improving the user interface. Recently, it added social media and user reviews, two features I immediately disabled. I want to look at things—not talk about them with strangers (I have friends for that). The company keeps making design choices that push its ad-supported streaming options over the personal media collection and DVR functionality I use the service to enjoy.
This may make sense from a business perspective. But it doesn’t make sense for my personal use of Plex, which watches live TV and TV shows that I’ve recorded and saved to my computer. I pay an annual subscription fee of $70 for this. I could avoid the annual subscription by buying a lifetime pass, but Plex recently raised the price from $250 to $750. That’s more than a decade of annual passes, assuming the Plex will last for the next decade.
All of which is to say that there are reasons to be frustrated with Plex. And that’s enough to look at Jellyfin, a free and open source application that offers many of the features that make Plex so compelling. Is Jellyfin a good alternative? It depends.
Solid Core, Long Rocky Reach
If the main thing you want is to watch your digital collection of TV shows and movies in your home, I have good news for you: Jellyfin works well. You can download the server, point to your media, and access that media from other devices on your network, all in minutes.
Scanning works fine. In my case, a few things were mislabeled, but I’ve run into similar problems setting up Plex and know I can fix it without too much worry—it’s just a matter of naming the files correctly.
You can access your server on the local network by typing the local IP into your address bar, which is handy. And there are Jellyfin clients for every major desktop, mobile, and smart TV platform imaginable. Simply put, you can get local media streaming up and running very quickly. If that’s your main use and you’re tired of Plex, I can confidently say that Jellyfin is right for you without fuss.
But sometimes you are not at home. Weird, I know. One of the great things about Plex is easy remote access, which allows you to view your media outside of your home network. With most modern routers, you won’t need to do much—the connection is taken care of. This is possible because Plex, the company, uses infrastructure that points other devices to your home server.
Jellyfin has no such infrastructure. If you want to access your Jellyfin server when you are away from home, you need to set up your own network infrastructure. This can mean paying for a domain name and redirecting it to your server; it might mean setting up a VPN, or it might mean screwing up port forwarding. There are instructions, but they are clearly aimed at power users.
Basically, you will need to soak. Now, the kind of person who runs their own Plex server can probably navigate all of this. But if you share access to your Plex server with others, Jellyfin will be difficult for them to set up and use.
