Plex vs Jellyfin
Plex is the more polished, commercial option with paid extras, while Jellyfin is fully free and open source but you set up and run everything yourself.
Pick Plex if…
You want a commercial media server with apps on many devices and are happy to pay for remote streaming, downloads or hardware transcoding.
Pick Jellyfin if…
You want a free, open-source server with no subscription, no premium tier and no account, and you're comfortable hosting it yourself.
Price
- Freemium
- Free
- Open source
Starting price
Free plan
Open source
Works on
| Feature | Media server software that organizes your own movies, shows, music and photos and streams them to your devices. | Free, open-source media server that streams your own movies, shows and music to apps on your devices. |
|---|---|---|
| Price |
|
|
| Starting price | $2.99/month (Remote Watch Pass, USD); Plex Pass from $6.99/month | — |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Works on | Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android |
| Try Plex (opens the Plex website in a new tab) | Try Jellyfin (opens the Jellyfin website in a new tab) |
Both are media servers: you point them at your own movies, shows and music, and they stream to apps on other devices. Both servers run on Windows, macOS and Linux, and both can run in Docker or on NAS devices (Jellyfin lists Synology and TrueNAS SCALE; Plex lists a range of NAS brands and FreeBSD).
The big difference is cost. Plex is free on your home network, but streaming your own video outside the home needs a Remote Watch Pass ($2.99/month or $29.99/year) or a Plex Pass ($6.99/month, $69.99/year, $249.99 for five years or $749.99 lifetime). Plex Pass also adds hardware transcoding, downloads and Skip Intro. Jellyfin has no paid tier: the server and official clients are free, funded by donations.
Jellyfin is GPL-2.0 licensed and was forked from Emby in 2018. Its docs describe it as an alternative to the proprietary Emby and Plex, and say it has no tracking or phone-home behaviour. Its docs also call it fast-moving and in its early stages. Plex is closed-source and also offers free ad-supported movies and live TV alongside your own library.
Jellyfin's official clients cover web, Android, iOS, Android TV and Fire TV, Roku, WebOS, Tizen and Xbox. Plex says it has apps for many device types, plus the Plexamp music app and Plex Dash. If you mostly watch at home and want zero cost, Jellyfin is the straightforward pick. If you want remote streaming that's simple to turn on and don't mind paying, Plex is the safer one.
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Last updated 17 October 2026. How we make money