Selfhosted

I say the following as a current Jellyfin user who stopped using Plex for privacy reasons: Plex making it easy to share your library outside of your LAN is an absolutely gigantic point in its favour. I don't understand why so many Jellyfin people seem unable or unwilling to understand or acknowledge this.

I bought a Plex lifetime pass in 2014 when it was $75. I’ll keep using it until they make it stop working.

I have both. Plex is better with music at this time, which is a huge use for me. Jellyfin has a quicker UI and i swear looks better streaming to my TV, but could just be bias.

I’m afraid of exposing HTTPS to the open internet.

99% of my usage is on an Apple TV and the Jellyfin Apple TV client is just really bad. Last time I tried it didn't even display "watched" markers and the UI looked terrible. None of the third party clients seemed decent either. The Plex client is much better (although I could do without the "suggested" sections).

I don't have time.

4 people host libraries that my tech illiterate boomer parents access.

One login, many servers, singular interface.

That is very specifically the situation I'm in. Jellyfish, emby, you wanna whip up a persona... that's a pretty damn clear-cut one for ya

Plex clients arent great, but they are better on many TVs compared to jellyfin. Also the wife is used to it, so I don't really want to retrain

No because you can’t easily and securely share your library and remote play.

I have a lifetime pass so there’s no need to switch to a worse product.

Lifetime pass purchased years ago and Plex manages sign-ins and connections for my less computer-savvy friends.

There's still a bunch of outstanding API security issues last I checked, so it's not secure enough for me to open to the web.

Teaching friends and family to use it with a VPN is a whole another can. Also, you'll have to make sure the VPN is secure and users don't have access to the rest of your network...

and then you'll have to deal with client apps/access for mobile, android boxes, TVs, and Chromecasts...

I got lucky with the Plex Pass too so I can only ride this out to the end until Jellyfin catches up. (also, I'm not good to contribute code)

I have both. Plex for family and Jellyfin for me. I still don't have hardware transcoding working (probably a permission thing. It's always permissions) and haven't had much time to tinker this year. Plex just... worked.

I can use Jellyfin without transcoding, but only one or two users at a time is all my CPU can handle.

I can't make my family members use Wireguard, they are stubborn, what can I say?

Secondly it's the guides I saw for some specifics things I wanted, almost everything was with Plex in mind.

Thirdly I just liked how quick it was to set up and intuitive to use compared to Jellyfin.

Fourthly the Users are really easy to manage and create from Plex without me having to manage everyone.

Finally many smart TVs come with a specific subset of apps and Plex usually makes the cut while Jellyfin does not, again, family members, I can't control what TVs they buy.

I already tried to setup jellyfin for a couple days before I bought the $120 Plex pass. I could not get it to work at all and it was frustrating reading all the vulnerabilities with the internet.

Plex took me 5 minutes to setup and all my friends can access my media no problem.

For ease of use, Plex wins Everytime.

I stopped using Plex because it was buggy for me, stopped using Jellyfin because it didn't have an app for my smart TV and using it in the TVs browser sucked, and now I use Emby because it's pretty simple, works amazingly and is free. I still technically have Jellyfin running side-by-side with Emby, I just don't use it. Jellyfin had a simple UI and basic UX, but Emby looks and feels so good.

Now, go ahead and tell me that Emby supports baby eating facists or something

I started with jellyfin, and eventually let my partner convince me to pay for a lifetime pass for Plex. Plex just has better functionality. Not only can I access my library from anywhere, the subtitles work without fiddling with different srt files, the error messages are much more descriptive, and I find the documentation for adding OTA antenna and DVR functionality much more comprehensible with Plex.

I like jellyfin for what it is, but Plex makes it all work with far less headache and much better support. So Plex wins, in my mind for now.

And with all that being said, I got my Plex lifetime pass a few years ago, so the value I have will not be the same as yours if you are just now starting to consider Plex, so I can understand why you might have a different opinion

Jellyfin people who constantly ask “have you tried Jellyfin?” have never used Plex and don’t know what they are missing out on.

I have Emby lifetime. I have Plex lifetime. I try Jellyfin every year.

Plex wins always. Emby is second. Would not recommend Jellyfin.

Admittedly this was 4 years ago, but the lack of documentation was frustrating. I don't know if remote streaming or transcoding was even a thing back then, but I could find little to nothing about much of anything. Now I just don't have the time. I switched to Stremio + plugins for TV and movies, and I'm content to keep using Plexamp for my vinyl rips until it stops working.

The lack of library sharing is what's keeping me on Plex.

The ability to watch media across servers, and even transparently pull it for local transcode when necessary is just an amazing feature.

I got a lifetime pass a long time ago and have no reason to switch. I'll consider it when it's worth considering.

I started with Plex because it was an installable app on my NAS. It worked great with a Roku stick that was given to me. Same for a TV that had the Plex client. It works well for the others in the house. I got a Plex pass on sale a few years ago.

I'd like to switch to Jellyfin, but would need to find the client for 2 TVs and deal with the complaints if it doesn't work exactly like Plex.

As a Jellyfin user that has lurked in past "Plex did bad thing X" threads and someone suggested jellyfin.

The usual reasons are

• Remote login (through their relay)
• Which also plays into remote streaming
• Plex Amp (their music player) is supposedly the absolute best of anything
• Very easy to sign up (both the admin and family and friends

At least that's what I remember at the top of my hat.

When i have a plex lifetime pass from 2016, dam 10 years. Plex works fine, my biggest complaint is the other steaming service they are trying to sell (luckily you can disable it), offline viewing on mobile needs a lot of love.

Everything else works good enough. Why should i spend time on converting?

My next thing I want to replace is my good Nvidia Shield, sadly with Android TV that 1/3 of my main page is an ad , and i can’t easily turn if off. And have not found a good alternative launcher.

It is like Microsoft windows, enshittification.

No free Apple TV app is kind of a deal-breaker. Even Emby has one. Also the Roku app still crashes fairly regularly for me just randomly either browsing or during playback.

I'd love to use it fulltime but I don't want to have to buy new devices just to use it. Plex already works and I picked up a lifetime pass when it wasn't insanely priced.