this post was submitted on 22 May 2026
307 points (97.5% liked)

Selfhosted

56957 readers
1255 users here now

A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don't control.

Rules:

  1. Be civil: we're here to support and learn from one another. Insults won't be tolerated. Flame wars are frowned upon.

  2. No spam posting.

  3. Posts have to be centered around self-hosting. There are other communities for discussing hardware or home computing. If it's not obvious why your post topic revolves around selfhosting, please include details to make it clear.

  4. Don't duplicate the full text of your blog or github here. Just post the link for folks to click.

  5. Submission headline should match the article title (don’t cherry-pick information from the title to fit your agenda).

  6. No trolling.

  7. No low-effort posts. This is subjective and will largely be determined by the community member reports.

Resources:

Any issues on the community? Report it using the report flag.

Questions? DM the mods!

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Honest question, because I know multiple people who are not looking to jump ship since they already have the Plex Pass.

(page 5) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] const_void@lemmy.ml 10 points 2 days ago (4 children)

The Apple TV client is basically unusable. Otherwise I would have switched already.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] Shikakka@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Life time subscriber since a very long time. So no need, but I would have switched if there was a decent Xbox or LG TV app.

Plex works for me, Jellyfin doesn’t because of missing apps 🤷‍♂️

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] zr0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 2 days ago (6 children)

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.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] ITGuyLevi@programming.dev 2 points 2 days ago

I've still got my Plex up, I only use it for Plexamp though, and my brother watches stuff on it (lifetime pass since forever). I quit watching stuff on it because in order to log in you have to hit Plex's servers (even when logging in directly to the self hosted server); that doesn't work for me because we block them at work. If they would let me use my own IdP, I'd probably stay. At least with Jellyfin I can authenticate how I want.

[–] pachrist@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago (3 children)

I have both and run them side by side through Docker in UNRaid, but Jellyfin hardly ever gets used unless there is a problem with Plex and I don't feel like fixing it immediately. I've had the Plex lifetime pass for forever.

I have young kids and really like Plex's system for moderating content for their accounts. I've never explored this on Jellyfin though. As a person with crappy laptop speakers, subtitles are important to me. Plex does subtitles better than Jellyfin in my experience.

[–] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

From my admin panel (showing the user child protection):

Idk where the age metadata for movies ia pulled from but I guess it's either TMDB/TVDB or some other metadata source I added.
Seems to work though (I have not added it)

The age rating can be written over and locked so a refresh can not reset it.

As for subtitles (don't quote me though):
SRT on the AndroidTV app is basically instant (just direct play)
PGS can (afaik) usually also played directly
VobSub needs to be burned in/transcoded
ASS/SSA is in a phase to be implemented so it doesnt result in transcoding.

But usually encoders/remuxers include SRT or PGS subs anyway.
My only complaint is the native iPad-app which needs a minute to stream SRT subs for whatever reason (using the web-ui). The mobile Android app, the AndroidTV and regular web ui basically work instantly so idk /shrug

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] LoafedBurrito@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 2 days ago (3 children)

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.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] Seefoo@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

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

[–] AlboTheGuy@feddit.nl 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

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.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] BakedCatboy@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I just want Findroid to support transcoding. I hate that the official app is very obviously just a webview - I mean if I couldn't tell then I wouldn't care, but it doesn't feel very native and behaves slightly glitchy when navigating around. Sometimes instead of scrolling, the webview does the little "stretch bounce" overscroll thing. I wish they could get an experienced android dev to make a polished native-feeling app.

I honestly feel like 99% of my aesthetic issues with jellyfin would be solved by having the Overseer devs do a redesign. Overseer looks amazing and I tried to make a jellyfin theme to copy it and Plex, but found that not enough elemts had classes for me to select with CSS so I gave up. Jellyfin vue looks pretty good but suffers the same problem as third party apps - being under heavy development with lots of missing features (last I checked I couldn't get subtitle selection to work)

Here's a bonus one: why does the Plex search results look so much better??

[–] ITGuyLevi@programming.dev 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'm not positive but I believe that is a setting, it defaults to a poster view but I think it can be swapped to a list view.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] idunnololz@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago (13 children)
load more comments (13 replies)
[–] BlackVenom@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago

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

[–] trk@aussie.zone 5 points 2 days ago

Sucks to add users to, users can't reset their own password, and apparently security is so bad that exposing it to the internet is basically just giving hackers the front door key.

[–] makeshift0546@lemmy.today 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

The UI didn't support remotes on console and use tiles. Really amateur shit. No need to set up a reverse proxy. I have a lifetime, zero need to switch.

[–] ButteryMonkey@piefed.social 5 points 2 days ago (11 children)

I have both technically running. The metadata matching on jellyfin is complete ass, so I have to manually match up like a third of my library, or reconfigure the files (absolutely not happening) which I just dgaf enough to do when vanishingly few people would be able to use it, so its only partially set up. It also can’t be accessed by anyone because I'm not dumb enough, nor smart enough, to open it up to the internet (I don’t know how to do it safely and I'm thus entirely not interested in trying).

Plex, by contrast, is already configured (and if I have to scrap the library and start over, as I've done several times, its pretty easy to reconfigure), the metadata linking is correct and automatic most of the time, everyone already has access to it, and it just works for them, and thus for me. I'm not giving it up just because a bunch of hyper-nerds on the internet say it’s bad for, frankly, nonsense reasons that don't apply or matter to me or honestly most people who use it. I’ll wait until it -actually- is bad for my use, or until jellyfin serves the use I have for it, which it absolutely does not do presently, and may never. (And no, a vpn or whatever setup is not a solution, it’s just one more thing to maintain and fuck with constantly to keep it working for people who don’t even know what a vpn is. Hard pass.)

I wouldn't pay for plex now, nor in the last several years, and I strongly discourage my users from doing so, but spent money is spent, so might as well keep using what I paid for until it doesn't work for me anymore. I mean really, why not? I genuinely haven't seen any valid reasons to get rid of it, and lots of reasons to keep it.

load more comments (11 replies)
[–] ushmel@piefed.world 8 points 2 days ago (5 children)

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.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] r0ertel@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago

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.

[–] Bryan065@kbin.earth 8 points 2 days ago (8 children)

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)

load more comments (8 replies)
load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›