this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2025
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522
Jellyfin is not just good... but better than Plex now?! (vger.social)
submitted 17 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
216 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I've feel like I've used Plex forever. I also feel like every couple years I try Jellyfin to see how it's going. Recently I tried it again because of Plex restriction on more than one user.

Well, I just tried it again and it's substantially improved! This time it actually properly detected most of my library!

Also the Android TV app is AWESOME! No more glitches, lagging, and freezing trying to play my stuff like Plex did. It is butter smooth.

Wow! I'm impressed and I just deleted Plex. Good riddance.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 hour ago

I've been using both for ages.

For remote access to friends plex is easier and cleaner.

For offline viewing in Android plex is cleaner

I'm running tailscale with jellyfin for personal use and it's wonderful, But I wouldn't ask my relatives to do that and I don't trust to surface the port. Plex has a dedicated security team and 2FA.

The Roku client for jellyfin is also a futureless husk of a client.

I have lifetime Plex so I'm in no hurry to do a full conversion. I would love to drop plex all together though

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 hour ago

I've been running plex since 2016 and jellyfin since 2019. I'm slowly moving users over to jellyfin with the plan to cut off plex at somepoint in the next couple years. Jellyfin is missing some quality of life features but nothing super crazy

[–] [email protected] 1 points 26 minutes ago

Am I the only one here using emby? I’m pretty happy with it honestly.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

I use Jellyfin for music mostly and it struggles with metadata. For example, if a song has two artists on it and I edit to correct it, it won't update correctly and I'll edit up with the artist "Artist A; Artist B".

[–] [email protected] 2 points 42 minutes ago

Finamp keeps creeping towards Plex amp and functionality. I don't love how Plex treats music either but the client seems to bridge the gap.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 hour ago

Jellyfin seems solid.

The only issues I've had are with dodgy media files. Obviously better player hardware gets you better performance, but transcoding eliminates some of those issues.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 hours ago

Jellyfin is so underrated

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

I installed Mint last week and haven't addressed media players yet... strokes chin. Thanks for the info!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago

Yep

Welcome to the future

[–] Zink 6 points 2 hours ago (3 children)

I would probably be using Jellyfin if it were just me.

The handful of people in my family that use my Plex server though are all non-tech people. When I hear that random smart TV apps aren’t nearly as good, that is what gives me pause.

That, plus the fact that a lifetime Plex pass was a one-time purchase on sale several years ago. It may be a proprietary product instead of FOSS like it should be, but at least they aren’t trying switch me to $1.99/month or some BS like that. But they’re probably smart enough to know they’d really start the Plexodus!

Maybe I should run jellyfin alongside Plex to keep better tabs on it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 41 minutes ago

Absolutely run them together.

Especially in light of Plex trying to keep tabs on what everybody's doing and probably resell that data.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

I'm a bit biased as I started with Jellyfin, but the Roku Jellyfin app works flawlessly on the family TV.

I'd advise at least becoming mildly familiar with how you'd go about it, since corpos suddenly rug-pulling existing users and forcing subscriptions is pretty common, basically expected, behavior of American business now.

That way you have an "out" and your service can have minimal downtime. :)

On the other hand, you might just find you like how sleek and functional Jellyfin is. I can only see wins for you here. :p

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 hours ago

If the apps don't work for you then I'd stick to plex. But I had the opposite experience, especially with the Plex Android TV app, it is so shitty... And the Jellyfin Android TV app is rock solid

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

Been using jellyfin for a few years now, never had a problem vs constant problems with plex

[–] [email protected] 16 points 4 hours ago (4 children)

It is…..if you use a computer. Their AppleTV app still looks like some random coder’s pet project with random playback issues.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

I just sucked it up and paid for Infuse Pro and now my Apple TV experience with Jellyfin is great

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

I've had Infuse Pro for about 6 years and it has been an absolutely perfect app for me. I've used it across many different iterations of home media servers (Emby, Jellyfin, NFS, SMB, etc...)

If you use Apple devices it's the best way to go.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

I mean, just like everything else there's an optimal setup. I have a NAS with an extensive media library and running Jellyfin on it was a terrible experience. The NAS simply isn't powerful enough to make Jellyfin usable.

I fixed that issue by running the server on my PC, and the libraries point to my NAS library locations. It's the perfect setup. I get access to my GPU for HD video transcoding, and an overpowered CPU with the advantage of not having to worry about storage.

I feel like it's the perfect setup for me.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 49 minutes ago (1 children)

It’s not a transcoding power issue. It’s a UI consistency and usability issue. With every device having a slightly different UI, with some apps having issues if playing back natively and some needing transcoding, the experience is inconsistent and frankly doesn’t pass the “wife acceptance factor” test, or the “let your friends use it without needing to handhold them through regular troubleshooting for their particular device” test.

I still don’t use Plex and exclusively use Jellyfin, but it’s still a hard sell to non technical users. Plex has much more polish.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 minutes ago

With every device having a slightly different UI, with some apps having issues if playing back natively and some needing transcoding, the experience is inconsistent and frankly doesn’t pass the “wife acceptance factor” test, or the “let your friends use it without needing to handhold them through regular troubleshooting for their particular device” test.

This is a configuration issue, then. Because I have no idea what you're talking about. The UI is exactly the same across devices, and profiles (which can be cloned) once setup, don't require any user intervention to do transcoding. You literally click a video and it works...

Not sure what you're doing over there, but you're making it harder than it has to be.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Huh, it works great on my android os Nvidia shield

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours ago

The TV/mobile apps vary wildly in their capabilities and performance. Swiftfin is better for iOS devices, but not sure about AppleTV. That's my main gripe with Jellyfin overall.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

The app on my LG TV is acceptable, but does have random problems, like it can't connect over TLS, and it's kinda slow to navigate. But it works, and my kids know how to work it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)

I also use it on an LG TV and sometimes it can't run at its normal framerate with subtitles on. I haven't figured out why yet, but it might be embedded files like someone else says in this thread. Other than that it works like a charm.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 hours ago

Yeah, I did have a to transcode a bluray rip, but I think that might be a network limitation rather than a processing one. 1080p transcode worked fine, so it's not resolution.

One of these days I'll DIY a HTPC, but for now, the Jellyfin app works acceptably well.

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