I've never understood why anyone would tolerate paying any price to stream media they "own" from a server they own on a network they own to a device they own.
At this point a Plex subscription is on par with a Netflix subscription in price, but you have to bring your own media. The only value Plex provides beyond the software is a STUN proxy to connect remote devices to your server behind a residential NAT.
But Jellyfin is free and in a lot of cases it's trivial to get your server exposed to the internet. There's countless ways to do it that don't involve paying anyone anything, and more ways that cost far, far less than $750.
Perpetually gobsmacked that people are willing to pay a subscription to access their own media on their own hardware. Why not just use Netflix at that point?
Convenience. Jellyfin is becoming better and better but still lacks proper support for certain (Apple) devices, while Plex mostly just works.
That being said, Plex apps also lack proper support for HW decoding of some 4K codecs and their AppleTV situation is just plain sad (2 years without an update, no proper HW decoding).
With the Pass being $750, I’m expecting Jellyfin to become a more popular alternative than ever. I’d personally never spend this kind of money on Plex.
> That being said, Plex apps also lack proper support for HW decoding of some 4K codecs and their AppleTV situation is just plain sad (2 years without an update, no proper HW decoding).
What does hardware decoding get me on an Apple TV? It seems plenty powerful enough to decode anything I’ve ever thrown at it.
The official Plex app hasn't been updated to take advantage of all the hardware decoding support available on the Apple TV. I moved to Infuse, a paid third-app, which I use to stream my Plex media content.
Jellyfin official apps are sporadic though, so Infuse is popular for Jellyfin users because it is well maintained and allows you to direct stream content without transcoding as often as possible.
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I'm also the developer of Aviato Media Server (https://aviato.media), which I just released publicly last week and is available only as a beta, and I am an ex-Plex employee.
That doesn’t answer my question. What does it get me? Why do I care if it uses hardware decoding or not if I can stream pretty much any content without any issues? It’s not like it causes stuttering or wastes a bunch of power because it’s using software decoding.
Depends on the server you are using to host your media sever from. If you're using a Raspberry Pi, then you might not be able to support transcoding at all, definitely not for a 4K AV1 video and a lot of modern formats. So even if Apple TV can play it, the Plex app won't attempt it and will force transcoding from the server.
Even if your server can support transcoding, all transcoding results in quality loss, so if you want to enjoy your media in the best formats then you want to direct play. Just depends on the media you are playing and how much you care about the quality.
This has nothing to do with hardware decoding though, no? Hardware decoding generally is more restrictive in supported formats, not less restrictive. Unless you mean AV1 decoding is supported by Apple TV in hardware but not the Plex app itself…
Also, what modern formats for media typically used in Plex servers isn’t supported? Nobody uses AV1 for plex media, no offense. It’s universally h264 or h265. Or perhaps mpeg2 for super old stuff.
Have you used Jellyfin’s clients? I’ll be the first in line to complain about some issues with the Plex client [0] but it’s been remarkably stable over the decade+ I’ve used it. I did not enjoy the Jellyfin clients (or lack there of for some platforms) the last time I tried them (2-3 years ago).
The Plex client, for all its warts, is much more user-friendly IMHO for the friends/family that might use one’s media server.
[0] I could go on and on about things like how shitty Plex is for downloading content to your phone/iPad to take on a plane/offline.
Jellyfish has improved a bunch in the last few years, the front end is a lot more polished. I finally moved on from Plex a year ago after some kind of upsell nag on a basic feature after already paying for a plan.
Although realtime detection of changes on the file system is still a little flaky for me (possibly how I’m running it).
I mean, that's probably what it is, a last squeeze while something somewhat remains of their Plex brand image, knowing the war to Jellyfin is over and lost. At that rate, Jellyfin could start a commercial entity, partner up with mullvad or whoever, and offer a STUN/TURN proxy service that they could charge cents/dollars a year and still make bank.
The UX of Plex is unbeatable, there are no obvious signs that the content is pirated, that + a great app ecosystem is very important if you're going to be sharing with friends and family.
I cannot fathom why you'd pay $750 for Plex when Jellyfin is free.
I've never understood why anyone would tolerate paying any price to stream media they "own" from a server they own on a network they own to a device they own.
At this point a Plex subscription is on par with a Netflix subscription in price, but you have to bring your own media. The only value Plex provides beyond the software is a STUN proxy to connect remote devices to your server behind a residential NAT.
But Jellyfin is free and in a lot of cases it's trivial to get your server exposed to the internet. There's countless ways to do it that don't involve paying anyone anything, and more ways that cost far, far less than $750.
Perpetually gobsmacked that people are willing to pay a subscription to access their own media on their own hardware. Why not just use Netflix at that point?
Convenience. Jellyfin is becoming better and better but still lacks proper support for certain (Apple) devices, while Plex mostly just works.
That being said, Plex apps also lack proper support for HW decoding of some 4K codecs and their AppleTV situation is just plain sad (2 years without an update, no proper HW decoding).
With the Pass being $750, I’m expecting Jellyfin to become a more popular alternative than ever. I’d personally never spend this kind of money on Plex.
> That being said, Plex apps also lack proper support for HW decoding of some 4K codecs and their AppleTV situation is just plain sad (2 years without an update, no proper HW decoding).
What does hardware decoding get me on an Apple TV? It seems plenty powerful enough to decode anything I’ve ever thrown at it.
The official Plex app hasn't been updated to take advantage of all the hardware decoding support available on the Apple TV. I moved to Infuse, a paid third-app, which I use to stream my Plex media content.
Jellyfin official apps are sporadic though, so Infuse is popular for Jellyfin users because it is well maintained and allows you to direct stream content without transcoding as often as possible.
--
I'm also the developer of Aviato Media Server (https://aviato.media), which I just released publicly last week and is available only as a beta, and I am an ex-Plex employee.
That doesn’t answer my question. What does it get me? Why do I care if it uses hardware decoding or not if I can stream pretty much any content without any issues? It’s not like it causes stuttering or wastes a bunch of power because it’s using software decoding.
Depends on the server you are using to host your media sever from. If you're using a Raspberry Pi, then you might not be able to support transcoding at all, definitely not for a 4K AV1 video and a lot of modern formats. So even if Apple TV can play it, the Plex app won't attempt it and will force transcoding from the server.
Even if your server can support transcoding, all transcoding results in quality loss, so if you want to enjoy your media in the best formats then you want to direct play. Just depends on the media you are playing and how much you care about the quality.
This has nothing to do with hardware decoding though, no? Hardware decoding generally is more restrictive in supported formats, not less restrictive. Unless you mean AV1 decoding is supported by Apple TV in hardware but not the Plex app itself…
Also, what modern formats for media typically used in Plex servers isn’t supported? Nobody uses AV1 for plex media, no offense. It’s universally h264 or h265. Or perhaps mpeg2 for super old stuff.
> certain (Apple) devices,
Guessing you’re not talking about iPhones - fwiw Finamp works pretty well.
I imagine a lot of their users (like myself) use Plex because it was the best option 10 years ago and premium was $40 during sales
Have you used Jellyfin’s clients? I’ll be the first in line to complain about some issues with the Plex client [0] but it’s been remarkably stable over the decade+ I’ve used it. I did not enjoy the Jellyfin clients (or lack there of for some platforms) the last time I tried them (2-3 years ago).
The Plex client, for all its warts, is much more user-friendly IMHO for the friends/family that might use one’s media server.
[0] I could go on and on about things like how shitty Plex is for downloading content to your phone/iPad to take on a plane/offline.
I use Wholfin (https://github.com/damontecres/Wholphin) on my TV and it's really nice, it's meant to be familiar to users of Plex. On my phone I use Findroid (https://github.com/jarnedemeulemeester/findroid)
Jellyfin works well enough, I switched over entirely a few months ago.
I'm relatively new to Jellyfin but for iOS and tvOS Swiftfin is a joy to use.
Edit: It's native and open source: https://github.com/jellyfin/swiftfin
Jellyfish has improved a bunch in the last few years, the front end is a lot more polished. I finally moved on from Plex a year ago after some kind of upsell nag on a basic feature after already paying for a plan.
Although realtime detection of changes on the file system is still a little flaky for me (possibly how I’m running it).
Plex has become a platform, and I imagine a certain number of their customers are revenue generating providers.
Emby still offers lifetime for $119 with a 30 device limit, but I'm not sure what it offers over Jellyfin.
Are there any advantages to Plex outside of being able to easily share and manage library access to many users? It's been a decade since I've used it.
Excellent automatic metadata determination. Dead easy to run/setup
I mean, that's probably what it is, a last squeeze while something somewhat remains of their Plex brand image, knowing the war to Jellyfin is over and lost. At that rate, Jellyfin could start a commercial entity, partner up with mullvad or whoever, and offer a STUN/TURN proxy service that they could charge cents/dollars a year and still make bank.
Can someone explain the advantage of Plex over Stremio + TB + AIOStreams to me?
For me it's that Xbox has a Plex app. I'm not willing to use Android TV devices or connect my TV to the internet.
I'm pretty sure that Xbox is filled with ads and data collection just like an internet connected smart TV would be.
Casting from ios is useful for me.
The UX of Plex is unbeatable, there are no obvious signs that the content is pirated, that + a great app ecosystem is very important if you're going to be sharing with friends and family.
I grabbed a lifetime pass for $99 many years ago and have certainly gotten my moneys worth. Hopefully they will keep honoring existing passes.
Has there been any indication that they may gate new versions or features behind more expensive plex pass subscriptions?
I haven’t heard about anything like that.
But I do hear about campaigns focused on members with poor account hygiene and afaik they get their accounts terminated.
It's already bad enough they took offense to people hosting in Hetzner (yes, I'm one of the many that hosts in a DC instead of at home).
Sorry I didn't want the server overhead in my house, eh?
if you are in the apple ecosystem the Infuse video player can hook into jellyfin and it has a pretty nice UI.
https://firecore.com/infuse
I also find Infuse to work better on AppleTV devices than the plex app itself for accessing plex libraries.
They didn't have to become yet another second-rate streaming and rental platform. They could have remained the best home media server.
They had to have known that free options like Jellyfin were on their tails and pivoted to a revenue model that doesn't rely on competing with FOSS
[dupe] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48193055