The price isn't excessive, but it does cost extra, either $5/month or $120 for permanent use. Plex also paywalls some of the most useful features, like hardware transcoding and app downloads.

'corporate.' Especially around content partnerships and the way Plex markets itself. While there's nothing inherently wrong with that, it feels like some of the major features and initiatives are more. Plex, on the other hand, is run by a commercial entity, and is closed-source software-even though parts of it are built around open source components (notably, ffmpeg).

I also like how the source code (and major components) are all open source, and freely available on GitHub. Their contribute page emphasizes the fact that Jellyfin is powered by community. On a basic level, as a very strong proponent of (free and) open source software, the community behind Jellyfin is more palatable to me. Many people never heard of it, and those who have often don't know why someone would choose Jellyfin over Plex, considering Plex's legacy.

Today, I posted a new video, showing how I set up Jellyfin on my NAS, and explaining a bit more about transcoding, legal issues around breaking DRM, and acquiring DVDs and Blu-Rays on the cheap.īut I wanted to explain a little more about why I chose Jellyfin. Like cable networks and satellite companies before, they're raising rates (at a rate higher than inflation), stuffing their content libraries with filler that's not even worth the bandwidth to stream it, and shoving ads in paying users' faces.Īnd in my first video of this two-part series, I showed how I rip Blu-Rays and DVDs into my computer. The blog post Streaming services lost the plot detailed how streaming services have become the thing they were made to destroy.

Universal media server roku