Plex AlternativesOnly Open Source apps categorised as Media Centers

The best open source Media Center alternative to Plex is Jellyfin. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Plex and 15 are open source Media Centers so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source Media Center alternatives to Plex are Universal Media Server, MediaChips, Ampache and OSMC.

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Plex alternatives are mainly Media Centers, but if you're looking for Audio Players or Media Players you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Open Source, Android, Linux, Mac, Chrome OS, Free and iPhone. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Plex.
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Alternatives list

  1. Jellyfin icon

    Jellyfin

     328 likes
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    A free, open-source media system alternative to proprietary options like Emby and Plex, with Chromecast support, 4K streaming, plugin extensions, focusing on privacy without premium features, managing media from dedicated servers to multiple devices via various apps.

    50 Jellyfin alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • Flathub
    • Tizen OS
    • F-Droid
    • Android TV
    • Kodi
    • Docker
    • Fire TV
    • Roku
    • Cloudron
    Jellyfin screenshot 1
     
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    18
    126
    Comments about Jellyfin as an Alternative to Plex
    Comment summary: Jellyfin is praised for being a free, open-source alternative to Plex, offering increased privacy without requiring a cloud account. It's appreciated for customization, ease of setup, and lack of paywalls. However, users note challenges with certain devices and that Jellyfin is currently less polished than Plex, though improvements are underway. Its functionality and privacy features are highlighted as major strengths.
    Top Positive Comment
    seczamotu
    9

    It's FOSS and they don't spy on you. No paywalls and 'Premium' packages. It's completely free.

    obradk
    0

    It would be ok except it's impossible to disable transcoding and have decent subtitles. It's slow, but it's FOSS and it's not trying to upsell you at all times.

    intp
    Positive
    0

    Certainly a viable free, open-source alternative, but be advised that getting it working with a Roku, for example, can be a lot more challenging for less tech savvy users.

    Show more comments
    3 of 18 comments
    Plex Icon
    Jellyfin icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Jellyfin is a great Plex alternative.

    • Jellyfin is the most popular Windows, Android, Mac & iPhone alternative to Plex.

    • Jellyfin is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Plex.

    • Jellyfin is Free and Open SourcePlex is Freemium and Proprietary
    • Jellyfin is Privacy focusedPlex is not according to our users
  2. Universal Media Server icon

    Universal Media Server

     133 likes
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    Universal Media Server is a media server capable of serving videos, audio and images to any DLNA-capable device. It supports any device capable of DLNA and runs on all major operating systems: Windows, OS X and Linux.

    46 Universal Media Server alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Universal Media Server screenshot 1
     
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    4
    37
    Comments about Universal Media Server as an Alternative to Plex
    Jonathan Brickman
    Positive
    3

    Extremely easy install. Completely seamless connection to Roku Media Player. Very lightweight, but fully functional.

    Guest
    Positive
    4

    No faffing about and less intrusive and no personal data shared like plex does.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Works fine with Chromecast.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
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    3 of 4 comments
    Plex Icon
    Universal Media Server icon

    • Most users think Universal Media Server is a great Plex alternative.

    • Universal Media Server is Free and Open SourcePlex is Freemium and Proprietary
  4. MediaChips icon

    MediaChips

     18 likes
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    This app for navigating your large video collection. Add tags, performers, websites, sort/filter videos, create playlists and play them in the built-in player.

    38 MediaChips alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium (Pay once or Subscription)
    • Open Source (GPL-3.0)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    MediaChips screenshot 1
     
  5. Ampache icon

    Ampache

     62 likes
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    Ampache is a web based audio streaming application and file manager allowing you to access your music from anywhere, using almost any internet enabled device.

    98 Ampache alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    • PHP
    • Cloudron
    Ampache screenshot 1
     
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    2
    6
    Comments about Ampache as an Alternative to Plex
    Guest
    Negative
    6

    Ampache is an audio server, while plex supports both audio and video (and it is heavily focused on video streaming)

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Negative
    0

    Ampache is an audio server only, which is only a small subset of what Plex does, and not even Plex's primary focus.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Plex Icon
    Ampache icon

    • Some users think Ampache is a great Plex alternative, some don't.

    • Ampache is Free and Open SourcePlex is Freemium and Proprietary
  6. OSMC icon

    OSMC

     82 likes
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    OSMC (Open Source Media Center) is a free and open source media player based on Linux and founded in 2014 that lets you play back media from your local network, attached storage and the Internet. OSMC is the leading media center in terms of feature set and community and is based...

    44 OSMC alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Apple TV
    • Raspberry Pi
    OSMC screenshot 1
     
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    2
    16
    Comments about OSMC as an Alternative to Plex
    Guest
    Negative
    16

    From the FAQ of the project: What is the difference between OSMC and Kodi?

    Kodi is a media center application and OSMC is the operating system that runs Kodi and brings it to your device. OSMC is not a fork of Kodi but rather a Linux distribution that ships Kodi as the main application.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Negative
    7

    totally different piece of software

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Plex Icon
    OSMC icon

    • Some users think OSMC is a great Plex alternative, some don't.

    • OSMC is Free and Open SourcePlex is Freemium and Proprietary
  7. OpenELEC icon

    OpenELEC

     55 likes
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    Open Embedded Linux Entertainment Center (OpenELEC) is a small Linux based Just Enough Operating System (JeOS) built from scratch as a platform to turn your computer into a Kodi (previously XBMC) media center.

    11 OpenELEC alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Raspberry Pi
    OpenELEC screenshot 1
     
  9. Finamp icon

    Finamp

     7 likes
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    Finamp is a Jellyfin music player. Its main feature is the ability to download songs for offline listening.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Flathub
    • F-Droid
    Finamp screenshot 1
    Finamp screenshot 2
    Finamp screenshot 3
     
  10. PS3 Media Server icon

    PS3 Media Server

     70 likes
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    PS3 Media Server is a DLNA compliant Upnp Media Server for the PS3, written in Java, with the purpose of streaming or transcoding.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    GUI
     
  11. Oblecto icon

    Oblecto

     4 likes
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    Oblecto is a media server, similar to Plex, Emby, Netflix and others. It runs in the background on a home server to index your media such as movies and TV shows to make them searchable and streamable through a REST based interface.

    52 Oblecto alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    Oblecto screenshot 1
     
  12. MythTV icon

    MythTV

     83 likes
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    MythTV is a free, open source media center and digital video recorder (DVR) distributed under the terms of the GNU GPL. With its plugin architecture, MythTV can be transformed into a home media center suite, capable of managing your personal photo, video, and music collections...

    42 MythTV alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    MythTV screenshot 1
     
  13. Gerbera icon

    Gerbera

     6 likes
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    Gerbera is a free UPnP media server forked from the now discontinued MediaTomb project. It's highly compatible and works with many devices including TVs, Playstation, Android & iOS phones and tablets.

    28 Gerbera alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    Gerbera screenshot 1
     
  14. Enna icon

    Enna

     6 likes
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    Enna is a Media Center application. Featuring a simple user interface, Enna is based on the powerful Enlightenment Foundations Libraries (EFL) as for its graphical user interface and GeeXboX libraries as for multimedia playback and information retrieval.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Linux
    Enna screenshot 1
     
12 of 15 Plex alternatives