Open Source Plex Alternatives for Linux

There are many alternatives to Plex for Linux if you are looking for a replacement. The best open source Linux alternative is Kodi. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Plex and many of them are open source and available for Linux so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source Linux alternatives to Plex are Jellyfin, Universal Media Server, Plezy and Music Assistant.

filter to find the best alternatives

Most Plex alternatives are Media Servers, but you can also narrow the list to Audio Players or Media Centers. Other popular filters are Apple TV, Open Source, Android, Linux and Mac. You can also filter for EU-based alternatives if you prefer software from the European Union.
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Alternatives
Plex alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. Kodi icon
     1572 likes

    Open-source media player compatible with Linux, Mac, Windows, Xbox, and iOS, designed for home theater PCs. Customizable with themes, supports 4K, audio and video formats, streaming, privacy-focused operations, and extensible with plugins.

    117 Kodi alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2009

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • Android Tablet
    • Xbox
    • Apple TV
    • US flagUnited States
    Kodi screenshot 1
    Good alternative?
     
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    12
  2. Jellyfin icon
     396 likes

    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.

    107 Jellyfin alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2018

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Chrome OS
    • Self-Hosted
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • Android Tablet
    • Kindle Fire
    Good alternative?
     
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    18
  3. 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.

    60 Universal Media Server alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2012

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
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    4
  4. Plezy icon
     9 likes

    Cross-platform media client with Flutter UI offering native performance and a visually streamlined interface, compatible with Plex and Jellyfin servers, enabling direct streaming, HDR and Dolby Vision playback, offline downloads, and minimal transcoding.

    32 Plezy alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2026

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Debian
    • Ubuntu
    • Arch Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • Android Tablet
    Good alternative?
     
  5. Music Assistant icon
     16 likes

    Turn your Home Assistant instance into a jukebox, hassle free streaming of your favorite media to Home Assistant media players.

    12 Music Assistant alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2024

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    • Docker
    Good alternative?
     
  6. MediaChips icon
     20 likes

    MediaChips is a desktop app for organizing local media libraries. It helps you tag, filter, preview, and browse videos, images, audio, and text files that already live on your disks or NAS — with no accounts, no cloud, and no data collection.

    54 MediaChips alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2021

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Docker
    Good alternative?
     
  7. Ampache icon
     62 likes

    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.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2010

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    • PHP
    • Cloudron
    Good alternative?
     
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    2
  8. Streama icon
     15 likes

    Ever had a huge bookshelf full of shows and movies? Ever wanted to digitalize them, but didn't have a good way of organizing the files? Worry no more! Streama is your own personal Netflix for just such a purpose!

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2018

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    Good alternative?
     
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    1
  9. LibreELEC icon
     24 likes

    LibreELEC is ‘Just enough OS’ for Kodi, a Linux distribution built to run Kodi on current and popular mediacentre hardware. We are an evolution of the popular OpenELEC project. LibreELEC software will be familiar to OpenELEC users.

    12 LibreELEC alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2016

    Platforms

    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
  10. OpenELEC icon
     55 likes

    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.

    12 OpenELEC alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2011

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Raspberry Pi
    Good alternative?
     
  11. Madsonic icon
     21 likes

    Madsonic is a web-based media streamer and jukebox fork of Subsonic Based on Java technology, Madsonic runs on most platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, OSX, and Unix variants.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2013

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • Kindle Fire
    Good alternative?
     
12 of 39 Plex alternatives