Self-Hosted Plex Alternatives

There are many alternatives to Plex as a self-hosted solution if you are looking for a replacement. The best Self-Hosted alternative is Jellyfin, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Plex and many of them are available as a self-hosted solution so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Self-Hosted alternatives to Plex are Emby, Meelo, Music Assistant and Subsonic.

filter to find the best alternatives

Plex alternatives are mainly Music Streaming Services, but if you're looking for Media Servers or Audio Players you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Android, Open Source, Linux, Mac, Chrome OS, Self-Hosted and Apple TV. 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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Get a badge for your sitePlex alternatives page was last updated Apr 16, 2026

Jellyfin
379 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.
84 Jellyfin alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (GPL-2.0)
Application typeApplication types
Media Server
Media Center
Origin
United States
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
iPad
Self-Hosted
Flathub
Tizen OS
F-Droid
Android TV
Cloudron
Kodi
Docker
Fire TV
Roku
United States
+5
Good alternative?Is Jellyfin a good alternative to Plex?

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18comments
Jellyfin vs Plex Comments
Top Positive Comment by seczamotu · Oct 5, 2019
It's FOSS and they don't spy on you. No paywalls and 'Premium' packages. It's completely free.
Comment by obradk · Feb 12, 2024
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.
Positive comment by intp · Dec 23, 2023
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.
3 of 18 comments
Jellyfin is Free and Open SourcePlex is Freemium and Proprietary
Jellyfin is Privacy focused and DecentralizedPlex is not according to our users
Emby
176 likes
Emby, formerly Media Browser, is a media aggregator plugin for Media Center that takes your recorded, digital, or ripped media and presents it in a simple, easy to use interface. Emby prides itself on delivering a fast, intuitive, media rich experience for the whole family.
61 Emby alternatives
Cost / License
Freemium
Proprietary
Application typeApplication types
Media Center
Media Player
Origin
United States
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
BSD
Windows Phone
iPad
Self-Hosted
Apple TV
Kindle Fire
Cloudron
Playstation
Xbox
United States
+3
Good alternative?Is Emby a good alternative to Plex?

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7comments
Emby vs Plex Comments
Top Positive Comment by Horaciogarro · Sep 14, 2015
Is the exact alternative to Plex.+ web server!
Positive comment by dzevel5 · Mar 30, 2019
Plex is horrible at consumer privacy! Emby just a perfect solution especially for NAS.

While Plex logging and collecting data, Emby won’t and then device can go into sleep mode perfect.
Positive comment by Guest · Feb 28, 2019
A superb alternative to plex, much faster streaming start of the video over internet.
3 of 7 comments
Emby is Freemium and ProprietaryPlex is also Freemium and Proprietary
Emby is a Media Center Plex is a Media Server
Meelo
17 likes
A versatile self-hosted music server offering music video access, B-Side and rare track identification, extensive format support via transcoding, and detailed metadata parsing. Additional features include automatic 'featuring' detection, song version browsing, and genre retrieval through platforms like MusicBrainz.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (GPL-3.0)
Application typeApplication types
Audio Player
Media Server
Platforms
Android
Self-Hosted
Docker
iPhone
iPad
+3
Good alternative?Is Meelo a good alternative to Plex?
Music Assistant
13 likes
Turn your Home Assistant instance into a jukebox, hassle free streaming of your favorite media to Home Assistant media players.
9 Music Assistant alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (Apache-2.0)
Application typeApplication types
Music Streaming
Audio Player
Origin
Switzerland
Platforms
Self-Hosted
Docker
Windows
Mac
Linux
Switzerland
Good alternative?Is Music Assistant a good alternative to Plex?
Subsonic
93 likes
Subsonic is a free, web-based media streamer, providing ubiquitous access to your music and video. Use it to share your music with friends, or to listen to your own music while at work. You can stream to multiple players simultaneously, for instance to one player in your kitchen...
104 Subsonic alternatives
Cost / License
Freemium
Proprietary
Application type
Music Streaming
Origin
Norway
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
Android
iPhone
Windows Phone
Self-Hosted
Norway
+7
Good alternative?Is Subsonic a good alternative to Plex?

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1comment
Subsonic vs Plex Comments
Negative comment by Guest · Feb 17, 2023
No video server. Just music.
1 of 1 comments
Subsonic is Freemium and ProprietaryPlex is also Freemium and Proprietary
Subsonic is a Music Streaming Plex is a Media Server
Ampache
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.
115 Ampache alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (AGPL-3.0)
Application typeApplication types
Music Streaming
Audio Player
Origin
Germany
EU
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Self-Hosted
PHP
Cloudron
Germany
EU
+5
Good alternative?Is Ampache a good alternative to Plex?

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2comments
Ampache vs Plex Comments
Negative comment by Guest · Feb 25, 2018
Ampache is an audio server, while plex supports both audio and video (and it is heavily focused on video streaming)
Negative comment by Guest · Aug 7, 2021
Ampache is an audio server only, which is only a small subset of what Plex does, and not even Plex's primary focus.
2 of 2 comments
Ampache is Free and Open SourcePlex is Freemium and Proprietary
Ampache is a Music Streaming Plex is a Media Server
Streama
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 typeApplication types
Media Server
Movie Streaming
Origin
Germany
EU
Platforms
Windows
Linux
Self-Hosted
Germany
EU
+3
Good alternative?Is Streama a good alternative to Plex?

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1comment
Streama vs Plex Comments
Positive comment by Guest · Apr 25, 2018
Streama is very like Netflix
1 of 1 comments
Streama is Free and Open SourcePlex is Freemium and Proprietary
Madsonic
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 typeApplication types
Music Streaming
Audio Player
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
iPhone
BSD
iPad
Self-Hosted
Kindle Fire
+4
Good alternative?Is Madsonic a good alternative to Plex?
Olaris
2 likes
Olaris is an open-source, community driven, media manager and transcoding server.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application type
Video Streaming
Alerts
Discontinued
Platforms
Linux
Self-Hosted
Good alternative?Is Olaris a good alternative to Plex?
Oblecto
4 likes
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.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (AGPL-3.0)
Application typeApplication types
Media Center
Media Player
Platforms
Self-Hosted
+1
Good alternative?Is Oblecto a good alternative to Plex?
mStream
4 likes
mStream is a suite of open source software that lets you sync and stream your music between all your devices.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (GPL-3.0)
Application type
Music Streaming
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Android
Self-Hosted
Good alternative?Is mStream a good alternative to Plex?
Kyoo
Like
Welcome to Kyoo, the next-generation open-source media browser that redefines your streaming experience. Designed from the ground up, Kyoo stands out as a powerful alternative to Plex and Jellyfin. Unleash the full potential of your media library with cutting-edge features and a...
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (GPL-3.0)
Platforms
Self-Hosted
Docker
Good alternative?Is Kyoo a good alternative to Plex?

12 of 23 Plex alternatives

Self-Hosted Plex Alternatives

Alternatives list

Jellyfin

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Emby

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Meelo

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Music Assistant

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Subsonic

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Ampache

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Streama

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Streama vs Plex Comments

Madsonic

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Olaris

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Oblecto

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mStream

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Kyoo

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