Plex AlternativesOnly apps categorised as Media Servers

Alternatives list

1. 

   

   Kodi

    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.

   114 Kodi alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source

   Application typeApplication types

   • Media Player
   • Media Center

   Origin

   • United States

   Since

   • Since 2009

   Platforms

   • Windows
   • Mac
   • Linux
   • BSD
   • Android
   • iPhone
   • iPad
   • Android Tablet
   • Xbox
   • Apple TV
   • +6 more

   • United States

   

   

   

   +8

   

   More about Kodi  

   

   Good alternative?Is Kodi a good alternative to Plex?

    

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   12comments

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   Kodi vs Plex Comments

   Positive comment by Guest · Mar 5, 2019

   Kodi has way more functionalities than Plex

   Negative comment by fPortal · Sep 18, 2018

   It is not a media server. It is a player.

   Negative comment by Guest · Sep 16, 2018

   It's a media centre, not a media server.

   3 of 12 comments

   

   

   • Kodi is Free and Open SourcePlex is Freemium and Proprietary
   • Kodi is a Media Player Plex is a Media Center
   • Kodi is Privacy focusedPlex is not according to our users
2. 

   

   Jellyfin

    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.

   106 Jellyfin alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source (GPL-2.0)

   Application typeApplication types

   • Media Server
   • Media Center

   Origin

   • United States

   Since

   • Since 2018

   Platforms

   • Windows
   • Mac
   • Linux
   • Chrome OS
   • Self-Hosted
   • Android
   • iPhone
   • iPad
   • Android Tablet
   • Kindle Fire
   • +13 more

   • United States

   

   

   

   +5

   

   More about Jellyfin  

   

   Good alternative?Is Jellyfin a good alternative to Plex?

    

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   18comments

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   Jellyfin vs Plex Comments

   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.

   Positive comment by David7ce · Oct 19, 2023

   Jellyfin is open-source and is great with good design and performance! If you know how to self-host an app installing the server (for example a NAS) and the client (a smartTV or smartphone), is perfect. Also is more private than Plex (you don't need registration account) and you can serve in your LAN or serve to the internet.

   3 of 18 comments

   

   

   • Jellyfin is Free and Open SourcePlex is Freemium and Proprietary
   • Jellyfin is a Media Server Plex is a Media Center
   • Jellyfin is Privacy focused and DecentralizedPlex is not according to our users
4. 

   

   Emby

    179 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.

   73 Emby alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Freemium
   • Proprietary

   Application typeApplication types

   • Media Center
   • Media Player

   Origin

   • United States

   Since

   • Since 2010

   Platforms

   • Windows
   • Mac
   • Linux
   • BSD
   • Self-Hosted
   • Android
   • iPhone
   • iPad
   • Android Tablet
   • Kindle Fire
   • +6 more

   • United States

   

   

   

   +3

   

   More about Emby  

   

   Good alternative?Is Emby a good alternative to Plex?

    

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   7comments

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   Emby vs Plex Comments

   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.

   Positive comment by Dalcolli · Dec 20, 2017

   enable subtitle, imdb sync, and more

   3 of 7 comments

   

   

   • Emby is Freemium and ProprietaryPlex is also Freemium and Proprietary
5. Ad

   

   

   Nero MediaHome

   Comprehensive media manager for archiving, organizing, and playing files. It supports wireless transfer from devices, CD ripping with album art, and offers editing tools. Users can create slideshows, playlists, and burn them to o...

   https://www.nero.com

   Learn More
6. 

   

   Universal Media Server

    138 likes

   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

   • Free
   • Open Source (GPL-2.0)

   Application typeApplication types

   • Media Server
   • Video Streaming

   Origin

   • United States

   Since

   • Since 2012

   Platforms

   • Windows
   • Mac
   • Linux

   • United States

   

   

   

   More about Universal Media Server  

   

   Good alternative?Is this a good alternative to Plex?

    

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   4comments

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   Universal Media Server vs Plex Comments

   Positive comment by Jonathan Brickman · Nov 16, 2018

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

   Positive comment by Guest · May 4, 2019

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

   Positive comment by Guest · Jul 7, 2015

   Works fine with Chromecast.

   3 of 4 comments

   

   

   • Universal Media Server is Free and Open SourcePlex is Freemium and Proprietary
   • Universal Media Server is a Media Server Plex is a Media Center
7. 

   

   Infuse

    55 likes

   The beautiful way to watch almost any video format on your iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac, and Vision Pro. No need to convert files.

   153 Infuse alternatives

   Cost / License

   • Freemium
   • Proprietary

   Application typeApplication types

   • Media Player
   • Media Server

   Origin

   • United States

   Since

   • Since 2015

   Platforms

   • Mac
   • iPhone
   • iPad
   • Apple TV
   • visionOS

   • United States

   

   

   

   +2

   

   More about Infuse  

   

   Good alternative?Is Infuse a good alternative to Plex?

    

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   1comment

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   Infuse vs Plex Comments

   Negative comment by Guest · Sep 27, 2020

   This is equivalent to other media players (like VLC etc.) not to streaming media servers like Plex.

   1 of 1 comments

   

   

   • Infuse is Freemium and ProprietaryPlex is also Freemium and Proprietary
   • Infuse is a Media Player Plex is a Media Center
9. 

   

   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

   Since

   • Since 2025

   Platforms

   • Self-Hosted
   • Android
   • iPhone
   • iPad
   • Docker

   

   

   

   +3

   

   More about Meelo  

   

   Good alternative?Is Meelo a good alternative to Plex?

    
10. 

    

    Serviio

     53 likes

    Serviio is a free media server. It allows you to stream your media files (music, video or images) to any DLNA-certified renderer device (e.g. a TV set, Bluray player, games console) on your home network.

    57 Serviio alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application typeApplication types

    • Media Server
    • Video Streaming

    Since

    • Since 2010

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux

    

    

    

    More about Serviio  

    

    Good alternative?Is Serviio a good alternative to Plex?

     
11. 

    

    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

    Since

    • Since 2018

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted

    • Germany
    • EU

    

    

    

    +3

    

    More about Streama  

    

    Good alternative?Is Streama a good alternative to Plex?

     

    |

    1comment

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    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
    • Streama is a Media Server Plex is a Media Center
12. 

    

    LibreELEC

     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 typeApplication types

    • Audio Player
    • Media Player

    Origin

    • Germany
    • EU

    Since

    • Since 2016

    Platforms

    • Linux

    • Germany
    • EU

    

    More about LibreELEC  

    

    Good alternative?Is LibreELEC a good alternative to Plex?

     
13. 

    

    nextPVR

     11 likes

    NextPVR. NextPVR is a popular free personal video recorder application for Microsoft Windows, making it easy to watch or record Live TV.

    22 nextPVR alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application typeApplication types

    • Media Server
    • Video Streaming

    Since

    • Since 2011

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Docker

    

    

    

    +1

    

    More about nextPVR  

    

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14. 

    

    Nero MediaHome

     6 likes

    Comprehensive media manager for archiving, organizing, and playing files. It supports wireless transfer from devices, CD ripping with album art, and offers editing tools. Users can create slideshows, playlists, and burn them to optical discs, enhancing the experience with music and templates.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application typeApplication types

    • Disc Burner
    • DVD Copying

    Origin

    • Germany
    • EU

    Since

    • Since 2010

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Android
    • iPhone

    • Germany
    • EU

    

    

    

    More about Nero MediaHome  

    

    Good alternative?Is Nero MediaHome a good alternative to Plex?

     
15. 

    

    MiniDLNA

     48 likes

    MiniDLNA (aka ReadyDLNA) is server software with the aim of being fully compliant with DLNA/UPnP-AV clients. It is developed by a NETGEAR employee …

    36 MiniDLNA alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    • Media Server

    Since

    • Since 2011

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Terminal
    • Termux

    

    More about MiniDLNA  

    

    Good alternative?Is MiniDLNA a good alternative to Plex?

     

    |

    2comments

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    MiniDLNA vs Plex Comments

    Positive comment by Guest · Sep 17, 2017

    Plex is too commercial too many nags - also smart tv apps are variable SAMSUNG smart tv app hasn't worked for years :(

    Negative comment by Guest · Dec 21, 2017

    Overly complicated and conditional 'compiling' required. A very out-dated approach for today. Much as I hate Plex, this doesn't come close to its convenience, power, and simplicity in execution.

    2 of 2 comments

    

    

    • MiniDLNA is Free and Open SourcePlex is Freemium and Proprietary
    • MiniDLNA is a Media Server Plex is a Media Center