Jellyfin
Photos & MediaA free, self-hosted media server for streaming your own movies, shows, music, live TV, books and photos to apps on most devices.
Open-source alternative to:
What the free edition leaves out
The free edition covers the features teams usually need; we found nothing important held back. “Not confirmed” means the official pages we read did not say, so we do not guess.
| Feature | Free edition | Details | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSO / SAML | Not confirmed | The user management docs do not mention SSO or LDAP. | Source ↗ |
| Role-based access control | Not confirmed | The user management docs describe a single admin option ('allow this user to manage the server') plus per-user settings; no separate role system is described. | Source ↗ |
| Audit logs | Not confirmed | The user management docs do not mention audit logs. | Source ↗ |
| Multi-user / teams | Free | The docs describe multiple local accounts with per-user settings, and the project README says there are no premium licenses or features. | Source ↗ |
| Backups and restore | Free | The docs describe a built-in backup and restore system, added in 10.11, that can back up while the server is running. | Source ↗ |
| API access | Not confirmed | The user management docs do not describe API keys. | Source ↗ |
| Support SLA | Not confirmed | The site lists no paid support or SLA; support is through documentation, forums and chat. | Source ↗ |
Best for
People who want to stream their own media library from a server they run, without an account on a vendor service.
Why choose it over Plex
The server is GPL-2.0 and the project says there are no premium licenses or features, so nothing in the server is behind a subscription. It covers movies, shows, music, live TV and DVR, books and photos, with official clients for web, desktop, Android and Android TV, Apple devices, Roku and Kodi. Accounts are local, and a built-in backup and restore tool exists since 10.11.
Where it falls short
There is no hosted service, so you run, update and back up the server yourself and handle remote access and hardware transcoding. Client apps are separate projects with their own licenses and varying polish by platform. User permissions come down to per-user settings and a single admin switch rather than a role system. The project runs no cloud service for you.
Open-source alternative to
- Plex — Jellyfin can be used instead of Plex to run your own media server and stream your library to your devices, with no accounts on a vendor service and no premium tier.
