this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2025
475 points (98.6% liked)

Selfhosted

42776 readers
1102 users here now

A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don't control.

Rules:

  1. Be civil: we're here to support and learn from one another. Insults won't be tolerated. Flame wars are frowned upon.

  2. No spam posting.

  3. Posts have to be centered around self-hosting. There are other communities for discussing hardware or home computing. If it's not obvious why your post topic revolves around selfhosting, please include details to make it clear.

  4. Don't duplicate the full text of your blog or github here. Just post the link for folks to click.

  5. Submission headline should match the article title (don’t cherry-pick information from the title to fit your agenda).

  6. No trolling.

Resources:

Any issues on the community? Report it using the report flag.

Questions? DM the mods!

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I've feel like I've used Plex forever. I also feel like every couple years I try Jellyfin to see how it's going. Recently I tried it again because of Plex restriction on more than one user.

Well, I just tried it again and it's substantially improved! This time it actually properly detected most of my library!

Also the Android TV app is AWESOME! No more glitches, lagging, and freezing trying to play my stuff like Plex did. It is butter smooth.

Wow! I'm impressed and I just deleted Plex. Good riddance.

(page 2) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] CaptainHowdy@lemm.ee 15 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

I've found the opposite to be the case unfortunately. Plex "just works" while my jellyfin server had almost constant issues with subtitles (two of my frequent users need these because of hearing problems) and would frequently crash requiring docker restarts.

I adopted jellyfin very early, used it for many (maybe 6?) years and these problems only got worse over time.

I always prefer open source (often to a fault) but I am glad I switched to Plex a few months ago. I got the lifetime pass for cheap for black Friday. I still leave jellyfin running for a few users, but everyone else has already switched over.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 5 points 5 hours ago

I had the opposite. Jellyfin just works. Plex kept losing my movie folders, refused to play videos, wouldn’t screen cast, had problems with audio tracks, there always seemed to be a disconnect between app and server, they refused to connect despite both being the correct versions. It worked great initially, but got steadily more and more problematic over time. I gave up, even though I’d paid for it, and made a jellyfin server and have had zero trouble since.

Don’t know why two programs should have such radically different experiences, they should just do what they’re supposed to.

[–] notfromhere@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 hours ago

What are the issues you’re having with Jellyfin’s subtitles? Do you know if there is an open bug report or feature request that is tracking the same?

[–] Omega_Jimes@lemmy.ca 9 points 5 hours ago (4 children)

The only problem I'm having with jellyfin is around subtitles, but it's getting better all the time. I bought the plex lifetime license a few years ago, but we've moved our whole house to jellyfin now.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] non_burglar@lemmy.world 4 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

Although I have my issues with plex, jellyfin has its own problems:

  • STILL can't clear out the TS transcoded files automatically. So if you watch a bunch of TV episodes on a weekend, your jellyfin container will run out of space and break.
  • STILL can't handle subtitles properly. I swear, this must be jellyfin's Waterloo.
  • jellyfin cannot demux 5.1 and present stereo sound on certain streams. I think this is a tooling issue. But it's low level enough that I can handle it manually with mkvtoolnix myself on the few cases it happens.
[–] notfromhere@lemmy.ml 4 points 4 hours ago (4 children)
  • I’ll have to check but I haven’t had an issue with the transcoded files filling up.
  • Subtitles work as expected for me but all of my file names are in English, are the ones you’re having problems with file names in another language perchance?
  • That last one I fixed myself by wrapping ffmpeg around a script I wrote that forces 5.1 to transcode to AC3 so it goes to my speakers properly.
load more comments (4 replies)
[–] Vendetta9076@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

This last one is why I have to use Plex instead of jellyfin on my tv. The jellyfin roku app fuckin sucks and refuses to demux anything.

[–] superglue@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

Does anyone have any recommendations for migrating their Plex library over to Jellyfin? One day I fully expect to migrate over but when I do i want my full watch/listen history to come with me.

[–] jimerson@lemmy.world 5 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

You might just be able to point jellyfin to your media directories and then let it scan them.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Getting6409@lemm.ee 2 points 3 hours ago

This isn't a complete solution, but trakt.tv covers a lot of ground. I started using it for getting a consistent history of watched shows between jellyfin on the road and kodi at home. It works okay enough for this, though at times it does seem that one or both of the plugins can fail to log a watched show. I would guesstimate a 90% success rate.

[–] GuardYaGrill@sh.itjust.works 3 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

Been using Jellyfin along side the ‘ARR suite for about a year now, my biggest issue is with Subtitles.

On the IOS/iPadOS apps of Jellyfin subtitles seem to prevent media from streaming, tried utilizing Bazaar but have had no luck.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] WalnutLum@lemmy.ml 36 points 7 hours ago (7 children)

After having been shafted by sublime text I will never believe anything called a "lifetime subscription" is such.

A "lifetime subscription" is just a "until we decide otherwise" subscription

[–] gonzo-rand19@moist.catsweat.com 7 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I don't mean to be glib or upset you, but you still have lifetime access to the versions of Sublime Text for which you paid; you just don't get free updates to the next version. AFAIK, that's been the way they've done things for years.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] mbirth@lemmy.ml 9 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

After having been shafted by sublime text I will never believe anything called a "lifetime subscription" is such.

Care to elaborate?

AFAIR SublimeText licenses are always only for a specific major version. And they sometimes might work for the next major version. So, I guess you’ve just installed a newer version for which your lifetime license isn’t valid anymore.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
[–] accideath@lemmy.world 12 points 6 hours ago

Not having to pay for hardware transcoding/tonemapping is the biggest „selling“point for Jellyfin. I used to have plex before. It worked well but I didn’t want to pay 100€ for transcoding. Never tried emby for the very same reason.

[–] muhyb@programming.dev 18 points 7 hours ago

Jellyfin is awesome.

[–] tabular@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 18 minutes ago) (1 children)

Not got around to trying it out properly yet. Waiting on new AMD GPUs, hoping for a low-end encoder or I ma get access to a RX 480.

What does Jellyfin use .NET for?

[–] notfromhere@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 hours ago

Jellyfin is a fork of Emby which was written in .NET. The server backend and web page are all (or mostly) .NET is my understanding. It makes use of external programs like ffmpeg on the server or VLC on the apps.

[–] MXX53@programming.dev 3 points 5 hours ago

I never used Plex. Up until my kids were born I used to just watch my videos on my desktop, but now I find myself watching on my phone and TV more often. My Jellyfin server has been super stable for the last 6 months or so running on a super low powered machine and external hard drive. The only issues I have is with movies with Dolby digital, they tend to get out of sync when scrubbing the timeline. I am assuming that is due to the lower power of the machine. But, I have a 400watt desktop with a 7th gen i7 and a pascal Quadro P1000 that I am planning on migrating to. Then adding a 20tb internal drive for storage. Hopefully that will resolve the small issues I have seen with it.

[–] M137@lemmy.world 5 points 6 hours ago (1 children)
[–] clb92@feddit.dk 5 points 5 hours ago

What problems are you having with it?

[–] eskuero@lemmy.fromshado.ws 3 points 5 hours ago

Maybe when the merge transcoded downloads on the official clients. rn depending on streamyfin

[–] psion1369@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago

I used Plex a while ago and didn't like how I had to look for my folders against the stuff they offered. And the upside of being able to get my stuff from a server install on another network had me wondering if they were looking at the movies I had to pirate. Once I installed jellyfin, I didn't have to worry. My only issue is if I want to use it on vacation, I have to do some vps hack-jiggery.

load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›