Media & Entertainment · alternatives
Alternatives to Jellyfin
19 media & entertainment tools sit alongside Jellyfin in this directory. Below is what separates each from Jellyfin on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 19
- With a free tier
- 8
- Cheaper to start
- 0
- Jellyfin starts at
- Free
Why people look past Jellyfin
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Jellyfin entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is only one tier
Jellyfin publishes a single plan, Free at Free. There is no smaller tier to drop to if the fit is wrong or the budget moves.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
The best podcast app for iPhone
- Starts $9.95 a year dearer, at $9.95/year.
- 2 tiers to Jellyfin's 1.
Your personal entertainment server
- Starts $4.99 a month dearer, at $4.99/month.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than free.
- 2 tiers to Jellyfin's 1.
Podcast app with episode inbox
- Starts $24.99 a year dearer, at $24.99/year.
- 2 tiers to Jellyfin's 1.
The ultimate entertainment center
Priced and rated the same as Jellyfin on the figures we hold. The difference, if there is one, is in the feature records.
Watch, publish, and share videos
Priced and rated the same as Jellyfin on the figures we hold. The difference, if there is one, is in the feature records.
Podcast & radio app for everyone
- 2 tiers to Jellyfin's 1.
Every Jellyfin alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jellyfin (this page) | Free | Free | 1 | |
| Overcast | Free, then $9.95/year | - | 2 | vs Jellyfin |
| Emby | Free, then $4.99/month | Freemium | 2 | vs Jellyfin |
| Castro | Free, then $24.99/year | - | 2 | vs Jellyfin |
| Kodi | Free | Free | 1 | vs Jellyfin |
| Dailymotion | Free | Free | 1 | vs Jellyfin |
| Castbox | Free | - | 2 | vs Jellyfin |
| Crunchyroll | Free, then $7.99/month | Freemium | 3 | vs Jellyfin |
| IMDb TV (Freevee) | Free | Free | 1 | vs Jellyfin |
| HBO Max | $9.99/month | Subscription | 3 | vs Jellyfin |
| Discovery+ | $4.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Jellyfin |
| Paramount+ | $5.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Jellyfin |
| Audible | $7.95/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Jellyfin |
| ESPN+ | $10.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Jellyfin |
| Criterion Channel | $10.99/month | - | 2 | vs Jellyfin |
| Hulu | $7.99/month | Subscription | 3 | vs Jellyfin |
| MUBI | $7.99/month | - | - | vs Jellyfin |
| Disney+ | $7.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Jellyfin |
| Apple TV+ | $9.99/month | Subscription | 1 | vs Jellyfin |
| BritBox | $6.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Jellyfin |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Jellyfin badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (8)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Overcast , Free, then $9.95/year
- Emby , Free, then $4.99/month
- Castro , Free, then $24.99/year
- Kodi , Free
- Dailymotion , Free
- Castbox , Free
- Crunchyroll , Free, then $7.99/month
- IMDb TV (Freevee) , Free
What you would be giving up
Jellyfin is most often brought in for open-source media streaming, self-hosted library. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Jellyfin is broadly right and the question is cost, the Jellyfin pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Media & Entertainment category lists everything the directory holds, and best media & entertainment tools ranks them.
Jellyfin runs on web, ios, android, smart-tv, desktop, docker. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Jellyfin alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Jellyfin?
- 19 other media & entertainment tools are listed in this directory, led by Overcast, Emby, Castro, Kodi. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Jellyfin?
- 8 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Overcast, Emby, Castro, Kodi, Dailymotion.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Jellyfin?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is only one tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Jellyfin?
- Jellyfin is most often brought in for open-source media streaming, self-hosted library. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Jellyfin?
- None of the media & entertainment tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Jellyfin alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Media & Entertainment, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored slot runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Jellyfin against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Jellyfin covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every media & entertainment tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Media & Entertainment category, 19 tools beside Jellyfin. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.