Media & Entertainment · alternatives
Alternatives to Plex
20 media & entertainment tools sit alongside Plex in this directory. Below is what separates each from Plex on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 20
- With a free tier
- 9
- Cheaper to start
- 7
- Plex starts at
- Free, then $6.99/month
Why people look past Plex
Nothing on the record flags a reason to move. Plex has a free tier, and starts at $6.99/month against a category median of $7.99/month. People still switch over fit and workflow, and those are not things a catalogue entry can measure, which is what the comparisons below are for.
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.
Your personal entertainment server
- Starts $2 a month cheaper, at $4.99/month.
The free software media system
- Starts $6.99 a month cheaper, at Free.
The ultimate entertainment center
- Starts $6.99 a month cheaper, at Free.
The best podcast app for iPhone
- Starts $2.959999999999999 a year dearer, at $9.95/year.
Podcast app with episode inbox
- Starts $18 a year dearer, at $24.99/year.
Watch, publish, and share videos
- Starts $6.99 a month cheaper, at Free.
Every Plex 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plex (this page) | Free, then $6.99/month | - | - | |
| EmbySelf-hosted media server software similar to Plex with library management and streaming capabilities | Free, then $4.99/month | Freemium | 2 | vs Plex |
| JellyfinFree, open-source media server and streaming application that provides comparable functionality to Plex | Free | Free | 1 | vs Plex |
| KodiOpen-source home theater software supporting media management and streaming from local libraries | Free | Free | 1 | vs Plex |
| Overcast | Free, then $9.95/year | - | 2 | vs Plex |
| Castro | Free, then $24.99/year | - | 2 | vs Plex |
| Dailymotion | Free | Free | 1 | vs Plex |
| Castbox | Free | - | 2 | vs Plex |
| Crunchyroll | Free, then $7.99/month | Freemium | 3 | vs Plex |
| IMDb TV (Freevee) | Free | Free | 1 | vs Plex |
| HBO Max | $9.99/month | Subscription | 3 | vs Plex |
| Discovery+ | $4.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Plex |
| Paramount+ | $5.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Plex |
| Audible | $7.95/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Plex |
| ESPN+ | $10.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Plex |
| Criterion Channel | $10.99/month | - | 2 | vs Plex |
| Hulu | $7.99/month | Subscription | 3 | vs Plex |
| MUBI | $7.99/month | - | - | vs Plex |
| Disney+ | $7.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Plex |
| Apple TV+ | $9.99/month | Subscription | 1 | vs Plex |
| BritBox | $6.99/month | Subscription | 2 | vs Plex |
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 Plex badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (9)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Emby , Free, then $4.99/month
- Jellyfin , Free
- Kodi , Free
- Overcast , Free, then $9.95/year
- Castro , Free, then $24.99/year
- Dailymotion , Free
- Castbox , Free
- Crunchyroll , Free, then $7.99/month
Cheaper than Plex (7)
Entry price under Plex's $6.99/month. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- Emby , Free, then $4.99/month
- Jellyfin , Free
- Kodi , Free
- Dailymotion , Free
- IMDb TV (Freevee) , Free
- Discovery+ , $4.99/month
- Paramount+ , $5.99/month
What you would be giving up
Plex is most often brought in for industry 4.0, real-time monitoring, iot integration, smart manufacturing. 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 Plex is broadly right and the question is cost, the Plex 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.
Plex runs on roku, fire tv, apple tv, android tv, google tv, xbox, playstation, ios, android, web, windows, macos, linux. 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 Plex alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Plex?
- 20 other media & entertainment tools are listed in this directory, led by Emby, Jellyfin, Kodi, Overcast. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Plex?
- 9 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Emby, Jellyfin, Kodi, Overcast, Castro.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Plex?
- Yes. 7 of the alternatives below start under Plex's $6.99/month: Emby at Free, then $4.99/month, Jellyfin at Free, Kodi at Free, Dailymotion at Free.
- Is there a reason to switch away from Plex?
- Nothing in the data flags one. Plex has a free tier, and starts at $6.99/month against a category median of $7.99/month. Fit and workflow are the usual reasons to move, and those are not things this record can measure.
- What would I give up by switching from Plex?
- Plex is most often brought in for industry 4.0, real-time monitoring, iot integration, smart manufacturing. 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 Plex?
- 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 Plex 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 Plex against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Plex 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, 20 tools beside Plex. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.