Technology

Jellyfin does most everything Plex does but without a pay wall.

Last I checked (which admittedly was a few years ago), Plex was the only thing that could add subtitles to something being Chromecast'ed. That's the primary way I watch things on my actual TV, and since apparently I'm deaf AF and need subtitles for everything, Plex was the best choice. The others would've required processing stuff with handbrake ahead of time.

Bought a lifetime subscription though and it's been well worth it.

In my android TV, the plex app updated the UI making the home screen showing more outside content instead of my own shows in my harddrive. Maybe there is a setting somewhere I need to fiddle.

Took the chance to change to Jellyfin, did not change any folder structure and it worked fine. Most importantly my shows show up in home screen

They're both very similar, but they do have important differences.

• Plex has a sleeker UI that is better for our less tech-savvy friends and family. I don't mind JF''s UI, but Plex definitely wins in this department.

• Plex is easier to access from outside your home network, especially for those of us who do not have full control of our own internet. With Plex, you just open a port, specify it for Plex, and it takes care of the rest. JF on the other hand requires the user to specify the IP (or domain if you have one).

• The first two points both result in a better experience for the end user as well. I don't need to hold anyone's hand when I invite them to the server, they can do it on their own. JF may not be as simple for some users.

These are the reasons why I personally use Plex over JF. However, JF is still worth considering. You don't need to pay to unlock any features, it's all FOSS, and imo it's more stable than Plex. It all comes down to personal preference and your situation. Hope that helps a bit!

Jellyfin is free/open source software, while Plex is not.

I have not used Plex in years, however, just the fact that Jellyfin is FOSS is enough for me to want to use it more. I am not sure what features Plex has that Jellyfin doesn't, but, it does everything it can do really well. Honestly, just throw it up next to Plex and see how you like it. Installation is a breeze, at least with Docker.

Plex is like, slightly more complete and robust and simpler but Jellyfin is so so so close to a complete replacement of Plex. Jellyfin also has some nice features that Plex doesn't.