Building a NAS seems to make more sense with each passing year, as concerns about data privacy and surveillance continue to rise. Inevitably, media is among the first things I offloaded onto a NAS when I first got one, and a quick search online pointed to Plex as the best solution for managing music, movies, and TV shows. Now that I've soaked in the warmth of self-hosting and its conveniences, I'm regretting not installing Jellyfin from the get-go.

You see, for years, Plex was the undisputed king of the self-hosted media server world. The initial setup is a breeze for novices, and it is a robust, user-friendly platform. However, Plex today feels like a shadow of its former self, its once-clean interface peppered with recommendations and a constant push towards its ad-supported streaming services. Core features are now paywalled behind Plex Pass. This slow erosion of the user-centric experience is making me seriously consider a switch to Jellyfin, a completely free and open-source alternative that promises a return to the roots of what a personal media server should be.

Jellyfin is FOSS while Plex isn't freeware anymore

Risk for greater reward

A fundamental difference and personal pain point is how Jellyfin is proudly FOSS — Free and Open Source Software, while Plex has become a closed-source, proprietary product. Jellyfin code is publicly available for anyone to inspect or modify, but this wasn't always the case for Plex. The latter started out as freeware made from a fork of XBMC, now known as Kodi. This transition from free software to a for-profit venture has helped new features but the user experience is now steered by corporate pursuits.

With Jellyfin, there's the reassurance that code can be audited, and there's no greed at play. So, there's no data collection to sell to advertisers, no account creation, and no push for freemium content. It’s a liberating feeling to use software that respects you as a user, not a potential revenue stream. I may have chosen differently if I had known this truth about Plex's walled garden at the outset.

Plex homepage is a busy mess

The fluff is hard to get rid of

A repetitive frustration with Plex is how the homepage only has a tiny sliver of your locally hosted content, clouded by recommendations. The Discover feature and its ad-supported movies and TV shows hog most of the prime screen real estate. Overall, the appearance after initial setup resembles that of just another streaming aggregator more than a personal media server, thereby defeating the purpose of self-hosting entirely.

Yes, Plex has settings to turn off most of these distractions, but the settings are buried in the menus. You can unpin unwanted sources from the sidebar and the home page, but the constant battle to keep your own content on the home screen feels tedious when Jellyfin, in stark contrast, offers only your own content by default. That is a breath of fresh air when seemingly every rival mimics a personalized Netflix experience. There are no ads, no recommendations for services you don't use, and no free content that's a cash grab in disguise. I should've known basic respect for users isn't shared across all self-hosted media managers.

Paying up for remote access

No Wi-Fi, no streaming

When you imagine the freedom of self-hosted media, the thought of streaming for free from anywhere comes to mind, whether you're traveling, at a friend's house, or just on your lunch break. Plex lures users with taglines suggesting they can access files from anywhere, but free-tier users suffer from an unreliable experience, also devoid of hardware transcoding. Streaming from your server is a paid service included in Plex Pass, but tech-savvy users can bypass it by manually configuring port forwarding on their router. Plex's mobile apps also limit free-tier playback. I'm left with a sour feeling that the free version is functional enough to show just how much better paying up would be.

On the flip side, remote access on Jellyfin is devoid of paywalls, and I'd get the full, unthrottled experience from day one. However, initialization is complicated for someone who would prefer Plex and its simplicity. The process may still entail port forwarding, but there are no hidden restrictions.

Plex needs the internet

But Jellyfin offers offline access

Plex Pass for offline access, plugins on Jellyfin, and a Jellyfin skin that resembles Plex

Once you have a Plex server set up, you can easily download content for access later, but you'd still need the internet to stream with the default setup configuration. Because Plex relies on its own servers for authentication, even for local access, an internet outage can render your local media server completely inaccessible unless you've set up the Media Server to allow insecure connections, authorized local device IPs, or are using a DLNA-compatible player like VLC on your local network. Plex still requires an internet connection to authenticate sign-ins, so you need to change these settings beforehand; otherwise, you'll experience a rude shock with your first outage, even if you were logged in, as I was.

The lack of home internet obviously kills remote access outside your Wi-Fi network on both services natively. Still, Jellyfin maintains local network availability even when there's no internet, even on the default config. That's because signing in on your streaming devices logs directly into your media server. Moreover, integrating with services like Tailscale or ZeroTier creates a secure, private network between your devices, allowing you to access your server from anywhere, as if you were on your home Wi-Fi, all without relying on a central, third-party authentication server. Other extensions for Jellyfin can further supercharge it to add Plex Pass features such as intro skipping and chapter creation.

App support still takes the cake

Plex has one for every OS

One of my biggest hesitations about leaving Plex is the OS-agnostic app support. There's a Plex client for smart TVs, streaming sticks, game consoles, smartphones, tablets, and desktops. This is the service's greatest strength, because Jellyfin's greatness is only accessible through a web browser on some devices — a demerit of FOSS and the challenges of volunteers maintaining dedicated apps on every OS. There are official Jellyfin apps for Android, iOS, Android TV, and Amazon Fire TV. Some developers have created Jellyfin clients, such as Infuse for Apple devices and Findroid for Android, that seem to outdo Plex as well.

Jellyfin's web UI, nonetheless, is robust, featuring Chromecast and AirPlay support. The refinement compensates for the lack of native app support for obscure smart TV operating systems and PlayStation.

Jellyfin gives me buyer's remorse

I haven't coughed up a fee for Plex's paid tier yet, but in hindsight, my journey to self-hosting a media server may have been smoother if I had looked past Plex's marketing and brand recognition. For anyone building a NAS today or looking for a Plex alternative, I urge you not to dismiss Jellyfin as a simplistic or niche option. It is a powerful, feature-rich, and truly user-centric platform that respects users and their data ownership. The freedom from corporate agendas, the clean and focused interface, and the robust, no-strings-attached functionality make it a compelling choice. I haven't switched yet, but I doubt if Plex is still true to its founding purpose.