Plex is a well-established name in the home media server space, but many users have started looking for alternatives due to rising costs and feature restrictions.

Of all the choices out there, Jellyfin is likely the best pick; it offers all the features Plex has (and more), while remaining completely free and open source. And while its base functionality is already great, Jellyfin features an extensive plugin library that takes it way beyond Plex.

Intro Skipper

This paid Plex feature is a free Jellyfin addition

One of the best features offered by streaming services is the ability to skip a show's intro. It saves a lot of time; when you only have an hour to watch something, why spend five minutes watching an unnecessarily long intro?

While Plex requires a Plex Pass subscription to access this particular benefit, Jellyfin offers it as a simple plugin called Intro Skipper. It does sometimes have a few issues, such as skipping too much or too little, but these problems can be resolved relatively easily by adjusting the plugin settings.

Skin Manager

Your media server, your way

If you're hosting your own media server, then it's a safe bet that you like to be in control of how things look and operate. Plex offers a respectable level of customization, but much of it is locked behind a Plex Pass subscription. unfortunately.

Jellyfin's Skin Manager allows you to download any skin you want to use and tweak Jellyfin to look exactly how you imagine it. You can go for something cozy, perfect for binging Gilmore Girls, or you can opt for a futuristic, sci-fi setting for your next Dune rewatch.

Home Screen Sections

Make Jellyfin feel more like a traditional streaming service

If you like the look of a traditional streaming service, like Netflix's different sections, you can recreate that look and feel in Jellyfin using Home Screen Sections. This plugin currently only works with web-based interfaces (sorry, Swiftfin users), but it provides a list of sections you can add to your setup, such as Because You Watched, Discover, and Latest.

The plugin is still receiving updates and being developed. The developer has asked users to submit feature requests on his website and to alert him to any bugs via GitHub.

Media Cleaner

Limited storage? No problem

If you have limited storage and no desire to rewatch content after you've finished it, Media Cleaner is a fantastic way to free up space on your device. You can set it to automatically remove content after you've finished watching an episode, a full season, or the entire series. For users with large content libraries, this is a great way to reduce the impact of downloading all those shows.

And yes, you can choose to ignore certain shows that you want to watch on repeat. For instance, my wife and I have Friends on our media server, and it's our background show for when we're cleaning the house, doing laundry, or anytime we don't want to sit in silence.

Trakt

Sync your viewing history, because you won't remember whether you watched that episode or not

There are a lot of different shows and movies to keep up with these days, and if you take a break from watching one — or more likely, it goes on an absurdly long mid-season break — you might not remember the last episode you saw when you return.

Trakt helps alleviate that. The Trakt plugin makes it easy to manage your viewing progress in Jellyfin, and you can even sync it with mainstream platforms. Trakt can also update you whenever a show becomes available on another service, or if you've been waiting for it to be released on your platform of choice.

Fanart Plugin

Because artwork fuels the vibe

Yet another tool for customizing your media server's interface, Fanart Plugin lets you pull fan-made art from Fanart.tv into your media collection. Use it to designate folder covers and much more.

With more than 700,000 images available on the website, you might have a hard time deciding exactly which bit of art to use, but you won't lack for choices. Whether it's anime, movies, or your favorite TV show, Fanart.tv is likely to have at least something for it. I was able to find logos for even obscure 60s TV shows.

Plex has been around a while, but Jellyfin takes the cake with plugins

I'm an unapologetic fan of Jellyfin, and its plugin library is a large part of that. The plugins offer so much versatility and granular control over my experience that it's hard to imagine returning to Plex (or leaving Jellyfin for something else). And best of all, they're all free. I don't have to spend a dime to enjoy my own content, and that's exactly the way it should be.