ive been using kodi (xbmc was better moniker) since google killed sagetv. i recall attempting plex, but it seemed to lack some open/extensibility (its been awhile).
i have a side project i want to make as a modular plugin generating a cable layout with original air orders and networks/channels… kodi seems most optimal, but ill admit its been a long while since i looked at plex.
Well, I use plex, because I have used plex for a decade, and it just works.
That being said, if I were to use an alternative, Jellyfin is quite fantastic. I actually have a pod running it, just in the event that plex pulls a stupid move, causing me to lose faith in its platform.
But, that being said, I like the plex interface more then Jellyfin, and have grown accustomed to it.
Also, Kodi while powerful and extensible… just feels like a bear compared to Jellyfin.
I’ll cast my vote: Kodi is far superior to Plex. People are just too lazy to learn something. I have a library larger than Netflix and Kodi makes browsing it very simple.
For multi device jellyfin or Plex(which is terrible now compared to before) is way better, sure you can make Kodi do it but it’s never been good at that
I have a multimedia server with jellyfin and even the dumbest clients can play off it some way.
To each their own. I run a NAS as the main source of data in my network and the files are encoded as h.265 2160p 10bit. I don’t need another transcode step because my systems are all capable of decoding h.265 10bit in real time. To force my NAS to do another transcode would be stupid, IMO.
I switched to Plex because it was easier and I don’t use it much anyway. It completely fulfills my needs and it always works - the only issues I’ve ever had were with the PC my server was hosted on. I’ve yet to run into any issues that would make me look into switching like I have with other software/platforms I’ve abandoned
Jellyfin is great and I follow its development and test it every now an then but it is nowhere near fully featured or well supported enough or me to transfer my family over to.
I checked like 9 months ago and couldn’t find any information on how to get it set up to work or how well it works. Until it becomes far more readily accessible, I’d argue that feature alone makes it worth sticking with Plex.
Plex is based on XBMC/ KODI, and both excel at basically being a VLC - playing anything and everything locally or over the LAN. Jellyfin on the other hand is excellent at creating a personal Netflix you can access from outside your network, but because it runs through the browser youre more likely to have transcoding issues and you’re not going to have that Swiss-army knife, can-play-everything-you-throw-at-it like Kodi and Plex can. I use both.
kodi is more ‘media center’…audio/video/static imaging…hell, plugins to gaming… jellyfin/emby is an excellent transcoding/end-user-streaming platform. i see them as complimentary to eachother
Don’t they need your server’s address with Plex? 🤔 and wait, address or domain?
Anyway, is it a problem to give them a link like jelly.john.com or watch.john.com
Plex has a reverse proxying service and can do upnp for you so it works with dynamic IPs out of the box with no need for a domain or forwarding ports. It defaults to upnp and falls back to the Plex hosted reverse proxy which also uses a dynamically generated subdomain and gives you a free SSL cert. Granted I prefer to host my own reverse proxy anyway with my own domain (when I had a static IP I just forwarded a port and set up an A record) but out of the box Plex does make it much easier for a non technical user to hit the ground running.
I do use jellyfin, I run it side by side with Plex on the same Intel nuc with quick sync - both with the exact same media folders added - and I let my friends choose. I don’t think a single one of them prefer jellyfin unfortunately.
Have you used Plex before? No they don’t need to know anything. They sign up and you grant them access (or even just give them a user in your home and they just sign in by texting you a code). It is as easy or easier than signing into your typical streaming app. Just extremely easy. Jellyfin is great and I hope they keep going but they’re not at the same level as Plex. I’ve been using Plex for nearly a decade now and I’ve tried out jellyfin a few times. I’ll keep trying because I don’t want to use Plex forever but I’m not going to pretend they’re the same. Hopefully they will be eventually.
In the case we are talking about different self hosting things
I used to have Plex with a domain
It’s not a problem for me to connect domains, dns, reverse proxies, etc. Because i’m already hosting like everything, email, my own dns server, websites, nextcloud, basically everything
I just created accounts for my family, so they didn’t need to create accounts or anything. And no you don’t need ip address specifically if that’s what you meant. You can use dynamic DNS services and reverse proxies so you just have a regular web address like “https://jellyfin.somewebsite.com”
Absolutely. For my non tech proficient family and friends, it’s easy for them to install an app on their streaming box/stick and send me the login code.
I used XBMC/Kodi for about 10 years until I tried Plex about a year ago. Kodi’s filesystem-centric view on media feels outdated in a world where almost all software is using intelligent search and filtering along with natively supported media info imports. This stuff is possible with Kodi too, but the plugin interface feels dated too. I also found it to be a resource hog on embedded devices.
But Plex has its flaws too. It swings the needle too far in the direction of Netflix-y for my liking, which is why I recently tried Jellyfin.
Jellyfin is a perfect medium between the two approaches in my experience of using it for a few months. I’d recommend any Kodi users who are wary of Plex to try it out.
i like a more backwards compatible, safety first setup, so the file/folder structure lends itself to this.
IE, all my media is stored in a standardized way… and included in those physical files are all metadata…in NFOs and in the mkv containers where applicable.
Then, the databases are built on top of that. if anything ever goes wrong in the more complex layers, you can quickly rebuild from source files.
you then also have multiple sources of metadata access for subsequent systems (jellyfin).
I’m not sure we’re talking about the same thing. Most data hoarders / homelabbers I know, myself included are using radarr/sonarr etc. to do the cataloguing and metadata selection, with any necessary encoding automation on top. This also leads to a uniform folder and file structure for all of your media and metadata.
I just don’t find this that useful when browsing and watching from a television or tablet, so I don’t use Kodi to that end.
It’s certainly useful for backups and migrations but we don’t have to throw the baby out with the bathwater where Kodi is concerned.
I think they’re best suited for different use cases tbh.
Plex makes it great to handoff and resume media on multiple devices, has native apps for everything (from Linux, to PS3, to Firestick, to XB1, literally you name it), makes it easy to share media with friends and family, has excellent media file name recognition, and lastly has Plexamp (which for me is an extra deal maker).
Recently visited a friend’s house, and after logging into my Plex on their TV I could instantly resume whatever I was watching at home, as easily as I would have for a Netflix account.
If you do all your media consumption on a single device, or have no need to organise different libraries of media… then something like Plex/Emby/Jellyfin could be overkill - Kodi would be awesome in that case
Kodi has a plugin called “plexkodiconnect” that uses plex as the media backend for kodi front ends. It basically replaces the kodi media db, giving you updates/sync/resume/intro skip/etc the same way plex does. Plex runs on a server as normal, and can be used however you normally use it as well. Youre still able to use plex apps on whatever devices you like.
You get the best of both worlds with some light setup.
Exactly. I used XBMC and then Kodi for years until I got a smartphone and a laptop and wanted to keep my watched list synced across multiple devices. It was way too complicated with Kodi; it was never designed for that. That’s when I switched over to Plex.
Aside from that use case, though, Kodi is an incredibly powerful and impressive piece of software.
Kodis had that for ages if you can run a small Maria or mysql server to host the databases. Plex makes that process easier for sure, but Kodi can do it.
Have you tried to install add-on or scraper to Kodi? On mobile or remote bases device. Please let me know how many steps it take to that, and also when you find a scraper , how long it actually stays up
Kodi is extremely fussy about file names for automatic scraping. If you follow the naming standards, which is easy if you using something like sonarr, the built in scanner will work fine.
Plex is just easier, especially when using multiple devices to watch content and/or sharing content with friends and family. I used to be all in on kodi over Plex, but Plex improved and improved and improved and is a better product imo.
I start up the plex server service on my win10 main machine to stream videos inhouse to my xbox plex app manually on demand. I kill the service whenever it is not needed. I provide video files manually without any automation and torrenting. I actually don’t know if this simple use case can be solved as easy as plex with kodi.
Plex is just more user friendly than Kodi. And the real question should be why Plex instead of Jellyfin, and my answer to that is:
I’ve already set up the Plex server and it works, I don’t really want to go through the trouble of switching over if everything is working fine the way it is right now
Even though I’m big on FOSS, that seems like a completely reasonable take. Though I think Jellyfin integrates with Kodi much better. Last time I used Kodi + Plex, Plex was its own app inside Kodi. Meanwhile, with Jellyfin it just populates your regular Kodi with the media without you even noticing that the source is Jellyfin and not say your hdd.
Have never needed it, almost all my media is just x264 so it’s working on every potato around. Not the same answer for everyone obviously, but useless for me.
I know they could close up shop tomorrow, but the one-time-purchase of plexpass beats any sort of ongoing subscription. It does a great job of finding subtitles, it doesn’t care how shit my file/folder structure is, and the client is user friendly for the rest of the house.
I prefer jellyfin, but I haven’t taken the time to get my library in the right layout for jellyfin to display it right.
I just setup a htpc and am using kodi for client of jellyfin, because for some reason the jellyfin desktop app will not register any controller inputs and I haven’t found a remote control solution that works.
My gripe with Jellyfin is that there isn’t a functional app for my shitbox Toshiba Amazon TV. I’m open to alternatives but that’s a must for me. Plex is also fairly user friendly which is important for sharing my library with my relatives.
A new shield is quite expensive… The Onn Google TV device from Walmart is $30 and does substantially the same things for most users. Or a Roku (whatever they call the cheap version) is pretty adequate if you’re not into the Google TV/android thing.
I hate the shield, I mean I still use it but the shit with no ads and then getting riddled with ads pissed me off. Sure the CCWGTV whatever its cheap but the price I paid for my shields, it was not ok.
Oh I can download and install apks through the shitty browser on the tv. If there’s a functional app that has an equivalent UX to the Plex TV app I’d be open to trying it.
Jellyfin app is bad on android TV and being in bed with media conglomerates doesn’t get in the way on plex imo. Open up my plex and there are no ads and the only two categories are TV and movies which I put there. I WILL switch to jelly, when their TV app gets more features.
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Well, I use plex, because I have used plex for a decade, and it just works.
That being said, if I were to use an alternative, Jellyfin is quite fantastic. I actually have a pod running it, just in the event that plex pulls a stupid move, causing me to lose faith in its platform.
But, that being said, I like the plex interface more then Jellyfin, and have grown accustomed to it.
Also, Kodi while powerful and extensible… just feels like a bear compared to Jellyfin.
I’ll cast my vote: Kodi is far superior to Plex. People are just too lazy to learn something. I have a library larger than Netflix and Kodi makes browsing it very simple.
For multi device jellyfin or Plex(which is terrible now compared to before) is way better, sure you can make Kodi do it but it’s never been good at that
I have a multimedia server with jellyfin and even the dumbest clients can play off it some way.
To each their own. I run a NAS as the main source of data in my network and the files are encoded as h.265 2160p 10bit. I don’t need another transcode step because my systems are all capable of decoding h.265 10bit in real time. To force my NAS to do another transcode would be stupid, IMO.
yeah, i dont understand the attempt to get the nas to do more than being a nas. its busy bein nas.
I agree. I disable transcoding and use direct play. Jellyfin is a multi device library for the files on my nas.
Laughs in stremio
Fr fr.
I switched to Plex because it was easier and I don’t use it much anyway. It completely fulfills my needs and it always works - the only issues I’ve ever had were with the PC my server was hosted on. I’ve yet to run into any issues that would make me look into switching like I have with other software/platforms I’ve abandoned
I just use plain ftp server, streaming clients always give me problems, today work tomorrow not
The real question is why anyone would use Kodi/Plex/XBMC over Jellyfin
Jellyfin is great and I follow its development and test it every now an then but it is nowhere near fully featured or well supported enough or me to transfer my family over to.
I will eventually, when it’s ready.
Intro detection
There’s an addon for that (I haven’t used it)
I checked like 9 months ago and couldn’t find any information on how to get it set up to work or how well it works. Until it becomes far more readily accessible, I’d argue that feature alone makes it worth sticking with Plex.
And here I just press the right arrow key lol
Plex has so many antifeatures I can’t ever imagine using it, and Jellyfin is okay enough to use.
Because my current TV is a Samsung so runs Tizen OS and thus doesn’t have an official Jellyfin app.
(I bought it before I ever got into NAS stuff and it still works fine so I’ll be damned if I buy another TV before this one stops working.)
Edit: A word.
Kodi works way better for local network content in my experience
In what way? Curious because I’ve never had any issues with plex on my local network.
Plex is based on XBMC/ KODI, and both excel at basically being a VLC - playing anything and everything locally or over the LAN. Jellyfin on the other hand is excellent at creating a personal Netflix you can access from outside your network, but because it runs through the browser youre more likely to have transcoding issues and you’re not going to have that Swiss-army knife, can-play-everything-you-throw-at-it like Kodi and Plex can. I use both.
kodi is more ‘media center’…audio/video/static imaging…hell, plugins to gaming… jellyfin/emby is an excellent transcoding/end-user-streaming platform. i see them as complimentary to eachother
Kodi has a nicer interface imo. Kodi as the player and Jellyfin as the “backend” is a great combo imo.
Because Plex makes it so much easier for me to share my stuff with my brother who doesn’t live in the same house.
How is different from jellyfin? 🤔
They just need to create a Plex account. For jellyfin, they need my server’s up address, right?
Don’t they need your server’s address with Plex? 🤔 and wait, address or domain? Anyway, is it a problem to give them a link like jelly.john.com or watch.john.com
Plex has a reverse proxying service and can do upnp for you so it works with dynamic IPs out of the box with no need for a domain or forwarding ports. It defaults to upnp and falls back to the Plex hosted reverse proxy which also uses a dynamically generated subdomain and gives you a free SSL cert. Granted I prefer to host my own reverse proxy anyway with my own domain (when I had a static IP I just forwarded a port and set up an A record) but out of the box Plex does make it much easier for a non technical user to hit the ground running.
If I were you, I would just use jellyfin and don’t mess with Plex Jellyfin is opensource, doesn’t collect any data, and just faster in my experience
I do use jellyfin, I run it side by side with Plex on the same Intel nuc with quick sync - both with the exact same media folders added - and I let my friends choose. I don’t think a single one of them prefer jellyfin unfortunately.
Have you used Plex before? No they don’t need to know anything. They sign up and you grant them access (or even just give them a user in your home and they just sign in by texting you a code). It is as easy or easier than signing into your typical streaming app. Just extremely easy. Jellyfin is great and I hope they keep going but they’re not at the same level as Plex. I’ve been using Plex for nearly a decade now and I’ve tried out jellyfin a few times. I’ll keep trying because I don’t want to use Plex forever but I’m not going to pretend they’re the same. Hopefully they will be eventually.
In the case we are talking about different self hosting things
I used to have Plex with a domain
It’s not a problem for me to connect domains, dns, reverse proxies, etc. Because i’m already hosting like everything, email, my own dns server, websites, nextcloud, basically everything
I just created accounts for my family, so they didn’t need to create accounts or anything. And no you don’t need ip address specifically if that’s what you meant. You can use dynamic DNS services and reverse proxies so you just have a regular web address like “https://jellyfin.somewebsite.com”
Absolutely. For my non tech proficient family and friends, it’s easy for them to install an app on their streaming box/stick and send me the login code.
Is it different from jellyfin in sharing?
I used XBMC/Kodi for about 10 years until I tried Plex about a year ago. Kodi’s filesystem-centric view on media feels outdated in a world where almost all software is using intelligent search and filtering along with natively supported media info imports. This stuff is possible with Kodi too, but the plugin interface feels dated too. I also found it to be a resource hog on embedded devices.
But Plex has its flaws too. It swings the needle too far in the direction of Netflix-y for my liking, which is why I recently tried Jellyfin.
Jellyfin is a perfect medium between the two approaches in my experience of using it for a few months. I’d recommend any Kodi users who are wary of Plex to try it out.
i like a more backwards compatible, safety first setup, so the file/folder structure lends itself to this.
IE, all my media is stored in a standardized way… and included in those physical files are all metadata…in NFOs and in the mkv containers where applicable.
Then, the databases are built on top of that. if anything ever goes wrong in the more complex layers, you can quickly rebuild from source files.
you then also have multiple sources of metadata access for subsequent systems (jellyfin).
I’m not sure we’re talking about the same thing. Most data hoarders / homelabbers I know, myself included are using radarr/sonarr etc. to do the cataloguing and metadata selection, with any necessary encoding automation on top. This also leads to a uniform folder and file structure for all of your media and metadata.
I just don’t find this that useful when browsing and watching from a television or tablet, so I don’t use Kodi to that end.
It’s certainly useful for backups and migrations but we don’t have to throw the baby out with the bathwater where Kodi is concerned.
I think they’re best suited for different use cases tbh.
Plex makes it great to handoff and resume media on multiple devices, has native apps for everything (from Linux, to PS3, to Firestick, to XB1, literally you name it), makes it easy to share media with friends and family, has excellent media file name recognition, and lastly has Plexamp (which for me is an extra deal maker).
Recently visited a friend’s house, and after logging into my Plex on their TV I could instantly resume whatever I was watching at home, as easily as I would have for a Netflix account.
If you do all your media consumption on a single device, or have no need to organise different libraries of media… then something like Plex/Emby/Jellyfin could be overkill - Kodi would be awesome in that case
Edit: typo
Kodi has a plugin called “plexkodiconnect” that uses plex as the media backend for kodi front ends. It basically replaces the kodi media db, giving you updates/sync/resume/intro skip/etc the same way plex does. Plex runs on a server as normal, and can be used however you normally use it as well. Youre still able to use plex apps on whatever devices you like.
You get the best of both worlds with some light setup.
Exactly. I used XBMC and then Kodi for years until I got a smartphone and a laptop and wanted to keep my watched list synced across multiple devices. It was way too complicated with Kodi; it was never designed for that. That’s when I switched over to Plex.
Aside from that use case, though, Kodi is an incredibly powerful and impressive piece of software.
I think Jellyfin is only an overkill if you don’t value privacy
Kodis had that for ages if you can run a small Maria or mysql server to host the databases. Plex makes that process easier for sure, but Kodi can do it.
Have you tried to install add-on or scraper to Kodi? On mobile or remote bases device. Please let me know how many steps it take to that, and also when you find a scraper , how long it actually stays up
Kodi is extremely fussy about file names for automatic scraping. If you follow the naming standards, which is easy if you using something like sonarr, the built in scanner will work fine.
My Kodi has a built in scraper, and the few addon’s I need have been hassle free to install. 0 complaints.
kodi is not a metadata management tool, ive been using MediaElch for that
Plex is just easier, especially when using multiple devices to watch content and/or sharing content with friends and family. I used to be all in on kodi over Plex, but Plex improved and improved and improved and is a better product imo.
I start up the plex server service on my win10 main machine to stream videos inhouse to my xbox plex app manually on demand. I kill the service whenever it is not needed. I provide video files manually without any automation and torrenting. I actually don’t know if this simple use case can be solved as easy as plex with kodi.
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Plex is just more user friendly than Kodi. And the real question should be why Plex instead of Jellyfin, and my answer to that is:
I’ve already set up the Plex server and it works, I don’t really want to go through the trouble of switching over if everything is working fine the way it is right now
Even though I’m big on FOSS, that seems like a completely reasonable take. Though I think Jellyfin integrates with Kodi much better. Last time I used Kodi + Plex, Plex was its own app inside Kodi. Meanwhile, with Jellyfin it just populates your regular Kodi with the media without you even noticing that the source is Jellyfin and not say your hdd.
The real question is why people pay for Plex when Jellyfin is free and open source
Been using Plex for 13+ years, have yet to pay a dime.
So much for hardware transcoding eh? lol
h264 and H265 (not 10bit) is so well supported that it is hardly an issue.
Have never needed it, almost all my media is just x264 so it’s working on every potato around. Not the same answer for everyone obviously, but useless for me.
Thats fair
Plex lifetime pass for 60 bucks in 2014
I know they could close up shop tomorrow, but the one-time-purchase of plexpass beats any sort of ongoing subscription. It does a great job of finding subtitles, it doesn’t care how shit my file/folder structure is, and the client is user friendly for the rest of the house.
I prefer jellyfin, but I haven’t taken the time to get my library in the right layout for jellyfin to display it right.
You don’t have to pay for Plex.
Because some people prefer plex and being a (optionally) paid product it will very likely receive more and better updates.
I just setup a htpc and am using kodi for client of jellyfin, because for some reason the jellyfin desktop app will not register any controller inputs and I haven’t found a remote control solution that works.
Surprised there is so much support for Plex…considering what this group is about, and Plex being in bed with the media conglomerates.
Emby or Jellyfin…
My gripe with Jellyfin is that there isn’t a functional app for my shitbox Toshiba Amazon TV. I’m open to alternatives but that’s a must for me. Plex is also fairly user friendly which is important for sharing my library with my relatives.
Why not just attach a non shitty device over HDMI and use that?
Lots of people do that, the Nvidia shield is one I hear a lot about
A new shield is quite expensive… The Onn Google TV device from Walmart is $30 and does substantially the same things for most users. Or a Roku (whatever they call the cheap version) is pretty adequate if you’re not into the Google TV/android thing.
I hate the shield, I mean I still use it but the shit with no ads and then getting riddled with ads pissed me off. Sure the CCWGTV whatever its cheap but the price I paid for my shields, it was not ok.
It’s easy to install a different launcher. I’ve literally never seen an ad on my Shield…And the ads are the fault of Google TV, not the Shield.
My issues with the Shield are mostly the cost and then killing software features.
Fair, have never looked at the price, I just have a Linux mini PC running Jellyfin lol
Can you not sideload to those TVs?
Oh I can download and install apks through the shitty browser on the tv. If there’s a functional app that has an equivalent UX to the Plex TV app I’d be open to trying it.
Install Kodi
Add the jellycon plugin (instructions on jellyfin site)
Done
Jellyfin app is bad on android TV and being in bed with media conglomerates doesn’t get in the way on plex imo. Open up my plex and there are no ads and the only two categories are TV and movies which I put there. I WILL switch to jelly, when their TV app gets more features.