The Best Open Source Plex AlternativesTop Media Servers & Media Centers like Plex

The best open source alternative to Plex is Jellyfin. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Plex and many of them is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to Plex are Universal Media Server, Navidrome, Meelo and Music Assistant.

filter to find the best alternatives

Plex alternatives are mainly Media Servers, but if you're looking for Media Centers or Audio Players you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Open Source, Android, Linux, Mac, Chrome OS, Apple TV and Self-Hosted. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Plex.
More about Plex
Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard
Plex alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. Jellyfin icon

    Jellyfin

     329 likes

    A free, open-source media system alternative to proprietary options like Emby and Plex, with Chromecast support, 4K streaming, plugin extensions, focusing on privacy without premium features, managing media from dedicated servers to multiple devices via various apps.

    51 Jellyfin alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • Flathub
    • Tizen OS
    • F-Droid
    • Android TV
    • Kodi
    • Docker
    • Fire TV
    • Roku
    • Cloudron
    Jellyfin screenshot 1
     
    |
    18
    126
    Comments about Jellyfin as an Alternative to Plex
    Comment summary: Jellyfin is praised for being a free, open-source alternative to Plex, offering increased privacy without requiring a cloud account. It's appreciated for customization, ease of setup, and lack of paywalls. However, users note challenges with certain devices and that Jellyfin is currently less polished than Plex, though improvements are underway. Its functionality and privacy features are highlighted as major strengths.
    Top Positive Comment
    seczamotu
    9

    It's FOSS and they don't spy on you. No paywalls and 'Premium' packages. It's completely free.

    obradk
    0

    It would be ok except it's impossible to disable transcoding and have decent subtitles. It's slow, but it's FOSS and it's not trying to upsell you at all times.

    intp
    Positive
    0

    Certainly a viable free, open-source alternative, but be advised that getting it working with a Roku, for example, can be a lot more challenging for less tech savvy users.

    3 of 18 comments
    Plex Icon
    Jellyfin icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Jellyfin is a great Plex alternative.

    • Jellyfin is the most popular Windows, Android, Mac & iPhone alternative to Plex.

    • Jellyfin is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Plex.

    • Jellyfin is Free and Open SourcePlex is Freemium and Proprietary
    • Jellyfin is Privacy focusedPlex is not according to our users
  2. Universal Media Server icon

    Universal Media Server

     133 likes

    Universal Media Server is a media server capable of serving videos, audio and images to any DLNA-capable device. It supports any device capable of DLNA and runs on all major operating systems: Windows, OS X and Linux.

    47 Universal Media Server alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Universal Media Server screenshot 1
     
    |
    4
    37
    Comments about Universal Media Server as an Alternative to Plex
    Jonathan Brickman
    Positive
    3

    Extremely easy install. Completely seamless connection to Roku Media Player. Very lightweight, but fully functional.

    Guest
    Positive
    4

    No faffing about and less intrusive and no personal data shared like plex does.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Works fine with Chromecast.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    3 of 4 comments
    Plex Icon
    Universal Media Server icon

    • Most users think Universal Media Server is a great Plex alternative.

    • Universal Media Server is Free and Open SourcePlex is Freemium and Proprietary
  5. Meelo icon

    Meelo

     13 likes

    A versatile self-hosted music server offering music video access, B-Side and rare track identification, extensive format support via transcoding, and detailed metadata parsing. Additional features include automatic 'featuring' detection, song version browsing, and genre retrieval through platforms like MusicBrainz.

    48 Meelo alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Android
    • Self-Hosted
    • Docker
    Meelo screenshot 1
     
  7. MediaChips icon

    MediaChips

     18 likes

    This app for navigating your large video collection. Add tags, performers, websites, sort/filter videos, create playlists and play them in the built-in player.

    39 MediaChips alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium (Pay once or Subscription)
    • Open Source (GPL-3.0)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    MediaChips screenshot 1
     
  9. Ampache icon

    Ampache

     62 likes

    Ampache is a web based audio streaming application and file manager allowing you to access your music from anywhere, using almost any internet enabled device.

    99 Ampache alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    • PHP
    • Cloudron
    Ampache screenshot 1
     
    |
    2
    6
    Comments about Ampache as an Alternative to Plex
    Guest
    Negative
    6

    Ampache is an audio server, while plex supports both audio and video (and it is heavily focused on video streaming)

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Negative
    0

    Ampache is an audio server only, which is only a small subset of what Plex does, and not even Plex's primary focus.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Plex Icon
    Ampache icon

    • Some users think Ampache is a great Plex alternative, some don't.

    • Ampache is Free and Open SourcePlex is Freemium and Proprietary
  10. OSMC icon

    OSMC

     82 likes

    OSMC (Open Source Media Center) is a free and open source media player based on Linux and founded in 2014 that lets you play back media from your local network, attached storage and the Internet. OSMC is the leading media center in terms of feature set and community and is based...

    44 OSMC alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Apple TV
    • Raspberry Pi
    OSMC screenshot 1
     
    |
    2
    16
    Comments about OSMC as an Alternative to Plex
    Guest
    Negative
    16

    From the FAQ of the project: What is the difference between OSMC and Kodi?

    Kodi is a media center application and OSMC is the operating system that runs Kodi and brings it to your device. OSMC is not a fork of Kodi but rather a Linux distribution that ships Kodi as the main application.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Negative
    7

    totally different piece of software

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Plex Icon
    OSMC icon

    • Some users think OSMC is a great Plex alternative, some don't.

    • OSMC is Free and Open SourcePlex is Freemium and Proprietary
  11. MiniDLNA icon

    MiniDLNA

     48 likes

    MiniDLNA (aka ReadyDLNA) is server software with the aim of being fully compliant with DLNA/UPnP-AV clients. It is developed by a NETGEAR employee …

    30 MiniDLNA alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Termux
    • Terminal
    MiniDLNA screenshot 1
     
    |
    2
    11
    Comments about MiniDLNA as an Alternative to Plex
    Guest
    Positive
    3

    Plex is too commercial too many nags - also smart tv apps are variable SAMSUNG smart tv app hasn't worked for years :(

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Negative
    -8

    Overly complicated and conditional 'compiling' required. A very out-dated approach for today. Much as I hate Plex, this doesn't come close to its convenience, power, and simplicity in execution.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Plex Icon
    MiniDLNA icon

    • Most users think MiniDLNA is a great Plex alternative.

    • MiniDLNA is Free and Open SourcePlex is Freemium and Proprietary
  13. Streama icon

    Streama

     14 likes

    Ever had a huge bookshelf full of shows and movies? Ever wanted to digitalize them, but didn't have a good way of organizing the files? Worry no more! Streama is your own personal Netflix for just such a purpose!

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    Streama screenshot 1
     
    |
    1
    Comments about Streama as an Alternative to Plex
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Streama is very like Netflix

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Plex Icon
    Streama icon
    • Streama is Free and Open SourcePlex is Freemium and Proprietary
  14. LibreELEC icon

    LibreELEC

     26 likes

    LibreELEC is ‘Just enough OS’ for Kodi, a Linux distribution built to run Kodi on current and popular mediacentre hardware. We are an evolution of the popular OpenELEC project. LibreELEC software will be familiar to OpenELEC users.

    11 LibreELEC alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux
    LibreELEC screenshot 1
     
12 of 43 Plex alternatives