Jellyfin

Jellyfin is a free software media system that streams films, series, music and photos from a home server to phones, televisions, tablets and browsers. It describes itself as volunteer-built: the project is driven by contributors, has no company behind it and works with no strings attached, so no account with a vendor and no tracking are required. Jellyfin started in 2018 as a fork of the media server Emby after that project moved to closed source.

Features

• Server software that runs on Windows, macOS, Linux and in Docker containers on a NAS or home server.
• Apps and clients for Android, Android TV, iOS, web browsers, Roku, Kodi and other devices.
• Libraries with metadata, posters and subtitles, plus user accounts and parental controls.
• Live TV and recording with a tuner, as well as transcoding for devices that cannot play a file directly.
• All premium-style features are free, because there is no paid tier.

Model and limits

Jellyfin is free but has to be installed and maintained by the user. It does not offer streaming services of its own, and remote access needs a correct network setup or a VPN. Its mobile apps are developed by volunteers, so polish varies by platform.