20% off $159.99 - not as cheap as previous 25% off deals.
Previous deals have discussions on Jellyfin vs Plex. Jellyfin is free.
20% off $159.99 - not as cheap as previous 25% off deals.
Previous deals have discussions on Jellyfin vs Plex. Jellyfin is free.
The one thing Jellyfin will never have is a vast amount of support across devices, particularly consoles.
If you don't need that then you its best you start with Jellyfin because its likely going to have the best features eventually.
At the moment Plex's skip intro is hard to go without.
Jellyfin has a plugin to skip intros, but doesn't work on all devices yet. Will be good when that eventually happens.
Plex has had intro and credit skipping for ages
Looks like a dead project with some forks and it doesn't really work that well.
@Castcore: Yeah it works well on my Android devices that support it. Hopefully will work on the Android TV version one day.
@messiah1095: Yeah android TV is the one client I actually want it on. I think the Roku version has it. They just need to officially implement an API or whatever on the jellyfin server side for timestamp tags and skip buttons so all the clients can implement it.
@samfisher5986: I find it works very well.
For those interested, the currently maintained repo can be found here:
https://github.com/jumoog/intro-skipper
(and now has outro skipping also)
Works fine on console with DLNA
If you run your own server and use an AppleTV, Infuse has skip intro. Yes, it’s paid, but it is leaps and bounds better than Plex’s app. Plex app always plays DV/HDR content choppy for me, Infuse uses Metal so plays everything perfectly.
Can you access it from different networks?
Yes, if you set up a reverse proxy.
Not necessary. You can access your server remotely with port forwarding.
@kapone: Don't do this people.
Set up a reverse proxy, or use something like Tailscale. There's guides out there and you don't have to pay anything.
You can also use VPN (like tailscale)
Up to 3 users its free
Which means no, essentially. Rules out using it on smart tvs etc.
if you consider your time and inconvenience free.
Honestly Jellyfin is no more inconvenient than Plex. If you can run one, setting up the other should be just as simple.
I run both, they both have their place, pros, and cons.
I can vouch for this as well. I run both and they both work well with the same library.
@bonechiller: Couldn't get Jellyfin to work on my M2 Mac Mini at all. Invested hours troubleshooting and browsing forums. Nothing worked. Pointed Plex at my JF library and, bingo. Worked perfectly and hasn't missed a beat since. YMMV.
Honestly Jellyfin is no more inconvenient than Plex.
Unless you want to access it remotely and let friends and family access it remotely, of course. Among other things that Plex makes more convenient.
@MrFunSocks: Personally I hate the way Plex handles remote connections. No one should ever have upnp enabled, and if you don't know how to secure your remote access through a reverse proxy at a minimum or zero trust, then you shouldn't expose it at all. Sure maybe it's easier to begin with but you also have no idea what's going on under the hood other than your port is exposed.
I have remote access disabled in my Plex and yet my friends can still see my server on their account. I use CloudFlare tunnels to a reverse proxy to my services. The reverse proxy isn't necessary but I like it, means I can change between using tunnels and not very easily.
I do get that it's easy not having to have a domain etc and requires some thinking, but a proper remote access setup should look the same on Plex and Jellyfin.
@zfa: Their TOS have changed and don't explicitly say it's not allowed anymore. Regardless I still have a rule that stops any caching of my services. I don't think anyone's ever been banned for it.
@Castcore: The clause simply moved from s2.8 of the all-encompassing old TOS into the CDN terms of the new service-specific TOS.
If you're using their network to deliver your content you're bound by those terms:
https://www.cloudflare.com/en-gb/service-specific-terms-appl…
Disabling caching is an urban myth, and does nothing to exempt you from those terms. Cloudflare won't cache your video files anyway as non-Enterprise plans don't cache any files over 512MB even if you have it enabled, which precludes modern videos pretty much exclusively.
Of course you don't have to believe me, just ask on the Community Forums, their answer is always unambiguous and unequivocal - you cannot use them to proxy Plex irrespective of your caching status or if you use tunnels over standard proxied DNS records.
Of course, being against terms does not mean it doesn't work. And unless you proxy approx 3-4TB per month through them they (currently) don't seem to care.
I know people who were kicked both before and after the TOS changes, BTW, so it does happen.
Say what you will about time and inconvenience but I tried for years to get Plex running without a bunch of issues. Looked through forums, YouTube videos and Reddit to try and figure out the various issues I kept experiencing and was never able to fix everything. Sometimes, it would just not open.
Ran jellyfin once and the only thing I had to figure out was how to setup the metadata for media correctly. The rest has been a breeze.
Jellyfin isnt even close to Plex in terms of quality.
Which is a shame as there's parts of Plex that suck, and the last few years of development seem to be focused on things the Plex community don't want.
Jellyfin has had great progress, but the client software is a long way behind Plex. The official desktop client is clunky and buggy but the web client is lacking a LOT of features.
Swiftfin is getting there but is really a minimal product right now. Playback of things like HDR10+ is non-existent and it really struggles with DolbyVision in my experience as well. Infuse is great, but the pricing is crazy for just a media player app.
Supporting lots of different clients is hard, particularly for a volunteer project. The backend is easily as good as Plex, but without good client software it's still falls behind IMHO
I switched from Plex to Jellyfin and was a dramatic improvement. Firstly Plex apps are laggy, and sometimes crash. I have had no issues with Jellyfin. Installed on all phones and tablets, which when you try with plex will bomb you out just after the movie starts. Talking about the free version of course.
The free version does not support hw transcoding - only software. Could explain your lag if your mobile devices cant play the original file format.
I'm running plex app on Sony TV, 2 tablets 2 phones Android and ios and none crash..
free and in my experience better
although i consume content exclusively via the firestick app
Cool, but doesn't do everything plex does and isn't available on half as many devices.
This still works I assume paying Plex monthly now but would like to kill that off
Got too abused, Plex lifetime is no longer dirt cheap in Turkey. 3090 TRY currently, ~$143AUD.
It must've been so cheap at it's all time low. I think I paid 823 TRY and that was without a sale because I suspected they might jack up the turkey prices.
Please excuse my ignorance……
What is Plex? its on my TV… sometimes I can watch for free, sometimes it asked me to pay. My friend said its awesome but my expperience seems to be hit and miss. If I purchased via this deal, does that mean I can watch everything for free? Of course the answer is No, but I truly do not understand.
Again I am so sorry for my lack of knowledge.
TIA
It's primarily used as a front-end for your own media collection. I've also set it up for remote access so I can stream my content anywhere from pretty much any device. They do have their own streaming service but it's really not what most people use it for. If you setup your own Plex Media Server, this can also be shared with your friends and family etc.
Nope - whilst it does have a library of free content (think out of copyright/open content) and has a level of integration with paid streaming services it isn't the primary purpose. The primary purpose is a media server that allows streaming of media files you have access to on a variety of devices. Think Netflix for local stored content.
If you cannot be bothered about downloading your own media, what you’re after is Stremio + Real Debrid. Real Debrid is ~$26 for 6 months. No need for Netflix/Prime/Disney/HBO etc once you follow all steps in this reddit post.
https://www.reddit.com/r/StremioAddons/comments/15agu2p/stre…
Second this. I used to use the Syncler + Real Debrid combo, but Stremio is free and offers basically the same service
stremio is not working for a while for me. Or i must be missing somthing.
I'm currently using stremio without real debrid and it's working just fine for me. What advantages do I get by paying for real debrid?
you'll go from "working just fine" to "this shit is amazing".
faster load times and no buffering, cached content will play seamlessly even if seeders are 0 or low. and you can use it outside of stremio to act as a fast downloader for stuff.
@puzzles2: It's all pirated content so it usually relies on it being released somewhere in the world and then someone having put it on the internet.
If it's got a later release date in Australia than the rest of the world then yeah often it'll be earlier.
This. I haven't touched Plex since I discovered Stremio + Real Debrid
I’ve had stremio and real debrid for a month or two. It is so convenient but i find the UI not user-friendly. Like can’t browse categories of movies for example. I only use it to search for what i am after. Am i missing an add-on or something?
@kapone: I just had a quick search while on break at work. Is there a guide to do it on a macbook with plex on synology server if that makes a different? Thank you so much :)
@Ridiculous Panda: You can use the Discover tab to curate by genre.
Adding either 'Streaming Catalogs' or 'Cyberflix' addon will turbocharge that area as well as give you rows of avaialble-on-platformX content on your Home and is something I'd always recommend (note you nly need one or the other of those, I use the former).
Plex + Torrentio + Real Debrid is what I've got. Just add something to my watchlist via Discover in Plex, and a few minutes later it will show up in my library.
Much prefer the UI of Plex, plus there's native clients for all my different devices. And with remote access to my Plex server I can watch videos via Real Debrid anywhere. And I don't need to stress about storage space on my server anymore as I'm streaming from Real Debrid.
Imagine paying for pirated content. This does not belong on ozbargain.
You're paying for debris services, it's exceptionally useful. If you're only using it for stremio you're not making the most of it. But just using it for stremio is still completely worth it.
If you watch 4k, do you have buffering with Real Debrid? I see lots of Australian users have issues as it apparently lacks a local CDN, and usually have to go down the more expensive Premiumize route ($10 per month for 12 months upfront, otherwise it's $20 per month).
I watch 4K content on 50/20 NBN - doesn’t buffer but I’ve found an occasional lag between audio and video which is gone once I go back 10 seconds and play.
Thanks! Your post has changed my life. I have tried all the "cheap Netflix" hacks on OzB, and have been booted off Netflix so many times.
I have now got the full Netflix catalogue thanks to Stremio + Real Debrid :)
Glad I could help. :)
Yeah, what is this?
Is it like a streaming site? I'm a bit confused what I'm buying :P
In a nutshell, it makes your own downloaded movies/tv shows on your computer/server accessible on all your (and your friends if you wish) devices and makes the interface look similar to other streaming services. Worth it but for it to be practical, you’ll need a server or a dedicated computer that is always on.
what did you do to go against their ts and cs?
Only thing I can think of is people sharing their Plex server for a fee to randoms online. Commericalising piracy bad?
Yep, that's the only reason I've ever heard someone getting their Plex account closed.
yea definitely go monthly/yearly if you are using it for plex shares.
JellyFin is arguably better. Has HEVC/AV1 HW encoding (if you have supported HW), if you wanna stream to your phone, big difference in quality between AVC and HEVC/AV1 @ 3000kbits. Plus, if Plex ever go bust or get shutdown I think everything will just stop working immediately…
I went from Plex to Emby (trial), to Jellyfin, then back to Emby (app purchased). Can't remember what it was that I felt lacking in Jellyfin, but there was a thing or two that I liked a whole lot better in Emby. This is a few years ago, so maybe resolved by now.
You can use a trial and try both. I've used Jellyfin for 3 years wanting to use free and open-source.
Spun up Plex a month ago and unfortunately, it was all around a better experience. For me it is much snappier in loading media, far more consistent at transcoding, easier to maintain.
if you cared about quality you wouldn't be transcoding
sure buddy, just stream 4k to my phone, no wuckin forries
Good luck with 4k using the upload speeds NBN blesses us with.
good luck transcoding 4k hdr to sdr all the time
@askbargain: Why would that be hard? I have no worries doing multiple simultaneous 4k to 1080 h264 transcodes on Plex using Intel QuickSync with an 11th gen i5 CPU.
So I can stream from a media server via wifi that's not connected to the net using jelly or plex?
If you mean on your local network, JF will work not sure about Plex.
I wanna load on a box and if theres no internet no problems you know. Otherwise whats the point of me getting lifetime sub for any streaming if I can't just have it in offline mode.. - do we own any media anymore. Digital purchases should be the same way as physical. Once owned can dl and play anytime.
@cobknob: I'm not sure what you're meaning. Plex and JellyFin are really meant for piracy as much as they may plead otherwise, it offers very little content itself and even if you're a paid user, that content still has ads. I'm not sure if you can sign into your Plex server without authenticating on the internet first. Jellyfin authenticates by talking to the server directly.
Try the free version of Plex and see if it does what you want. The paid version really doesn't offer much extra tbh, apart from HW transcoding which you probs don't need if you're only using it at home.
do we own any media anymore
Plex isn't gonna do anything your vids you might own via iTunes etc.
One point to remember is that you only need a Plex Pass sub if you are the server host, it enables the functionality for anyone you share your server to. Some users (on their iOS or Android phone or tablet for example, however TV's are fine and don't need an extra purchase) may need to do a one time much smaller purchase to unlock unlimited playback on their devices, but they don't need the whole subscription themselves
server side plex pass doesnt enable all functionalities for users.
Notable features users dont get are downloads and skip intro/credits.
Seems they changed that after 2022, my account was from well before then so all my users have access to downloads because of my server account
Honestly Plex downloads are trash anyway, it's hardly ever worked well the entire time I've had it (going on something like 10 years now). Don't think the Plex team are really interested in doing anything to properly fix it
As long as your users have the one-time purchase on their mobile devices, it's probably enough to make them all pretty happy
Downloads have been rock solid for me the last 12 months or so. They were flaky as hell before then, but I use them all the time now and never have an issue.
@noisymime: I'll have to give it a go again ahead of my trip to Japan later in the year, would be nice to make sure I have some offline TV and movies to watch in case of spotty international access to my server. Fingers crossed!
That's not what this page says
https://support.plex.tv/articles/202526943-plex-free-vs-paid…
Plex Pass
The Plex Pass subscription includes free activation/unlocking of our mobile apps as well as other features and benefits:
Skip Credits in your personal library.
Skip intros in TV episodes in your personal library.
And also
Removing Playback Limitations from Mobile Apps
Android and iOS mobile apps offer one-time, in-app purchases.
Again, a Plex Pass subscription will activate these features without additional purchase.
What is the best device for Jellyfin? My Google TV 4K keeps transcoding.
Nintendo just announced a new switch. Maybe a new shield is coming too?
How does Plex compare to Emby these days?
I purchased this last year and for me it wasn't worth the money.
I only bought it to watch my plex remotely, but it appears to do it via UPNP which isn't the most secure.
I don't even use it now, just set my NAS up with Tailscale which is free.
Also downloading movies to watch on a device offline is so damn broken
You can disable Plex's UPNP and set the forwarding up yourself. It's just a convenience thing.
UPNP is just random automatic port forwarding, the concern is having open ports and relying on the exposed services (plex) security
My leechers love my Plex 🤣
JEEEELLLYYFFIINNN
and Jellyfin is free