Repos / Jellyfin
AlternativesJellyfin
For anyone who already has their own collection of movies, shows or music and wants to watch it on their devices from a server of their own.
What it does.
- manage your library of movies, shows and music from a server of your own
- watch it in the apps on your devices and in the browser
- serve the content with no premium features or paid licenses, according to its README
Systems: Server: Windows, macOS, Debian/Ubuntu and other Linux distributions, Docker, Podman, Kubernetes, Synology and TrueNAS Community Edition. FreeBSD and TrueNAS CORE have no official support.
What you need.
- Disk, recommended: 100 GB Recommendation with a shared system SSD for the operating system, the Jellyfin files and the transcoding cache. Does not include your movies. It includes the operating system and more, which you share with your other repos; adding it for each app would count that space several times. The server calculator shows it, but does not add it up. More if you use Windows 11 or have many large files to transcode. source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)
- RAM, minimum: 4 GB Whole service Linux server with dedicated graphics and no desktop environment: the docs say it "may be enough". source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)
- RAM, recommended: 8 GB Whole service General recommendation for an average deployment with integrated graphics. source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)
- Network: gigabit Ethernet or better; for remote access, at least 20 Mbps of upload. source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)
- With integrated graphics: a CPU such as an Intel N100, i5-11400 or an Apple M; a platform with hardware 10-bit HEVC decoding is recommended. The docs give no core count. source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)
- Since version 10.11, an x86 CPU with SSE4.1. source for this requirement (opens in a new tab)
Check whether your machine can handle it. It adds up its RAM, CPU and disk together with other repos.
How to install.
Windows: download the installer from the downloads page, run it and open http://your_local_ip:8096 to finish the setup.
macOS: download the DMG, drag the app to Applications, open it and choose "Launch" in the menu bar icon.
Docker: download the official image:
docker pull jellyfin/jellyfinCreate the configuration and cache volumes, mount your media folder and publish ports 8096/tcp and 7359/udp with the docker run command from the guide.
Commands taken from the official documentation. Read them before you run them: it is your machine.
Permissions and data.
- It needs read access to the folders with your content; in Docker they are mounted with --mount.
- The Docker guide publishes 8096/tcp and 7359/udp; DLNA discovery requires host network mode.
Limits and warnings.
- Without a GPU it is not recommended: transcoding on CPU is very demanding, especially HEVC, VP9, AV1 and HDR-to-SDR conversion.
- The documentation says almost all SBC boards, the Raspberry Pi 5 especially, are too slow for an acceptable experience.
- Prebuilt NAS units can be hard to configure or have slow processors; AMD is not recommended because of encoder and driver quality.
- Intel Atom J/M/N/Y series CPUs up to the 11th generation perform worse than their name suggests.
Real cost and cloud.
- The README says there are no premium licenses or hidden features: the software is free.
- The real cost is the hardware (ideally with video acceleration), the storage and the electricity of keeping the machine on.
- Jellyfin manages your content; it does not include movies or music.
License.
GPL-2.0 Open source with copyleft
GPL-2.0: free software with copyleft. If you distribute modified versions, you must share their source code under the same license.
This is a summary to orient you, not legal advice. For commercial use, read the original LICENSE file.
Where all of this comes from.
Checked against the official documentation on October 29, 2026; this is not a lab test. Nothing was installed or measured to write this guide. If something has changed, the project's documentation is the authority.