I have only used Plex very briefly before I moved to try Emby then Jellyfin. Granted I am not a heavy user of a media server - basically no one else in my household uses it, and I don’t have a lot of content, but I do use sonarr / radarr with it.

The moment Plex put me off was when I realized a Plex Pass was needed to add transcoding capability. What are some of the reasons people like Plex better than Jellyfin, other than those who have been using Plex forever and are just too lazy to explore other options?

  • techwithjakeEnglish
    5•1 year ago

    I use both in my home but I have friends and family that use only Plex. Plex currently is much more user friendly as it has apps everywhere and is simpler to use. Having to enter an URL is already a non-starter for many non-techies.

    I personally love Jellyfin even with its drawbacks and quirks. But usability and ease are what’s more important to me.

    • @[email protected]OPEnglish
      2•1 year ago

      I use Jellyfin on different platforms (Sony TV, Set top box with Kodi, phone, PC) - basically all I need are the Jellyfin clients for these different platforms namely

      • Jellyfin media player for Windows
      • Jellyfin for Android
      • Jellycon for Kodi

      For me there is no need to enter any URL on these clients (except the initial setup that is). Is Plex much simpler even for the initial setup? Sorry like I said I haven’t really used Plex.

      For normal daily usage I haven’t really run into any problem with Jellyfin… just click and watch.

      • @LonelyLarynxEnglish
        2•1 year ago

        Same here. If anything I found Jellyfin far simpler to set up than Plex (used to use Plex, transitioned to Jellyfin).

      • boothin
        2•1 year ago

        IIRC, once you install the plex server software, it sends you to the server’s login page to complete the setup where you link the server to your account, so you actually never have to enter an ip anywhere. Following that, you can log in to the plex.tv website from anywhere and get access to your media (as long as your router allows upnp), no need to set up reverse proxies or get your ip or anything. Then if you want to share your library with friends, all they need to do is make a plex account and you can give them access via invite links.

      • techwithjakeEnglish
        1•1 year ago

        With Plex, there’s zero URL input even on initial setup. You just login with your username/password and off you go.

        It’s the initial setup that scares people in my life. They hardly know what a username/password is.

        Daily usage of Jellyfin, 100% agree. I use it daily as well, even have Jellystat installed even though I’m the only one who uses it.