Jellyfin: Open Source alternative to Plex in 2026
Jellyfin streams your own movie, TV, music and photo collection to any device, with hardware transcoding and zero telemetry, as a fully free alternative to Plex.
ℹ️ Supports hardware-accelerated transcoding (Intel Quick Sync, NVIDIA NVENC, AMD AMF/VAAPI), configurable from the admin dashboard — not required, but it cuts CPU usage dramatically when streaming to devices that don't support the original codec.
Audit Snapshot
View notes →License — Matches GitHub
GitHub — Active
Latest release — v12.2 · 7 days ago
Docker Compose — Partial
Production — Not production-tested by AltFreeStack
Jellyfin vs. Plex
Pros
- 100% free and telemetry-free, unlike Plex
- Very active community, a direct fork of Emby after it went closed-source
Things to consider
- Hardware transcoding setup requires manual steps depending on your GPU
- No official Smart TV app on some platforms (uses third-party apps)
Quick Docker installation guide
Copy this docker-compose.yml, adjust the example passwords and run docker compose up -d on your server. See the full step-by-step guide →
💡 Official SaaS or self-hosted with AltFreeStack?
- On the official cloud: a recurring monthly fee and usage limits on Plex.
- On your own VPS: 100% free software on your own server, with no artificial row, project or user limits.
services:
jellyfin:
image: jellyfin/jellyfin:12.1
restart: unless-stopped
ports:
- "8096:8096"
volumes:
- jellyfin_config:/config
- jellyfin_cache:/cache
- /path/to/your/media:/media # point this at your media library folder
volumes:
jellyfin_config:
jellyfin_cache:
🚀 Deploy in 1 command
Recommended for beginnersCopy this single command and paste it into your freshly created VPS's console (Vultr, DigitalOcean...). It downloads the script, prints it to your screen so you can see exactly what it's about to do (never a blind direct pipe), and only then installs Docker if needed, writes the files with secrets already generated, and starts everything — no nano, no pasting code blocks.
curl -sSL ".../api/deploy?stack=jellyfin" -o deploy.sh && cat deploy.sh && bash deploy.shThis docker-compose corresponds to an actively maintained project — last commit 1 day ago.
This docker-compose not working for you? Report it on GitHub →Technical profile
- License
- GPL-2.0
- Category
- Storage
- Replaces
- Plex, Netflix
- Tech stack
- .NETSQLiteffmpeg
Under the hood
Database
SQLite
Language
C# (.NET)
Platforms
Web · Desktop (Mac/Win/Linux) · Mobile (iOS/Android) · Smart TV
Key features
- Streams video, music and photos to any device
- Hardware (GPU) transcoding
- Native TV, mobile and browser apps — no account or telemetry
Preview
Public image provided by Jellyfin on its own website.
💾 Backups in 3 steps (Day 2)
As long as the ./data folder (the "volume" mapped into the container) exists on your server, your data survives any restart or container update — that's the only thing you need to back up.
1. Create a compressed backup on the server
tar -czvf backup-$(date +%F).tar.gz ./data2. Download it to your computer
From your computer's terminal (not your server's):
scp root@YOUR_IP:~/app/backup-*.tar.gz ./3. Restore in case of emergency
tar -xzvf backup-file.tar.gz🌐 Connect your domain with free SSL
Step 1 — Set up the DNS
In your domain registrar's dashboard (Cloudflare, Namecheap, GoDaddy...), create a record:
- Type
- A
- Name/Host
- @ (root domain) or a subdomain, e.g. app
- Content/Value
- Your server's public IP
Wait 5 to 15 minutes for the record to propagate across the internet.
Step 2 — Automatic reverse proxy with Caddy
One single file, no Nginx config or manual certificates — Caddy issues and renews Let's Encrypt HTTPS on its own.
Create a file called Caddyfile:
yourdomain.com {
reverse_proxy localhost:8096
}Start Caddy with this command (pulls the image and runs it in the background):
docker run -d -p 80:80 -p 443:443 --name caddy --restart always -v $PWD/Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile -v caddy_data:/data caddy