after almost 15yrs my plex server is no more. jellyfin behind nginx with authentik is running very nicely.
Why all those VMs instead of containers?
this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2025
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There are a few things about jellyfin that I don't like compared to Plex. First I can't skip the intro of a show drives me nuts. The second one is it has newly added but not newly released. Other then that it has been really good.
https://github.com/intro-skipper/intro-skipper
*edit it's such a common complain this got posted twice at the same time :)
I have been running in parallel both jelly and plex and jelly is good.
i have a lifetime plex pass, but I'd consider moving to jellyfin when their closed-captioning support reaches parity with plex. i regularly spin up a jellyfin container to try it out, but i still run into issues. And jellyfin's android apps are mediocre (in particular android auto support), especially for music compared to plexamp
that's about where i was at for a long while. manet finally replaced my apple carplay functionality from plexamp and plex lost it's last advantage for me. i definitely got my moneys worth from that lifetime plexpass though.
I find Jellyfin’s subtitle search much better than Plex’s. Bonus for leaving a subtitle file right along with your file, instead of buried somewhere else so you can’t easily edit it.
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Did plex do something again
Their last UI changes
Also, Plex email blasted a few weeks ago about how nobody can share their libraries anymore without paying for a subscription. That was the push I needed to check out Jellyfin again, and the experience ranges from "good enough" to "that's better than Plex" for me and my buddies.
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my only issue is how user friendly it isn't compared to Plex.
i genuinely want to leave Plex (especially the more and more they enshittify) but I just could not figure out how to set up jellyfin. i use Linux every day, and know I'm at least a tiny bit more tech smart than your average PC user, but I can't imagine trying to explain to my family how to set jellyfin up.
Host Jellyfin either by running their easy setup script or by hosting it on docker, in order for it to be publicly accessible you will need to either port forward and give people your external IP or you need to have your own website. It's very easy with a docker container to get it running locally, you literally just spin it up, the same as Plex.
The only thing that plex has over jellyfin at the moment (in my opinion) is the simple sign on and user options that allow users to have their own usernames and not have to know anything about reverse-proxying a domain for jellyfin access. It's that little bit of back-end that you have to set up that's the problem for the 'normie' users that a lot of plex admins cater to. That, and there's some holes in where the jellyfin app is available.
plex is still definitely easier to get started on. i don't begrudge anyone still going that route, i had a lifetime plexpass the last 8yrs i think. jellyfin is a great option if you either already know how to set things up and want full control. Or you're looking for an opportunity to learn more about reverse proxy, dns and authentication/access systems. plex is still i nice gateway drug.
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How do you keep all your virtual machines up-to-date? Or are those containers?
it's mostly debian 12 or ubuntu 22 lts vms, i'm slow dumping ubuntu. so it's all cron jobs running apt update and bash scripts for specific services like the minecraft server. i'm just old and have spent so much time modifying xml in nano that sticking with virsh has worked for me. i've only got two containers running in docker, frigate and authentik.
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What is authentik and could I use it on podman with compose?
authentik is an identity server. theres a couple free ones available, this one just worked for me. it provides oauth and ldap fallback for the jellyfin server. along with login for most of the other servers i host like nextcloud/calibre-web/lychee etc. it has a nice easy log in process along with a 'homepage' kinda thing for everything my users can access with their account. makes it easier to support the non technical friends and family.
Its a pre-authentication gateway and SSO provider for OAuth/SAML. So if you dont trust a random docker container to be secure it requires you to authenticate and then it automatically passes a token to the app for SSO if it supports OAuth/SAML.
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Long ago I ran a Windows Media Center PC in the living room and used the hell out of it. When WMC finally went EOL, I look for alternatives and found Plex. I never got around to setting up a Plex box, and now I see it too is ready for the scrap heap. I think this is what getting old is. You plan on doing something and never get around to it. Time passes much faster up here in age.
How is the Jellyfin software situation looking? Last time I checked it was pretty meh compared to plex. if I recall correctly the best app was Infuse and it was a monthly sub. Are there better options these days? I mostly watch plex on my TV through Android or Apple TV.
Jellyfin is a lot better than it used to be, to get feature parity with Plex you will probably need to install some plugins but I literally searched "best Jellyfin plugins reddit" and the list in the first thread I found was all I needed. The webOS, Android, and Roku apps are very good, I'm not sure what the situation is on Apple TV but I think they have an app
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I haven't done a bunch with it. I set it up locally on an old laptop, installed the app on my TV and on the other machines throughout the house. It works great when I use it. I stream a lot of content outside of it so I don't use it all the time but the interface I really liked. It's fluid even running the server on a laptop that would struggle to run a zoom call.
Believe I set it up with pop-os, but it could be mint. I haven't had to touch it in months so I honestly wouldn't know without going to it. I leave a RustDesk connection on it from my phone if I ever need to get to it.
swiftfin has reach what i'd call stable on apple tv. its a little janky still with homepods used as speakers. i had to switch the nativeplayer to avoid an audio delay bug. the native player doesn't support auto play next episode. so far thats the only issue ive had. infuse doesnt have that bug but the issue hasnt annoyed me enough to need infuse. all my other uses are on android tv or webos and have had no complaints. for music, manet has good carplay functionality so its made a nice replacement for plexamp.
I’m pretty sure you can pay for a lifetime access to infuse, cause I don’t think I pay monthly.
Its monthly or lifetime and the lifetime is like 6-8 years of paying monthly.
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Foss superiority gang
i love jellyfin i just wish there was a nicer way to highlight collections so you could make themed weekly or monthly collections of movies and shows that also still show up in the regular folders.... almost like netflix.
I'm probably mistaken, but I think there might actually be a plugin for this? I haven't looked into it myself but I swear I scrolled past a plugin listing similar functionality at some point. Or I could be hallucinating. Or it could even exist but no longer work on the current version of the app. Who knows!?
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I'm also 90% done migrating to jellyfin. I've had the instance running for 6 months now, the cultural change to watch jellyfin is complete, except for my wife's iPad.
Heck, I should just retire Plex. That will force the change.
These are the thoughts of a cold and calloused sysadmin. Didn't get the email about the change? Too bad.
yeah it took me about 6 months with jellyfin to feel like i was ready to finally kill plex. the thing that finally did it was getting an email from plex asking if i'd like to check out whats streaming on hbomax.