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Self-Hosting Jellyfin: Your Own Netflix

Jellyfin is a free media server for movies, TV shows, and music. Stream your media library from anywhere, on any device.

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What Is Jellyfin?


Jellyfin is a free, open-source media server. Organize your personal media library and stream it to any device — TV, phone, tablet, computer.


Jellyfin vs Plex


  • Jellyfin: Completely free, no accounts required, all features included
  • Plex: Free tier is limited, Plex Pass ($5/month) for full features
  • Plex: Better client apps (more polished)
  • Jellyfin: No telemetry, no phone-home, no external dependencies

    • For self-hosters who value freedom: Jellyfin.

    For the best out-of-box experience: Plex.


    Features


    Media Support

  • Movies with metadata, posters, and trailers
  • TV shows with seasons and episodes
  • Music with albums and artists
  • Audiobooks
  • Photos
  • Live TV and DVR (with a tuner)

    • Transcoding

    Automatic transcoding for devices that can't play the original format. Hardware acceleration (Intel QuickSync, NVIDIA NVENC) dramatically improves performance.


    Clients

  • Web browser
  • Android and iOS apps
  • Android TV, Fire TV, Apple TV
  • Roku
  • Kodi plugin
  • Desktop apps

    • User Management

  • Multiple user accounts
  • Per-user permissions (restrict libraries, content ratings)
  • Watch history per user
  • Parental controls

    • Deployment


    1. Deploy Jellyfin on TinyPod

    2. Mount your media storage

    3. Add media libraries (Movies, TV, Music)

    4. Let Jellyfin scan and organize

    5. Install client apps on your devices


    Hardware Requirements


    Without Transcoding

    1 CPU, 1 GB RAM. Direct play uses minimal resources.


    With Transcoding

    2-4 CPU cores for software transcoding. Hardware transcoding (GPU) is much more efficient.


    Storage

    Depends on your library. A typical movie: 5-15 GB. A typical TV show season: 10-30 GB.


    Media Organization


    Jellyfin works best with organized files:

    Movies/

    Movie Name (2024)/

    Movie Name (2024).mkv

    TV Shows/

    Show Name/

    Season 01/

    Show Name - S01E01 - Episode Title.mkv


    Follow this naming convention and Jellyfin automatically fetches metadata, posters, and descriptions.