Jellyfin: Open-Source Media Server for Streaming Music, Movies, and Videos

What is Jellyfin?

Jellyfin is a free and open-source media system that allows users to collect, manage, and stream media including movies, music, TV shows, and photos from their personal media library. Built with focus on freedom and control, Jellyfin enables hosting personal media libraries without dependency on commercial streaming services. Over 500,000 users worldwide use Jellyfin to stream their personal media collections.

Unlike Plex ($5/month) where media streams are routed through Plex servers or Netflix ($6.99-22.99/month) where content is controlled by the company, Jellyfin provides complete control over personal media streaming. All data remains on personal infrastructure with no telemetry or tracking.

Jellyfin serves as the personal media streaming platform. Users organize personal media libraries. Family members stream movies and music. Multiple users access the same library simultaneously.

Key Features and Capabilities

Media Management

Movie Library: Organize and stream movies
TV Shows: Organize TV series with episodes
Music Library: Stream personal music collection
Photos: View and organize photo galleries
Metadata: Automatic metadata fetching and organization
Playlists: Create custom playlists

Streaming and Playback

Direct Play: Stream media without transcoding
Transcoding: Encode media on-the-fly for compatibility
Adaptive Streaming: Adjust quality based on connection
Remote Access: Access library from outside network
Mobile Apps: iOS and Android apps for streaming
Web Client: Browser-based streaming interface

User Management

Multiple Users: Create user accounts for family members
Permissions: Control content access per user
Parental Controls: Restrict content by rating
Watching Together: Synchronized playback for group watching

System Requirements

Server Requirements

OS: Linux, Windows, macOS, Docker
Runtime: .NET 5+ or containerized
RAM: 1GB minimum, 2GB+ recommended
Storage: Depends on media library size (100GB+)
GPU: Optional for hardware-accelerated transcoding

Installation

Docker Installation

docker run -d 
  --name jellyfin 
  -p 8096:8096 
  -v jellyfin_config:/config 
  -v jellyfin_media:/media 
  jellyfin/jellyfin

# Access at http://localhost:8096