I can't decide between Jellyfin or Plex

[HDroid]

I know most people here use jellyfin obviously but just here me out and try to convince me

Basically, I have been using Plex for years, my Dad has a lifetime Plex pass, and we have an Nvidia Shield for a server + a NAS. Recently, I have been having lots of problems with my Plex server, like it not connecting or failing ot transcode. So I was thinking of switching to Jellyfin on my NAS.

The problem is I can't decide between them.

They are both reliable (most of the time), and your speed depends more on your hardware

The only thing I don't really like about Plex is the ads, but you can mostly get rid of those and the metadata problems, especially with anime, but also other stuff. I have, but that is because my dad is lazy and keeps all our books, movies and shows in one folder for some dumb reason.

However, things I like about Plex are the DVR feature, although I might switch to a third-party alternative if I can get compression, the users, the cloud syncing to Plex servers and easier linking to Trakt

Jellyfin looks nice because it's OSS, which is always a plus, it has customisation, but I can get a bit overwhelmed if it's a bit too much, and all the client support, other than that, I don't know much else

So essentially, what I am asking is which one do people think I should use? I don't care if you're biased I just need a second opinion

[1hitsong]

> I know most people here use plex obviously but just here

> ...or you haven't used Jellyfin before

But... You're on the Jellyfin forum. Wouldn't you think it's most likely both of these statements are false.

[HDroid]

Sorry copy pasted from reddit and 2 other places I am posting soI mixed things up. Ill fix it

[Emailluka]

So essentially, what I am asking is which one do people think I should use? I don't care if you're biased I just need a second opinion

so ... basically you need 'some' fourth opinion after reddit and 2 other boards ... 
i do not get in which way this will help you other than stirring up a "x is better than y"-discussion.

you got one solution up and running, why bother to change it if you do not have a reason to? and if you have.. well.. there you have it..

if you search for a reason to switch:
* open source
* no fees
* no telemetry calling home
* community plugins

[TIMFLIX1138]

The second you mention PLEX has ads you lost any other reason to justify using it for me.

JF has no issues linking to TRAKT. Really any TRAKT issues would likely come from their side which seems to have gone fully demented recently. I also have no issues using SIMKL at the same time and everything links and works well. If the later could be set-up to have different users combine their watches I might drop TRAKT all together as I use both for their watched status tracking and their calendar of coming episodes and little else.

Really you need to just gie JF a try and back-up your PLEX incase you want to go back to it. As for your current media management state, that's going to be a massive issue no matter what software you choose. It really needs tobe fixed.

[EliteAlien]

I use to be Jellyfin and only Jellyfin, but with the latest problems in 10.11.X I've been having. Well I honestly would say just use both, if possible. I never had any other server, but am thinking of having an Emby soon as a sort of backup when Jellyfin is having issues. I've heard Plex has had it's own share of issues and I'm sure Emby has as well. So when one is acting up or one is just being a pain, you have the other as a backup.

Sort of like TimeFlix1138 was saying with Trakt and Simkl. If you used those, I would say skip setting them up directly with any of your media servers. Use something like CrossWatch to sync all your media servers to it and your trackers to it. It has access to TMDB, MDBList, and AniList as well if you need them and stores all the data it pulls in locally. Then can sync it back up to your Jellyfin, Plex, or Emby.

If Trakt and all the other providers are not your thing, there is also WatchState you can self host. It syncs Plex, Emby, and Jellyfin without the third-party trackers locally as well. Either of these would make it easy to jump back and forth between the two media servers and keep all your progress.

[Host-in-the-Shell]

IMO go for Jellyfin if the following are true:

• You have some general experience with server hosting
  
• You are patient/willing to learn and like a hands on approach
  
• You know your way around troubleshooting issues and performing efficient internet searches
  
• Are not hosting your media on a NAS or other unsupported or less recommended hardware; see hardware selection
  
• You are willing to read through the Documentation
  
• You already know or don't mind having to learn how to setup hardware acceleration if you have a setup that will benefit from it (also, see above point)
  
• You are willing to report issues in the forums or appropriate Github pages
  

Not mandatory, but very recommended to have:

• General Linux experience, and a Linux server
  
• Docker experience for no hassle upstream tracking
  
• Debian, Ubuntu server or at least a tracked/supported distribution for no hassle upstream tracking
  

Having said all that, I think it's also recommended to keep in mind that Jellyfin is volunteer work and that also includes its support. If a feature you want is missing, there's a bug that isn't fixed yet... etc., you are expected to:

a) Contribute the code/fix yourself or hire a developer that can do the work in your behalf 
b) Ask for the feature and wait until it is implemented, if at all. If it's a bug, report the issue in the forums or on the appropriate Github page and be ready to provide logs. You also have to wait for the issue to be patched

If it's unacceptable to you to do a or b and to wait around until those features happen to be implemented, or any issues are fixed at a pace outside your control, then it's best you go with other options besides Jellyfin.