Self-hosted alternatives to Plex
Want personal media server (Plex itself is proprietary) without handing your data to Plex? These 9 self-hosted apps run on your own server (most are open source; licenses are listed below). Cheapest estimated hosting starts at about $10/month.
About Plex: Media server and streaming platform for personal media libraries.
| App | Health | Stars | License | Docker | RAM (est.) | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jellyfin | Active | 59.3k | GPL-2.0 | ✓ | 2 GB | $10/mo |
| Kodi | Active | 21.5k | GPL-2.0 | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| MediaMTX | Active | 20.7k | MIT | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Kyoo | Active | 2.6k | GPL-3.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Gerbera | Active | 1.4k | GPL-2.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| MistServer | Active | 520 | Unlicense | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Tiramisu | Active | 156 | GPL-2.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| cmyflix | Maintained | 195 | AGPL-3.0 | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Emby | Unknown | – | ⊘ Proprietary | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
The options in detail
1. Jellyfin
Media server for audio, video, books, comics, and photos with a sleek interface and robust transcoding capabilities. Almost all modern platforms have clients, including Roku, Android TV, iOS, and Kodi.
Active Last commit 2026-11-06. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v12.4 (2026-10-26). Needs roughly 2 GB RAM. How to run it →
2. Kodi
Multimedia/Entertainment center, formerly known as XBMC. Runs on Android, BSD, Linux, macOS, iOS and Windows.
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. Latest release 22.0rc1-Piers (2026-09-27). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
3. MediaMTX
Ready-to-use, zero-dependency real-time media server and proxy to publish, read, record, playback and route video/audio streams over SRT, WebRTC, RTSP, RTMP, HLS, MPEG-TS, RTP.
Active Last commit 2026-11-07. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v1.21.3 (2026-10-25). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
4. Kyoo
Innovative media browser designed for seamless streaming of anime, series and movies, offering advanced features like dynamic transcoding, auto watch history and intelligent metadata retrieval.
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. Latest release v5.3.0 (2026-11-01). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
5. Gerbera
UPnP Media Server, which allows you to stream your digital media throughout your home network and listen to/watch it on a variety of UPnP compatible devices.
Active Last commit 2026-11-09. 5 releases in the past year. Latest release v3.3.0 (2026-09-20). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
6. MistServer
Public domain streaming media server that works with any device and any format.
Active Last commit 2026-11-02. 9 releases in the past year. Latest release 3.13 (2026-11-03). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
7. Tiramisu
BitTorrent engine with a FUSE virtual filesystem that streams torrents live to Plex/Jellyfin without downloading (alternative to Real-Debrid).
Active Last commit 2026-10-17. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v1.11.8 (2026-10-17). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
8. cmyflix
Minimalist Plex/Jellyfin alternative to stream video.
Maintained Last commit 2025-12-18. 1 release in the past year. Latest release 0.27 (2025-12-18). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
9. Emby
Home media server supporting both DLNA and DIAL (Chromecast) devices out-of-the-box.
Unknown Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
Why self-host instead of Plex?
- Own your data — it lives on a server you control, with backups you decide on.
- Predictable cost — a small VPS often replaces per-seat pricing for a whole team or family.
- No lock-in — open-source licenses let you keep running the software even if a vendor disappears.
The trade-off: you are responsible for updates, backups and security. Pick an app marked Active (a commit in the last 90 days) and with Docker support for the easiest ride.
Browse related categories
Other alternatives guides
Plex is a trademark of its owner; this site is not affiliated with it. Listings come from the community-maintained awesome-selfhosted list.