Plex is a popular media server software that allows you to stream your own media files to various devices. However, I recently decided to switch to Jellyfin, an open-source alternative that gives me more control and flexibility over my media library.
The main reason for my switch was the artwork management. Plex relies on TMDB or TVDB for fetching the covers and posters of TV shows, but I found that they often have inappropriate or spoiler-filled images. For instance, they might use a season 4 poster as the series cover, revealing some plot twists or character changes.
Plex does allow you to use custom agents, such as Fanart.tv, but only with the old libraries that are marked as “legacy” and that could be removed in a future update.
On the other hand, with Jellyfin I can easily download plugins from the store, and select different artwork providers for seasons and for the whole show. For example, for my TV shows I use TVDB for metadata and season posters, but Fanart.tv for the series main poster and background. For anime shows, I use the same, but AniDB for series poster and background.
I also use the Infuse “Show logos” option for “TV Shows Only”. However, I manually check the background and logo in Jellyfin with the “Edit images” option, and if they don’t work well together, for example if they are in the same color or if there is a character on the left (where the series logo will be placed on Infuse for tvOS), I replace them as necessary.
This way, I can customize my media library to my liking, and avoid any unwanted spoilers or images. Jellyfin also has other advantages over Plex, such as being free and open-source, and having the possibility of using CSS customization, which enables users to change many things in the web UI to their liking. That’s why I recommend Jellyfin to anyone who wants to stream their own media files without any hassle or compromise.
There is one thing I don’t like, the built-in search functionality, because It doesn’t have filters, however I do not use it.