State of the Fin 2026-01-06

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Plex’s Strategic Shift and User Backlash

  • Many see Plex as pivoting from “personal media server” to “Netflix clone”: UI now foregrounds Plex’s own streaming, social/sharing, and partner content over local libraries.
  • Longtime users resent feature degradation: broken or unreliable downloads/sync, bugs left unfixed, plugins removed, photo backup/watch-together dropped, and Netflix-style browsing that makes local content harder to find.
  • Strong negative reaction to monetization changes: lifetime buyers feel “rug-pulled” by SaaS-style moves, paywalls on basic features (e.g., sleep timer, mobile apps), and worries about collection tracking/metadata being monetized.
  • Authentication via Plex’s servers for self-hosted setups is a big philosophical and practical sticking point, even though LAN bypass exists.
  • Defenders argue Plex still offers unmatched polish, ease for non-technical family, and ultra-simple remote access without VPN or reverse proxies.

Jellyfin, Emby, and Alternatives

  • Jellyfin is praised as open source, community-driven, and increasingly close to Plex in functionality; several users report painless migrations and “it just works” for families.
  • Others say it still lacks Plex-level feature parity, especially around music (leading some to Navidrome/Gonic) and some advanced UX niceties.
  • Emby is cited as a polished alternative with a paid tier; Jellyfin is noted as a fork from when Emby closed its source.
  • Some run Plex and Jellyfin side by side for risk mitigation and gradual migration.

Client Ecosystem and Device Support

  • Plex’s main moat is perceived to be client quality and coverage: “works on every TV/box” is repeatedly contrasted with Jellyfin’s more uneven app story.
  • Jellyfin clients mentioned:
    • Roku, Android TV, LG webOS, Swiftfin (tvOS/iOS), Samsung/Tizen app in slow review, plus Kodi plugins and third-party Apple TV clients like Infuse/MrMC/VidHub/Mediora.
    • Experiences vary: some find Swiftfin and Android TV solid (including Atmos/DTS:X passthrough); others report bugs, missing features, and codec-related instability.
  • Samsung TVs are a pain point; people are waiting for an official store app instead of sideloading.

Self‑Hosting, Homelabs, and Ecosystem Tools

  • Plex’s changes pushed many into deeper self-hosting: Jellyfin + *arr stack (Radarr/Sonarr) + Jellyseerr, Navidrome/Gonic for music, Audiobookshelf for audiobooks, OCIS, Proxmox, OPNsense, Caddy, Tailscale, etc.
  • Some view this as a fun homelab journey; others argue it’s overkill compared to paying Plex, and beyond what most users will ever do.

Why Media Managers vs “Just VLC + Torrents”

  • Proponents highlight: 10-foot UI, rich metadata, subtitles, multi-user access, play-state sync, “latest additions” views, and easy sharing with non-technical relatives over the internet.
  • Critics of the hype say network shares and VLC are simpler for single-user setups, and that Jellyfin’s non-browser clients still feel bare-bones.

Jellyfin Project State and Technical Notes

  • The 10.11 release caused migration friction; multiple point releases have addressed most common issues, though some edge cases remain.
  • SQLite is seen as a limiting factor for very large or horizontally scaled deployments; some wish for Postgres support.
  • The project is considering dropping the leading “10” in version numbers (e.g., 10.11 → 12.0).