Jellyfin vs Emby (2026): Free Fork or Paid Premiere?

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Comparison · Jellyfin · Last updated 2026-11-03 · How we research

On this page

Side-by-side (from each project's official pages)
What Emby Premiere actually unlocks
Jellyfin: what you give up and what you don't
Jellyfin vs Plex vs Emby in one line each
Who each one suits
FAQ
Sources

Versions/date: Jellyfin Server v12.4 (GitHub release, published 2026-10-27 JST). Emby Server 4.10.2.0, the latest stable release (GitHub release, published 2026-10-21 JST; newer 4.11.0.x builds are marked pre-release). Last checked November 3, 2026.

Jellyfin and Emby share the same roots. Jellyfin's own docs say it "is descended from Emby's 3.5.2 release" and was started in December 2018 after Emby decided to take its 4.x release closed-source. Today the split is simple: Jellyfin is free software with no paid tier, and Emby has a free tier, with features like hardware-accelerated transcoding, Live TV, DVR and downloads behind Emby Premiere. Our recommendation: start with Jellyfin unless you need a specific Emby Premiere feature or app that Jellyfin doesn't give you.

Side-by-side (from each project's official pages)

	Jellyfin	Emby
Current server version	v12.4	4.10.2.0 (stable)
Price	Free: "There are no costs, hidden or otherwise" (jellyfin.org)	Free tier; Emby Premiere $4.99/month, $54/year or $119 lifetime (USD, Premiere page, checked 2026-11-03)
Paid features	None: "no premium licenses or features" (About)	Premiere unlocks hardware transcoding, Live TV, DVR, downloads, intro skipping and more (feature matrix)
Hardware transcoding	Free; Intel QSV, NVIDIA NVENC, AMD AMF, VA-API, Apple VideoToolbox, Rockchip RKMPP (HWA docs)	Premiere feature (Nvidia Shield and WD NAS devices excepted, per the feature matrix)
Live TV & DVR	Listed as a feature on jellyfin.org	Premiere feature
Source code	GPL-2.0 (repo)	Current releases are published as binaries (Emby.Releases); the GPL-2.0 MediaBrowser/Emby repo's last release is 3.5.2.0 (2018)
Simplified remote login	Not listed; jellyfin.org says "We do not run servers for users"	Emby Connect, included in the free tier
Tracking	"No tracking, phone-home, or central servers collecting your data" (jellyfin.org)	Not compared here

Prices change. Check the Emby Premiere page on the day you buy. Emby says those licences are for single-household use with a 30-device limit.

What Emby Premiere actually unlocks

According to Emby's Premiere feature matrix, the free tier covers browsing, library organisation and metadata, users, parental controls and Emby Connect. These are Premiere-only:

Hardware accelerated transcoding and HDR tone mapping when transcoding
Live TV, DVR and free guide data (US, Canada and UK)
Intro skipping, cinema intros and limiting concurrent playback sessions
Downloads & sync, content conversion and the Backup and Restore plug-in
LDAP, webhooks, podcasts and Smart Home (Alexa/Google Home)

The matrix also limits some apps on the free tier:

Browser: full playback is free.
Roku, Apple TV, LG and Samsung TVs: full playback is free.
Android TV and Fire TV: free playback for up to 5 TV devices.
Windows, Linux and macOS apps and Xbox/PS4: free playback is limited to one minute.
iOS and Android: free playback is limited to one minute; a per-app unlock gives full playback, and Premiere adds offline media, CarPlay/Android Auto and camera upload.

Premiere is tied to the server: Emby says it works when you connect to a server with a valid Premiere key.

Jellyfin: what you give up and what you don't

Jellyfin lists movies, shows, music, Live TV & DVR, books, photos and SyncPlay (watching together remotely) on its homepage, and says "the Jellyfin server and official clients are free to download, now and always." Official clients include Android, iOS, Android TV/Fire TV, Roku, LG webOS, Samsung Tizen, Xbox, a desktop app and a Kodi add-on (clients).

Hardware transcoding costs nothing on Jellyfin. On Intel, the docs say "there is no concurrent encoding sessions limit on Intel iGPU and ARC dGPU" (Intel HWA docs). That's why an Intel mini PC is a good fit. See our Jellyfin Quick Sync in Docker guide and, if playback stutters, Jellyfin transcoding troubleshooting.

The trade-off: Jellyfin says "We do not run servers for users", and it lists nothing like Emby Connect, so remote access is something you set up on your own network. Our recommendation for most homes is a private VPN such as Tailscale before opening ports; see Tailscale vs WireGuard vs Cloudflare Tunnel.

Jellyfin vs Plex vs Emby in one line each

Jellyfin: free and open source, every feature included.
Emby: free tier, with transcoding, Live TV, DVR and downloads in Emby Premiere.
Plex: free at home; remote streaming needs a Remote Watch Pass or Plex Pass. See Jellyfin vs Plex for prices.

Who each one suits

Our recommendations:

You want everything free, including hardware transcoding on a mini PC: Jellyfin.
You care about open-source code: Jellyfin (GPL-2.0).
You want Emby Connect's simplified remote login plus Live TV, DVR or downloads, and don't mind paying: Emby with Premiere.
You already own Emby Premiere: keep using it if it works for you. Jellyfin is still worth testing on your devices.
You're leaving Plex: Jellyfin; follow our Plex to Jellyfin migration steps.

Need hardware? See the best mini PC for Jellyfin.

FAQ

Is Jellyfin a fork of Emby?

Yes. Jellyfin's docs say it is descended from Emby's 3.5.2 release and started in December 2018, mainly because Emby took its 4.x release closed-source.

Is Emby free?

Emby has a free tier. Hardware transcoding, Live TV, DVR, downloads and other features need Emby Premiere, which was $4.99/month, $54/year or $119 lifetime (USD) on emby.media on November 3, 2026.

Does Jellyfin have a paid version?

No. Jellyfin says there are no premium licences or features, and the server and official clients are free.

Does Emby need Premiere for hardware transcoding?

Yes, according to Emby's feature matrix, except on Nvidia Shield and WD NAS devices.

Is Emby open source?

Current Emby Server releases are published as binaries. The GPL-2.0 MediaBrowser/Emby repository's last release is 3.5.2.0 from 2018, the version Jellyfin forked from.