What's the point of Jellyfin vs SMB + Kodi? reddit / selfhosted ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Islam-is-for-cavemen · 2023-11-01 15:45 I don't like transcoding at all. So zero need for that and that seems to be the biggest reason for Plex/emby/Jellyfin from my understanding. If I want to stream remotely I just use my WG VPN. Zero want in terms of sharing to anyone else. LAN easily handles all my video traffic. Nvidia shield TV endpoints. So is there any reason for any of those apps besides UI preferences? Really just asking because I'm interested in QuasiTV app. I assumed it was just an android TV app that used your file share directory, but it seems like it only works with the 3 apps mentioned. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- GolemancerVekk · 2023-11-01 16:08 Media servers manage content in a single place, so all the metadata needs to be collected only once and will be available to all users. It helps a lot if you have multiple users as opposed to just one; you wouldn't want everybody to set up Kodi if you had 10 users. Media servers can also use hardware that is only available locally, for example a TV tuner, and make it available remotely to multiple locations and multiple users. Transcoding like you mentioned, which can be a really big problem if you have older rips in ancient formats, or very new rips that the users don't have hardware support for on their devices. When H265 first appeared there were no devices with hardware decoders and trying to do software decoding was out of the question. This may happen again in the future with new codecs. Transcoding can also adjust the bitrate and resolution, which can help with older/weaker devices, or over bad connections. With a media server you can do things like group watching remotely (if you have multiple users). Jellyfin has support for things like ebooks, magazines and comic books, extensive support for anime metadata, and things like YouTube metadata support (check out [ytdl- sub](https://github.com/jmbannon/ytdl-sub) for example). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Islam-is-for-cavemen · 2023-11-01 16:13 I think the only thing I miss out on right now is my Kodi library metadata across multiple devices. Thought about doing a Kodi database, but idk. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- kremata · 2023-11-01 16:18 I use Jellyfin just because it's more practical on the phone than Kodi. Also I find that Jellyfin scans are better than Kodi. But I also disable all the transcoding features cuz I also don't care and don't need that. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- spicy45 · 2023-11-01 16:31 It’s all personal preference. If one solution works best for you, no one else should care. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- krimsonstudios · 2023-11-01 16:49 I ended up moving to Jellyfin mostly for a centralized library. At first I was looking at options for syncing watch status across multiple Kodi devices and decided to give Jellyfin a try as one of the simpler sounding solutions. It's getting to a point where I don't even know why I am keeping Kodi in the mix. Jellyfin is very strong as a library manager and also has fairly decent options for playback. More and more I just use the Jellyfin client, especially on my phone and tablet. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- richneptune · 2023-11-01 17:08 Jellyfin is available on appstores like Amazon Fire TV and it's enough like the streaming provider UIs to be noob friendly if you ever want to share your library with your family/friends. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AngelGrade · 2023-11-01 17:27 I don't know, but Kodi always crash my Nvidia Shield playing 4K content, this doesn't happen with Plex/Jellyfin ---------------------------------------------------------------------- nyrosis · 2023-11-01 17:54 This was me I was using kodi for many years then just abandoned it in favor of jellyfin. It was just easier and did everything I needed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TheSmashy · 2023-11-01 18:37 1. Metadata and organization 2. Apps for endpoints I cancelled my spotify subscription a few years ago and listen to music on my phone via an app through Jellyfin. I listen to music on my computers, including my work laptop, via Jellyfin. It's super nice and convenient. I don't watch a ton of movies, but I can on my TV with Jellyfin. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PuckSR · 2023-11-01 18:53 So, I've done both. I even went to the trouble of hosting a remote kodi database so that I had sync between multiple devices. But even still, you had to host a headless kodi install if you wanted the centralized database to update in the background. With Plex/Emby/Jellyfin, that is all handled in a single package and handled natively. Additionally, I found the ability to have multiple profiles and such much easier on plex/emby/jellyfin. Finally, the mobile device app is much better and less problematic and doesn't require weird reskinning. But these advantages are small. I don't think I messed up by using kodi for a few years. I just like jellyfin more. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- gazsiazasz · 2023-11-01 20:17 SMB+Kodi is the best combo. With trakt.tv plugin you will have your watchcounts in sync. Nothing else needed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- aileanaodh · 2023-11-01 20:52 I have years of experience with both Jellyfin and Kodi. I think Kodi is great for a lot of things but I'll tell you why Jellyfin won out for me - speed. The speed to set Jellyfin up on a new TV, the speed to get Jellyfin working in someone's browser, the speed to scan a library, the speed of the menus, etc. Kodi can still shine in certain use cases but it still feels clunky to me after all these years. Side rant here - it would be amazing to see a competitor (or a Jellyfin / Kodi theme) that just used SMB and had nothing but a black screen with white text. Screw the images! Honestly, too many CPU cycles are wasted on these complex picture-heavy menu systems. When you watch Star Wars, is it really THAT much better because the menu item you clicked to watch it looked like a little mini Star Wars DVD case? Lol. OK end rant. And I totally get that some people are more visual or its easier for their end users. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CryonieR · 2023-11-01 22:01 I do both at the same time. Jellyfin manage everything and is linked to my Kodi on rpi3 connected to my tv. Easy Kodi for kids on TV + jellyfin app on my phone / or by web when I want. Twice the work to settle but twice the fun to use :)