Jellyfin
Free, open-source, self-hosted media server for video, music, and photos, with no account required and no telemetry.
Best Plex Alternatives in 2026
3 private alternatives, vetted against our public criteria.
Plex began as software you run on your own server, but more of it now depends on a Plex account and routes discovery and some playback data through the company’s cloud. These media servers keep the library on your hardware and answer only to you.
Navidrome
Open-source, self-hosted music server compatible with the Subsonic API, giving any Subsonic client access to your personal library.
Kavita
Open-source, self-hosted reading server for manga, comics, and ebooks, with a built-in browser reader.
Why settings won’t fix Plex. The account is woven through the product now, so sign-in, remote access, and some metadata travel through Plex servers however you configure it. You can tighten options, but you cannot run it as the purely local, anonymous library it once was. That is a direction of travel, not a single toggle.
What actually matters in a media server. A fully open-source server with no mandatory account, no telemetry, and apps for the TVs and phones in your house. Hardware transcoding helps if your devices are weak. If you also want music or books, check whether one server covers them or you pair a second.
How to switch. Point the new server at the same media folders Plex already uses, install its app on your devices, and run both side by side until the household is comfortable. Rebuild your libraries, then retire Plex. The trade is losing Plex’s polished discovery in exchange for a library no account change can touch.