Emby vs Plex
Emby and Plex are both media server software. Emby is a commercial product from Emby LLC. Plex is a commercial product from Plex, Inc.
Which to pick
- Pick Emby when
- You want a self-hosted media server with less dependence on a vendor cloud than Plex, and live TV recording.
- Pick Plex when
- You have a home media library and want polished apps on every device with little setup.
Side by side
A personal media server that organises and streams your videos, music, photos and live TV to client apps, with a paid Premiere tier.
A media server that organises your own films, TV, music and photos and streams them to apps on TVs, phones and browsers, plus free ad-supported streaming.
Key features need Emby Premiere, and the free open-source fork Jellyfin covers much of the same ground.
Remote streaming and some features now need a paid pass, and sign-in goes through Plex's cloud even for local use.
Production-ready (both)
Self-hosted server, mobile app and desktop app
Self-hosted server, mobile app, desktop app and cloud service
C# and .NET
Not published
Closed source, sold by Emby LLC
Closed source, sold by Plex, Inc.
Closed source: you use it under the maker's terms and cannot change or resell the code. (both)
522 Wikipedia readers a month on phones
3.5k Wikipedia readers a month on phones
Other comparisons
More media servers
Both sides were judged on 2026-11-03 from makers' descriptions, Wikipedia, READMEs and GitHub data. License, age and popularity lines are worked out directly.