Halcyon Video

Judgement

What it is

Complete system

What it does

A 3D front end that presents your Jellyfin or Plex library as a walkable 1990s video rental store in the browser or desktop app.

Adopt it when

You run Jellyfin or Plex and want a nostalgic, playful way to browse your collection.

Watch out

A novelty created in August 2026, and it depends on your existing media server.

Ready for

Experimental

Runs as

Self-hosted server and desktop app

Built with

TypeScript, three.js, Tauri and Python

How established

New: started 3 months ago, latest release v0.30.2.

What the license allows

Use inside your business is unrestricted, but anything you distribute that includes it must be released under the same license.

Judged on 2026-11-03 from the project's README and GitHub data. The license and age lines are worked out directly.

Built from

Follow it down: Halcyon Video → TypeScript → Go → runs on a microchip

How compilers were built, back to punched paper tape

Open-source alternatives to Halcyon Video

1. 1
   Jellyfin jellyfin

   The Free Software Media System - Server Backend & API

   Complete system Production-ready You want Plex or Emby features without accounts, subscriptions or a vendor cloud.

   ★ 59k GPL-2.0 C# Active, pushed 2 days ago
2. 2
   Navidrome navidrome

   🎧 Your Personal Streaming Service

   Complete system Production-ready You own a music library and want Spotify-style access to it from any device.

   ★ 24k GPL-3.0 Go Active, pushed today
3. 3
   Audiobookshelf advplyr

   Self-hosted audiobook and podcast server

   Complete system Production-ready You own audiobook files or follow podcasts and want them streamed to your phone with synced progress.

   ★ 15k GPL-3.0 JavaScript Active, pushed yesterday
4. 4
   Streama streamaserver

   Self hosted streaming media server. https://docs.streama-project.com/

   Complete system Usable You want a simple home video library and prefer it over Jellyfin's breadth.

   ★ 9.8k MIT JavaScript Active, pushed 7 days ago
5. 5
   TubeArchivist tubearchivist

   Your self hosted YouTube media server

   Complete system Usable You want to keep a searchable offline copy of YouTube channels you follow.

   ★ 8.6k GPL-3.0 Python Active, pushed 9 days ago
6. 6
   CloudFlare-ImgBed MarSeventh

   🏖️ A serverless, open-source file hosting solution built on Cloudflare. Supports image hosting, secure file storage, and personal cloud drive capabilities.

   Complete system Usable You want your own image and file hosting for a blog or project on Cloudflare's free tier.

   ★ 6.9k MIT JavaScript Active, pushed today
7. 7
   Node-Media-Server illuspas

   A Node.js implementation of RTMP/HTTP-FLV Media Server

   Building block Usable You need a simple self-hosted RTMP ingest and playback server in a Node.js stack.

   ★ 6.2k Apache-2.0 JavaScript Active, pushed 3 days ago
8. 8
   Seanime 5rahim

   Open-source media server with a web interface and desktop app for anime and manga.

   Complete system Usable You watch anime from your own library and want AniList tracking built in.

   ★ 4.3k GPL-3.0 Go Active, pushed 19 days ago

Commercial media servers

1. 1
   Plex Plex, Inc.

   Streaming service and media server

   Complete system Production-ready You have a home media library and want polished apps on every device with little setup.

   3.5k readers a month Since 2009 Commercial
2. 2
   Emby Emby LLC

   Emby is a personal media server that organizes and streams your own videos, music, photos, and live TV to your devices.

   Complete system Production-ready You want a self-hosted media server with less dependence on a vendor cloud than Plex, and live TV recording.

   522 readers a month Commercial