SHSelfHostIndex

Emby vs Gerbera

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
EM Emby Personal media server for your movies and shows VS GE Gerbera UPnP media server for streaming to DLNA devices
FeatureEmbyGerbera
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseProprietaryGPL-2.0
LanguageC#C++
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM512 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 4,945★ 1,390
First released20152018
ReplacesPlex, NetflixPlex

Why pick each one

Choose Emby if…

  • Polished interface
  • Good device coverage
  • Stable and mature
Emby details

Choose Gerbera if…

  • Works with DLNA TVs
  • Low resource use
  • No client apps needed
Gerbera details

Frequently asked questions

Is Emby or Gerbera better?

Emby is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Gerbera if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Emby and Gerbera free and open-source?

Yes. Emby is licensed under Proprietary and Gerbera under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Emby and Gerbera with Docker?

Emby: yes. Gerbera: yes.

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