Jackett vs Jellyfin

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?
FeatureJackettJellyfin
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseGPL-2.0GPL-2.0
LanguageC#C#
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM200 MB512 MB
Deploymentbare-metaldocker, bare-metal, binary
GitHub stars★ 15,854★ 55,528
First released20232018
ReplacesPlex, Emby

Why pick each one

Choose Jackett if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Mature project with 15.9k GitHub stars
  • Written in C#
Jackett details

Choose Jellyfin if…

  • No subscription or account needed
  • Active community development
  • Wide client support
Jellyfin details

Frequently asked questions

Is Jackett or Jellyfin better?

Neither is universally better. Jellyfin has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Jackett and Jellyfin free and open-source?

Yes. Jackett is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Jellyfin under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Jackett and Jellyfin with Docker?

Jackett: check the project docs for container support. Jellyfin: yes.

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