SHSelfHostIndex

Jellyfin Media Player vs Stash

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?
JE Jellyfin Media Player Desktop client for Jellyfin with native playback VS ST Stash Self-hosted media organizer and server
FeatureJellyfin Media PlayerStash
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseGPL-2.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageC++Go
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentbare-metaldocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 5,558★ 12,802
First released20202019
ReplacesPlex DesktopPlex

Why pick each one

Choose Jellyfin Media Player if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Mature project with 5.6k GitHub stars
  • Written in C++
Jellyfin Media Player details

Choose Stash if…

  • Powerful organization
  • Extensible via plugins
  • Easy to deploy
Stash details

Frequently asked questions

Is Jellyfin Media Player or Stash better?

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

Are Jellyfin Media Player and Stash free and open-source?

Yes. Jellyfin Media Player is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Stash under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Jellyfin Media Player and Stash with Docker?

Jellyfin Media Player: check the project docs for container support. Stash: yes.

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