Jellyfin vs NymphCast

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

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FeatureJellyfinNymphCast
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseGPL-2.0BSD-3-Clause
LanguageC#C
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM512 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, binarybare-metal
GitHub stars★ 55,528★ 2,558
First released20182024
ReplacesPlex, Emby

Why pick each one

Choose Jellyfin if…

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

Choose NymphCast if…

  • Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
  • Active community (2.6k GitHub stars)
  • Written in C
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
NymphCast details

Frequently asked questions

Is Jellyfin or NymphCast better?

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

Are Jellyfin and NymphCast free and open-source?

Yes. Jellyfin is licensed under GPL-2.0 and NymphCast under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Jellyfin and NymphCast with Docker?

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

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