Jellyfin vs Ombi

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?
FeatureJellyfinOmbi
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseGPL-2.0GPL-2.0
LanguageC#C#
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM512 MB50 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, binarybare-metal
GitHub stars★ 55,528★ 4,107
First released20182023
ReplacesPlex, EmbyNetflix, Plex

Why pick each one

Choose Jellyfin if…

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

Choose Ombi if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Active community (4.1k GitHub stars)
  • Written in C#
Ombi details

Frequently asked questions

Is Jellyfin or Ombi 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 Jellyfin and Ombi free and open-source?

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

Can I run Jellyfin and Ombi with Docker?

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

Related comparisons