7 Best Home Media Server Software Choices (2022)

1

plexapp.com Plex

While the bulk of Plex’s features can be enjoyed for free, you do have to upgrade to a Plex Pass if you want to enjoy some nicer features. These include access to some nice features of the otherwise free Plex mobile apps, the ability to sync a cloud storage system, and much more. The Plex Pass has a couple of payment options, the most economical for a serious user being the lifetime pass for $149.99. The remaining question will no doubt be: is a Plex Pass worth the price? And for many, the answer will be definitely.

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2

Kodi

Kodi is easy to install on any Windows, Linux, MacOS, Android, or iOS device. You can also install Kodi on pretty much any other playback device but this typically requires the use of unofficial methods. This may sound intimidating but you can find step-by-step instructions for pretty much any device on the Kodi Wiki. It is somewhat ironic that you have to take these extra steps, though, as the Kodi UI is definitely optimized for a streaming box

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3

Emby

While this basic feature set may be enough for beginners, advanced users will certainly want to invest in Emby Premiere, which adds a laundry list of extra features. Emby Premier costs either $5 a month or $119 for a lifetime pass. The most important feature of Emby Premiere is the ability to remotely access your media library, and from a larger selection of devices as well. The paid version of Emby also includes access to Emby apps for Linux, MacOS, iOS, Android, Fire TV, Xbox One, and PS4. To add to that, you get live TV support (subscription required), DVR support, hardware-accelerated transcoding, cloud syncing, offline viewing, and a cinema mode that enhances your viewing experience with trailers and custom intros.

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4

Universal Media Server

Universal Media Server is an open-source and fully free media solution, that though quite a bit more complicated than Plex, is just as stable and reliable. This software can be set up on a PC or NAS open-source software, with about the same setup burden, but if any steps of the process get you hung up, a fairly robust support community will be able to help you out.

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5

Subsonic

At the end of the day, Subsonic will not be the best choice for everybody, especially since it is only compatible with a limited number of streaming devices. Avid show and movie watchers will have to deal with a lack of subtitle support, plus an inability to stream quality settings. For myself, music makes up over half the media I own, and Subsonic adequately meets my needs. As an older software, SubSonic doesn’t have the same regular updates as PlayOn, and will be a little harder to work with. But music lovers will have enough to keep them busy, even if they occasionally have to pull a foreign film up on VLC instead.

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6

Serviio

Serviio requires you to already have your content organized and titled correctly, otherwise, it will look like a total mess. In the free version, you can stream to newer Playstation and XBox devices, as well as other computers, but other devices like Sonos, Roku, and Chromecast have been known to have issues working with Serviio. Because of its detailed configuration options, almost anything is possible with this software, but it won’t be easy.

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7

Playon

Don’t worry, you can still add local content like movies, music, and photos to our PlayOn library as you can with any media server. However, PlayOn focuses more on providing a diversity of free and paid streaming services. This accounts for over 100 channels to start, including Hulu, YouTube, Netflix, Comedy Central, and all the major TV networks. Browsing this large selection is fairly easy with PlayOn’s UI, which is quite well polished. I found the bookmark feature particularly handy to keep track of daily streams, and I also enjoyed using the PlayMark extension to stream videos from my favorite web feeds.

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