Collaboration & Productivity
Jellyfin
Your personal media library on your own VPS — no subscription, no data leakage.
About Jellyfin
Jellyfin is a free and open-source media server (GPL-2.0, 57 000+ GitHub stars, version 10.10) that gives you full control over your personal media library. It transcodes video on the fly to any device and browser without requiring proprietary clients, supports Direct Play for near-zero CPU usage on compatible hardware, and runs comfortably on a 2 vCPU VPS for personal or family use.
Unlike Plex or Emby, Jellyfin has no commercial tier, no account wall, and no telemetry. You own the server, the metadata and the stream — the client apps for iOS, Android, Roku, Fire TV and smart TV are all free. Jellyfin pulls metadata, artwork and subtitles from TMDb, IMDb and OpenSubtitles automatically, organises series into seasons and collections, and exposes a Plex-compatible API so existing clients work without changes.
What gets installed
Ready when the VPS starts
- Compatible OS
- Ubuntu 24.04
- Application
- Jellyfin
- Minimum RAM
- 2 GB (Direct Play) · 4 GB (transcoding)
- Minimum CPU
- 2 vCPU (Direct Play) · 4 vCPU per transcoded stream
- Default port
- 8096
- Access
- root over SSH
Key features
- On-the-fly video transcoding to any resolution, bitrate and codec — H.264, H.265, VP9, AV1.
- Direct Play support: zero-transcode streaming for compatible clients with near-zero CPU usage.
- Automatic metadata and artwork scraping from TMDb, IMDb, MusicBrainz and OpenSubtitles.
- Free native clients for iOS, Android, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Kodi and all major smart TV platforms.
- Multi-user with per-user libraries, parental controls, and per-device playback limits.
- Hardware transcoding via VA-API, NVENC or Quick Sync when the host exposes a compatible GPU.
When to use this solution?
Personal media server
Replace streaming subscriptions with your own library: copy your files to the VPS and stream to any TV or phone. Jellyfin manages season packs, subtitles and artwork without touching your file names.
Family library with parental controls
Create one account per family member with dedicated libraries. Filter content by age rating for children's profiles, and limit concurrent streams so the connection stays smooth for everyone.
Private music collection
Index your FLAC and MP3 library and stream over HTTPS to any device. Jellyfin acts as a self-hosted music server with MusicBrainz artwork and no monthly fee.
Guide
Deploy Jellyfin on your VPS
Wizard setup
Open the URL provided in your dashboard. Jellyfin's first-run wizard guides you through admin account creation, media library paths and language preferences in a few clicks.
Add a media library
Upload your files to the VPS via SFTP, then add a library in Jellyfin's dashboard pointing to the folder. Jellyfin scans, matches metadata and downloads artwork automatically.
Stream on any device
Install the free Jellyfin app on your TV, phone or tablet, enter your server URL and credentials — you get immediate access to your full library from anywhere.
Frequently asked questions
Questions about Jellyfin
← Back to Collaboration & ProductivityAll applicationsEmbed the deploy button
Maintaining a project that uses Jellyfin? This button lets your readers deploy it on a VPS in one click, without reading Docker documentation.
[](https://servorbit.com/vps-cloud?template=jellyfin&utm_source=deploy-badge&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=jellyfin)<a href="https://servorbit.com/vps-cloud?template=jellyfin&utm_source=deploy-badge&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=jellyfin"><img src="https://servorbit.com/brand/deploy/button.svg" alt="Deploy Jellyfin on ServOrbit" height="40"></a>The button points to a VPS order with the template preselected. The image is served from servorbit.com — nothing to host on your side.
Need help?
Browse our help center and FAQ, or reach our team — callback, WhatsApp or email.
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