NexusM vs Plex, Jellyfin and Emby
What each media server includes and what it charges for. Every fact is dated and sourced.
Method: the table below records what each product includes in its free tier as of 25-July-2026, based on the vendors' own documentation and pricing pages named at the bottom of this page. It is a feature inventory, not a score: it says nothing about how well any of these products performs, and competitor products change frequently. Please report anything out of date.
Feature comparison
| Feature | NexusM | Plex | Jellyfin | Emby |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost model | Free | Free + paid tier | Free | Free + paid tier |
| Vendor account required | Not available | Included | Not available | Included |
| Hardware transcoding | Included | Paid tier | Included | Paid tier |
| Official mobile apps | Partly | Included | Included | Included |
| Android TV app | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Offline playback with the Android app | Included | Paid tier | Partly | Paid tier |
| Standalone offline player for files on the device | Included | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| eBooks (PDF & ePUB) | Included | Not available | Not available | Included |
| Audiobooks | Included | Not available | Partly | Included |
| Photo library with albums, timeline and map | Included | Partly | Partly | Partly |
| RAW camera files (CR2, NEF, ARW, DNG) | Included | Partly | Not available | Not available |
| 360° panoramic photo viewer | Included | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Dedicated anime library | Included | Partly | Partly | Partly |
| Built-in scrobbling | Included | Partly | Partly | Partly |
| DLNA / UPnP server | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Music visualiser | Included | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| Audio equaliser in the player | Included | Partly | Not available | Not available |
| Built-in interface themes | Included | Not available | Partly | Included |
| Open-source licence | Source-available | Not available | Included | Partly |
What each one costs
Prices change; this is the part of the page most likely to age. Every figure below comes from the vendor's own pricing page, named in the sources section.
| Product | Cost model | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| NexusM | Free | Every feature included for personal, non-commercial use. Commercial licences on request. |
| Plex | Free with a paid tier | Plex Pass unlocks hardware transcoding and other features. The lifetime price rose to USD 749.99 on 1 July 2026. |
| Jellyfin | Free | Open source under GPL, with no paid tier and no vendor account. |
| Emby | Free with a paid tier | Emby Premiere is required for hardware transcoding and mobile streaming: about USD 4.99 a month, or USD 119 for a lifetime licence. |
Where NexusM is strong
What you get that the others charge for, or do not have
These are the differences that show up in daily use rather than on a spec sheet.
- Hardware transcoding is free; Plex and Emby put it behind a subscription
- No vendor account and no cloud sign-in on any platform
- eBooks, audiobooks and a dedicated anime library are built in
- Native scrobbling to Trakt.tv, Last.fm and ListenBrainz without plugins
- Go Big TV mode with a phone web remote, and the Nightclub visualiser
- The Android app is also a standalone offline video and music player for files already on the device, with no server and no subscription
- A photo library that opens most RAW files (CR2, NEF, ARW, DNG and more) and views 360° panoramas interactively
- No naming conventions required for movies, TV shows or folders: NexusM works out what your files are
- Built-in fanart.tv artwork picker: choose posters, backdrops and artist images yourself when the TMDB choice is wrong
- Transcoding statistics: the last 10 sessions with CPU and RAM charts, so you can see what your hardware actually does
- Duplicate finder built in: it locates duplicate media across every library, reports the space it wastes and deletes it in bulk
- No plugins to install: every feature is available out of the box
- Seven interface templates out of the box, or drop in your own CSS and JavaScript
- A multi-band audio equaliser with presets, built into the web player and the Android app, with no separate music app to install
Sources
Competitor facts on this page come from the vendors' own documentation and pricing pages.
- Plex: official plans and pricing page
- Plex: lifetime Plex Pass price change announcement, 1 July 2026
- Jellyfin: official documentation
- Emby: official Emby Premiere page
- Jellyfin and Emby public issue trackers: open requests for RAW image support
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