Although I’m a long-time Plex user, I also keep its best open-source alternative, Jellyfin, installed alongside it. One of the things I admire most about Jellyfin is its support for plugins, which let developers flex their creative muscles and add features that Plex either charges for or doesn’t offer at all. Here are some of my favorites.
Intro Skipper
There are only so many times you can listen to the Sopranos theme tune
Plex lets you skip the intros on shows, but the feature is locked behind the Plex Pass subscription. It’s useful, but probably not so useful that you’d want to pay for it every month if you don’t need any of the other features you get.
Quiz
8 Questions · Test Your Knowledge
Cutting-edge Jellyfin features
Trivia challenge
Think you’ve kept up with Jellyfin’s evolution? Put your media server knowledge to the test.
StreamingFeaturesInterfaceClientsMedia
Begin
Which SyncPlay feature, added to Jellyfin, allows multiple users to watch content simultaneously in sync?
AGroupWatchBSyncPlayCPartyStreamDCoView
Correct! SyncPlay is Jellyfin’s built-in synchronized playback feature that lets multiple users watch the same content together in real time. It was introduced to bring a watch-party experience natively into the platform without needing third-party tools.
Not quite — the feature is called SyncPlay. It’s Jellyfin’s native synchronized playback system that keeps multiple viewers in lockstep, complete with play, pause, and seek synchronization across all participants.
Continue
What major overhaul did Jellyfin introduce to modernize its web interface in recent years?
AA complete rewrite using React and a new design systemBA switch to a native desktop Electron appCIntegration of the Kodi interface as the default frontendDAdoption of Google’s Material You design language
Correct! Jellyfin’s web client underwent significant modernization efforts including a shift toward a cleaner component-based architecture using modern JavaScript frameworks. The goal was to improve performance, accessibility, and maintainability across all browsers.
Not quite. Jellyfin has been progressively modernizing its web client through architectural improvements and a refreshed design system built around modern JavaScript tooling. It remains browser-based rather than moving to a native desktop wrapper like Electron.
Continue
Which official Jellyfin mobile client was released to provide a native experience on Android and iOS?
AJellyfin TheaterBJellyfin SwiftfinCJellyfin MobileDJellyfin Remote
Correct! Jellyfin Mobile is the official app available for both Android and iOS, providing a native mobile experience for browsing and streaming your media library. It has received numerous updates improving playback compatibility and UI responsiveness.
Not quite. The official mobile app is simply called Jellyfin Mobile and is available on both Android and iOS. Swiftfin is actually a separate community-developed native iOS client, while Jellyfin Theater is a different desktop-focused client.
Continue
What is Swiftfin, the community-developed Jellyfin client?
AA Windows desktop client built with WinUIBA native iOS and tvOS client written in SwiftCA Linux terminal-based client using ncursesDA Roku channel for Jellyfin streaming
Correct! Swiftfin is a natively built iOS and tvOS client for Jellyfin, written in Apple’s Swift programming language. It was created to deliver a smoother, more native Apple experience compared to the web-wrapped mobile app, with support for features like direct play and native video controls.
Not quite. Swiftfin is a native iOS and tvOS application written in Swift, Apple’s programming language. It offers a polished, platform-native experience for Apple device users connecting to their Jellyfin server, with better performance than a browser-wrapped approach.
Continue
Which subtitle format support was notably improved in Jellyfin to better handle complex typography and styling?
ASRTBWebVTTCASS/SSADTTML
Correct! ASS (Advanced SubStation Alpha) and SSA subtitle formats support was a major focus for improvement in Jellyfin, particularly important for anime fans who rely on complex styled subtitles with custom fonts, positioning, and animations. Better ASS rendering meant far fewer burned-in subtitle workarounds.
Not quite — the answer is ASS/SSA (Advanced SubStation Alpha). These subtitle formats are heavily used in anime fandom for their rich styling capabilities. Jellyfin improved support so these subtitles render correctly in the browser player without needing to transcode them into the video stream.
Continue
What hardware acceleration method did Jellyfin add support for to improve transcoding on Intel GPUs?
ANVENCBAMFCQuick Sync Video (QSV)DOpenCL
Correct! Intel’s Quick Sync Video (QSV) is a hardware-accelerated video encoding and decoding technology built into Intel processors and integrated graphics. Jellyfin expanded and refined its QSV support to allow users with Intel hardware to transcode media far more efficiently, reducing CPU load significantly.
Not quite. While NVENC is NVIDIA’s encoder and AMF is AMD’s equivalent, Jellyfin specifically improved support for Intel’s Quick Sync Video (QSV). QSV leverages Intel’s integrated GPU capabilities to handle transcoding tasks, making it a popular choice for home server builders using low-power Intel hardware.
Continue
What feature did Jellyfin introduce to allow users to manage and track their media progress across multiple devices?
ACross-device bookmarking via external cloud syncBResume playback with synchronized watch state across devicesCA dedicated playlist export tool for Plex migrationDAutomatic media file renaming based on watch history
Correct! Jellyfin stores playback progress server-side, meaning your watch state — including where you left off — syncs automatically across all your devices and clients. This lets you start a movie on your TV and seamlessly resume it on your phone without losing your place.
Not quite. Jellyfin handles this through server-side playback state syncing, which means your resume points and watch history are stored on the server itself. Any client — whether mobile, TV, or browser — can pick up exactly where you left off without needing a third-party cloud service.
Continue
Which major plugin capability was formalized in Jellyfin to allow community developers to extend server functionality?
AA Lua scripting engine for custom automationBA standardized plugin API and official plugin catalogCDirect integration with Docker container orchestrationDA WebAssembly sandbox for third-party extensions
Correct! Jellyfin formalized its plugin ecosystem by providing a standardized plugin API alongside an official plugin catalog that users can browse and install directly from the server dashboard. This made it much easier for community developers to build and distribute extensions for metadata providers, authentication systems, and more.
Not quite. Jellyfin established a proper plugin framework complete with a standardized API and an official in-app catalog for discovering and installing plugins. This opened the door for community contributions like custom metadata scrapers, last.fm scrobbling, and alternative authentication providers.
See My Score
Challenge Complete
Your Score
/ 8
Thanks for playing!
Try Again
Jellyfin, on the other hand, gives it to you for free via the Intro Skipper plugin. It’s fairly easy to set up, and it works locally without sending your data to any external servers. Instead, it scans your content and looks for recurring audio patterns, such as theme tunes, and then adds the Skip Intro button in the corner of your screen. It’s just like Netflix.
Skin Manager
Give Jellyfin a whole new look
If you want to see the immediate benefit of using Jellyfin plugins, then Skin Manager is the one to choose. It makes it easy to add custom themes to your Jellyfin server, enabling you to completely change how it looks. The plugin comes with eight preconfigured themes, and you can create your own, too. In all cases, you get to preview them before applying.
If you know CSS and have some time on your hands, you can build your own complex themes. But a better starting point is the collection of community-made themes curated by Awesome Jellyfin. You can make it look like Netflix or Spotify, or just make it look a lot nicer than it does with the default skin.
Playback Reporting
Your data belongs to you, and now you can see it
I can be a bit of a stats nerd when it comes to media consumption. I like to keep track of what I’m watching and for how long. The Playback Reporting plugin helps with this. It’s an official Jellyfin plugin, so you can find and install it through the standard plugin library without any extra steps.
Once you restart your server, it’ll begin collecting data on each user on your network and produce charts showing what they’ve watched, for how long, and lots more. Although the data is kept local to you and not uploaded anywhere, you should probably tell anyone who shares your network that you’ve got it installed. You can exclude specific users if you want to.
Home Screen Sections
Build your own home page
While Plex is quite good at splitting up your content by category and recommending somewhat relevant things to you, there’s no substitute for being able to take control over what you see on your home screen.
With the Home Screen Sections plugin, you can add categories to your home screen. The options include genres, Discover, Watch Again, and a “because you watched” setting that finds content in a similar style. It’s very useful for finding shows or movies that you’ve had in your library for a long time and forgotten about.
InPlayer Episode Preview
Switch episodes on the fly
When you’re watching a show from beginning to end, both Plex and Jellyfin are pretty similar. But when it’s a favorite show and you want to dip in and out of episodes in any order, InPlayer Episode Preview makes Jellyfin much nicer to use.
In Plex, switching episodes usually means backing out of playback, finding the season, and then picking something else. This plugin skips all of that. What it does is place an Episode Preview button on the screen when you’re watching a show. Click it, and you can see info on all the other episodes in that season and the other seasons in your library, too. You can read a synopsis, view a thumbnail, mark an episode as liked or viewed, and, of course, start playing it without exiting the Player screen.
KefinTweaks
Change how Jellyfin behaves, not just how it looks
Finally, a really powerful customization tool. KefinTweaks comes with a huge array of options for changing how Jellyfin looks and works. There’s an improved search function, infinite scroll, the ability to remove items from the Continue Watching section, categories on the home screen, a skin manager, and so much more.
In fact, a lot of the things you can do with the other plugins I’ve recommended are collected here in a single app. So why not just use it on its own? First, it’s more difficult to install than the other plugins. Second, it relies on the JavaScript Injector plugin, so it’s for advanced users only.
Jellyfin is great if you want more control
If you were to compare Plex and Jellyfin, your conclusions would likely follow the old commercial vs. open-source arguments. Plex is slicker but more limited and locked down. Jellyfin is a little rougher around the edges, but it gives you much more control over pretty much everything.
The direction in which Plex has been going in recent years suggests that it’s unlikely to change. Jellyfin’s support for plugins means that it is only likely to become an even more powerful and more compelling alternative in the future.
Operating System
FireOS
Resolution
4K
A step up from the Fire Stick TV Lite is the Fire Stick TV 4K. It offers a Dolby Vision upgrade and TV controls on the Alexa remote.
