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JRiver Media Center VS Plex

Compare JRiver Media Center VS Plex and see what are their differences

Contents:
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  2. » Videos
  3. » Reviews
  4. » Alternatives

JRiver Media Center logo JRiver Media Center

Home · Download · Purchase · Support · Company. Share? The Most Comprehensive Media Software · The best choice for seamless audio, image, television, & video. Overview.

Plex logo Plex

Free movies and TV plus all your personal media libraries on every device. Master your Mediaverse.
  • JRiver Media Center Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-22
  • Plex Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-22

JRiver Media Center features and specs

  • Versatile Media Management
    JRiver Media Center supports a wide range of media formats including audio, video, and images, making it a comprehensive solution for users with diverse media collections.
  • High-quality Audio Playback
    The software is renowned for its high-quality audio playback capabilities, offering advanced features like support for high-resolution audio files, DSP studio, and customizable equalizer settings.
  • Customization and Advanced Features
    Users have access to a myriad of settings and options to tailor their media experience, including customizable views, tagging, and extensive control over the media library.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    JRiver Media Center is available on multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, ensuring users can use the software across different systems.
  • Extensive Streaming Options
    The software supports various streaming services and protocols, allowing users to stream content from online sources or share their media library across devices.

Possible disadvantages of JRiver Media Center

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Due to its extensive feature set and customization options, new users might find the software overwhelming and may require time to fully understand its capabilities.
  • High Resource Usage
    JRiver Media Center can be resource-intensive, which might affect system performance, especially on older or less powerful computers.
  • Paid Software
    JRiver Media Center is not free and requires a purchase or subscription, which might be a drawback for users looking for a free media management solution.
  • Complex Interface
    The user interface can be complex and cluttered, which may be less appealing to users who prefer a simpler and more intuitive design.
  • Limited Online Integrations
    Compared to some other media players, JRiver Media Center might have fewer integrations with certain online services and platforms, potentially limiting its utility in some environments.

Plex features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Plex offers a clean and intuitive interface that is easy to navigate, even for those who are not tech-savvy.
  • Centralized Media Library
    Plex allows you to centralize your media in one place, making it easy to manage and access your videos, music, and photos from a single platform.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    Plex supports a wide range of devices including PCs, smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, and streaming devices, providing flexibility in accessing your media.
  • Remote Access
    Plex lets you access your media library from anywhere, as long as you have an internet connection, making it convenient for users who travel frequently.
  • Live TV and DVR
    Plex offers live TV and DVR functionality, allowing users to watch and record live television shows through the platform.
  • Media Enhancement
    Plex automatically enhances your media by adding metadata like posters, descriptions, and ratings, providing a richer media experience.
  • Plex Pass Features
    Plex Pass offers premium features like offline access, early access to new features, and various premium plugins, enhancing the overall experience.

Possible disadvantages of Plex

  • Subscription Costs
    While Plex offers a free tier, many of its advanced features require a Plex Pass subscription, which can be expensive over time.
  • Complex Setup
    Setting up Plex can be somewhat complex and time-consuming, especially for users who want to host their own media server.
  • Streaming Quality
    The streaming quality may vary depending on the user's internet connection and the quality of the source media, which may not always meet expectations.
  • Limited Free Features
    Some of the most appealing features of Plex, such as offline access and advanced metadata, are locked behind the Plex Pass paywall.
  • Server Requirements
    Running a Plex server requires a fairly powerful machine, especially if you want to stream high-definition content or have multiple users accessing simultaneously.
  • Privacy Concerns
    Some users have raised concerns about Plex's data collection practices and how their personal viewing habits and data might be used.

JRiver Media Center videos

+ Add

JRiver Media Center Video Tour

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How to setup jRiver Media Center (part 1 of 2) - Intro

Plex videos

+ Add

PLEX Media Server Review - What is Plex?

More videos:

  • Review - Free Movies And TV With Plex Review 2020
  • Demo - Plex Review - 🚫WAIT🚫DON'T BUY WITHOUT WATCHING THIS DEMO FIRST🔥

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to JRiver Media Center and Plex)

JRiver Media Center

Plex

Video
100 100%
Video
0% 0
Video & Movies
10 10%
Video & Movies
90% 90
Media Player
28 28%
Media Player
72% 72
Media Players And Streaming Platforms
44 44%
Media Players And Streaming Platforms
56% 56

User comments

Share your experience with using JRiver Media Center and Plex. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare JRiver Media Center and Plex

JRiver Media Center Reviews

10 Best Kodi Alternatives You Should Use (2023)
If you are a movie geek, Jriver is a must-try. Movies and music, audio, and other media files can be streamed on JRiver very easily. With extra premium features like High Definition streaming and remote access, JRiver is a better Kodi alternative than others.
Source: techdator.net
15 Best Plex Alternatives [2022] – FREE and BETTER Options
JRiver Media Center uses multiple software servers to share media between devices. Media Center zones serve media to multiple clients, even playing different media on the same device at the same time. JRiver Media Center works with smart TVs, Blu-ray players, receivers, and other devices supporting DLNA playback. You can even use a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 with JRiver.
Source: www.smarthomebeginner.com
Top 10 Alternatives to Plex Media Server
JRIver Media Center is a complete multimedia solution platform will allow you to organize all type of your media content and play it on any digital device or operating system. JRIver Media Center is available for Mac OS X and Windows operating system users and allows the users to build their own media center in order to organize media files of all type.
Source: www.easefab.com

Plex Reviews

10 Best Kodi Alternatives You Should Use (2023)
Plex is one of the most competitive alternatives to Kodi. With almost the same features, plex is a considerable media player. It is better than Kodi in some ways, like it works on the server-client model. The interface is more robust and better than Kodi. But many features can only be accessed in the premium model.
Source: techdator.net
Reelgood vs. JustWatch vs. Plex: Battle of the streaming guides
Linking from Plex to other apps is also inconsistent across platforms. It doesn’t work at all on Fire TV (even though it did at launch), and I had trouble linking out from Peacock and Paramount+ on a Chromecast with Google TV. Plex’s Apple TV app fared better overall, but linking to Paramount+ content still didn’t work.
Source: www.techhive.com
Top 10 Best Linux Media Server Software
Unlike Kodi, Plex is not open-source. It does offer a free account for its users. But it also offers premium pricing plans that allow you to unlock more features and have greater control over your media, while also being able to get detailed insights into who’s using Plex and what they’re using it for.
Source: itsfoss.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Plex seems to be a lot more popular than JRiver Media Center. While we know about 652 links to Plex, we've tracked only 12 mentions of JRiver Media Center. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

JRiver Media Center mentions (12)

  • So. . .given lack of Roon support and recent acquisition by Harman. . .any realistic alternatives?
    Https://jriver.com/ It does a lot of what Roon does. It also includes local videos and youtube. Source: over 1 year ago
  • What is the best mp3 player that also displays the album art while the file is playing?
    It's not free, but I'm a big fan of JRiver Media Center and have been using it for many years. It is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Your license will last forever, but you do need to pay for major version upgrades (once-per-year). I'm an audiophile with a substantial library and I'm personally happy to support efforts like this, but I get that paying isn't for everyone. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Newbie question about volume control in my streaming setup
    I use JRiver Server with my WiiM Pro and it works flawlessly. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Why can’t they abstract?
    I suspect another commercial product, JRiver Media Center, might be more flexible than Mezzmo (less arbitrary about what you can and can't do), but it sounds like the Android and Android TV client is probably a mess. I've never done a setup with it. Source: over 2 years ago
  • program for ripping CDs with correct metadata
    Many media players support ripping 1 disc at a time at least. Even Windows Media player can rip to wave and FLAC. Foobar2000 is a good option here. I personally have my library in JRiver, which isn't free, but I've been happily using it for many years. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

Plex mentions (652)

  • Ask HN: Who is hiring? (April 2025)
    Location: Hartford, CT, USA Remote: Yes Willing to relocate: Yes Technologies: React, Typescript/Javascript, Next.js, NestJS, Node.js,Express, MongoDB, Prisma, Jest, Playwright, Docker, Linux, Bash, HTML, CSS, Git Résumé/CV: https://www.christophergeiger.xyz/resume.pdf Email: [email protected] Website: https://christophergeiger.xyz Hello, I'm a fullstack engineer who specializes in building intuitive... - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (March 2025)
    Https://plex.tv Currently I'm seeking a frontend or full-stack role as either a mid-level or senior developer. - Source: Hacker News / 2 months ago
  • Setting Up The Home Lab: Terraform and Cloud-Init
    You might notice that the Terraform template definition is pretty close in structure to the one I used in my last article. That's intentional - I set up the last one with cloud-init, but didn't do much with it. This one actually provisions the VM with cloud-init. You can also use Ansible playbooks to provision a VM, and I might talk about that in a future post, but in my next post I'm going to talk about doing... - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Apple Buys DarwinAI Ahead of Major Generative AI Updates Coming in iOS 18
    It's not for everyone but I've never been happier with OpenAudible [0] + Plex [1] + Prologue [2] [0] https://openaudible.org/ [1] https://plex.tv/ [2] https://prologue.audio/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Maybe easy maybe hard maybe impossible?
    I am not sure I have been reading up on qbittorent proxy in just the last few minutes and it looks like I would have to pay for a proxy server then have all requests sent to that proxy server in which would then send them to my qbittorent? Am I in the general ballpark as to how to make this work? If so I may just keep doing everything manually like I have been doing for years until I get the nerve to try all this.... Source: over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing JRiver Media Center and Plex, you can also consider the following products

Kodi - Kodi is an award winning free and open source media player that got its start on the Xbox console.

Jellyfin - Jellyfin is a personal media server.

Emby - media server for personal streaming movies tv music photos in mobile app or browser for all devices android iOS windows phone appletv androidtv smarttv and dlna.

Stremio - Watch videos, movies, TV series and TV channels instantly.

Universal Media Server - Universal Media Server allows you to host your entire library of video, music, and pictures, and broadcast them conveniently to a wide variety of different devices.

Serviio - Web on Big Screen. Serviio enables playback of online sources like RSS feeds, live streams or web site content so that you can listen to your favourite podcasts or watch latest TV programmes published online.

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