Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Channels DVR

Jellyfin is a free software media system for collecting, organizing, and streaming your personal media library from your own server to many types of clients. It provides a server backend and API along with a web interface, and is commonly used as an open alternative to proprietary media servers.

Key Features

• Library management for movies, TV shows, music, and photos with metadata fetching
• Web-based administration and playback interface, plus a broad ecosystem of official and third-party clients
• Streaming with on-the-fly transcoding support via FFmpeg
• User accounts and profiles for separating access and playback history
• Extensible architecture with plugins and integrations

Use Cases

• Host a private “Netflix-like” server for a household’s movie and TV collection
• Centralize and stream a music library to phones, desktops, and smart TVs
• Provide media access for friends or remote devices while keeping content on your own server

Limitations and Considerations

• Transcoding and high-bitrate streaming can require significant CPU/GPU resources depending on usage
• Some client capabilities and codecs may vary by platform, affecting direct play vs transcoding

Jellyfin focuses on giving you full control over your media, with no tracking or vendor-operated central services. It is well-suited for home labs and organizations that want a flexible, privacy-respecting media streaming stack.

Kodi is a free and open source home theater and media center application for playing and managing digital media. It is designed for a 10-foot, remote-friendly experience on TVs while also working well as a desktop media player.

Key Features

• Library management with media scanning, artwork, metadata, and collections
• Playback for a wide range of audio and video formats
• Network playback and streaming over common network protocols
• Add-on system for extending functionality (including official add-ons)
• Powerful theming and skinning engine for customizable UI
• Cross-platform support across major desktop and mobile operating systems

Use Cases

• Living-room HTPC media center for local and NAS-hosted libraries
• Unified playback app for video, music, photos, playlists, and slideshows
• Extensible media hub using add-ons and custom skins for tailored setups

Limitations and Considerations

• Add-on availability, quality, and maintenance can vary across the ecosystem
• Performance and hardware decoding capabilities depend on the platform and device

Kodi is a mature, community-driven media center focused on a polished TV experience and broad format support. Its add-on and skinning ecosystem makes it suitable for both simple playback and highly customized home theater setups.

Sonarr is a smart PVR and automation service for managing TV series downloads via Usenet and BitTorrent. It monitors indexers and feeds for new episodes, sends downloads to clients, and keeps your library organized and up to date.

Key Features

• Monitors RSS feeds and indexers to automatically detect new episodes
• Searches for missing episodes by scanning existing libraries
• Quality profiles and automatic upgrades when better releases become available
• Failed download handling with automatic retries on alternate releases
• Configurable episode naming and sorting for consistent libraries
• Integrations with download clients (e.g., SABnzbd, NZBGet) and media servers (e.g., Plex, Kodi) via notifications and library updates
• Supports specials and multi-episode releases
• Web-based UI and API for automation and integrations

Use Cases

• Automate TV series downloads and organization for a home media server
• Maintain consistent naming and folder structures across a large TV library
• Continuously upgrade existing episodes to preferred quality profiles

Limitations and Considerations

• Requires external indexers and download clients to fetch content
• Correct filesystem permissions are important to avoid import/rename issues

Sonarr is a mature automation tool commonly used in media server setups to keep TV libraries complete, neatly organized, and aligned with preferred quality settings. It fits well alongside download clients and media server software for end-to-end automation.

Stash is a self-hosted web application for organizing and viewing a personal adult video and image collection. It indexes your local files, enriches them with metadata, and provides a fast browser-based interface for browsing and streaming.

Key Features

• Library scanning and indexing for video files, images, and image galleries (folders and zip files)
• Scene-centric organization with ratings, tags, performers, studios, and movies
• Video streaming to web browsers with broad codec/container support and FFmpeg-based processing
• Markers to bookmark and tag specific timestamps within scenes, shown on the video scrubber
• Metadata extraction from filenames plus scraping via community-maintained scrapers and metadata providers
• Statistics and insights across performers, tags, studios, and more
• Optional access protection (e.g., password protection) for private libraries

Use Cases

• Build a private “personal site” experience for browsing and streaming an adult media collection
• Curate and tag large libraries with performers, studios, and custom tags for quick retrieval
• Create highlight collections by marking favorite moments with timestamped markers

Limitations and Considerations

• Requires FFmpeg for key functionality such as video processing and broad playback compatibility
• Metadata scraping quality and coverage depends on the configured providers and community scrapers

Stash is well-suited for users who want a private, searchable, and streamable catalog of adult media with strong tagging and curation tools. Its extensibility through scrapers and plugins makes it flexible for many different library workflows.

Dim is a self-hosted media manager that scans your media directories, organizes them into a clean library, and provides a web interface to browse and play your content from anywhere. It focuses on minimal setup while offering a polished, modern UI.

Key Features

• Library management for local media folders with metadata-driven organization
• Web UI for browsing, searching, and viewing your media collection
• In-browser playback experience for supported media
• SQLite-backed local configuration and library data storage
• Optional hardware-accelerated video processing on Linux via VA-API
• Multiple deployment options, including standalone binaries and container images

Use Cases

• Personal media library management for movies and TV on a home server
• A lightweight alternative to heavier media server stacks for simple browsing and playback
• Centralized household media browsing across devices using a web browser

Limitations and Considerations

• Some features may be platform-dependent (for example, VA-API hardware acceleration on Linux)
• Requires external tools/libraries (such as FFmpeg) for media processing and compatibility

Dim is a strong fit for users who want a sleek, minimal-setup media manager with a modern web UI. It works well for organizing and accessing media libraries while remaining relatively lightweight in deployment and storage requirements.

TVHeadend is the leading TV streaming server and Digital Video Recorder for Linux. It aggregates multiple tuner inputs and exposes streams to clients via HTSP and HTTP.

Key Features

• Supports inputs including ATSC, DVB-C/S/T, IPTV (UDP/HTTP), SAT>IP, HDHomeRun, and Unix Pipe
• Outputs HTSP (native protocol), HTTP, and SAT>IP for client devices
• DVR functionality with scheduling and electronic program guide support
• Runs on Linux with Docker container deployment options and extensive documentation
• Open-source project with community and forum support

Use Cases

• Central home media server: stream live TV to Kodi and other HTSP/HTTP-capable clients over LAN
• DVR and archiving: schedule and record OTA/IPTV content for later viewing
• Containerized deployments: run TVHeadend in Docker for easy hosting and updates

Limitations and Considerations

Conclusion

TVHeadend provides a Linux-focused, multi-input TV streaming and DVR solution suitable for home or small network setups. Its modular inputs/outputs and Docker support make it versatile for various networked TV viewing scenarios.

ErsatzTV transforms a personal media library into scheduled, live TV-style channels with Electronic Program Guide (EPG) support and standard IPTV outputs. It runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS, integrates with Plex, Jellyfin, and Emby, and uses FFmpeg-based profiles for streaming and transcoding.

Key Features

• Create custom, scheduled channels and playlists from local files or synchronized media servers
• EPG support with XMLTV export and M3U playlists for client consumption
• Hardware-accelerated transcoding support (NVENC, QSV, VAAPI, AMF, VideoToolbox) via configurable FFmpeg profiles
• Integrations with Plex, Jellyfin, and Emby for one-way metadata synchronization
• Streaming output compatible with common clients (HLS and MPEG-TS modes) and configurable streaming profiles
• Local library scanning with NFO metadata fallback and path-replacement support for media-server-driven libraries
• Cross-platform packaging and optional containerized deployment

Use Cases

• Build a personalized IPTV lineup to stream your movie/TV/music-video collections to TVs and devices
• Unify multiple media servers (Plex/Jellyfin/Emby) into scheduled channels and EPG-driven guides for client DVR/Live TV features
• Create always-on background or themed channels (music videos, curated shows, tutorials) for home or small deployments

Limitations and Considerations

• Plex client integration requires a Plex Pass on the client side and supports MPEG-TS streaming mode for direct Plex playback
• Hardware transcoding can require careful FFmpeg profile configuration and may exhibit platform- or driver-specific issues (e.g., QSV/encoder edge cases)
• When syncing from Plex/Jellyfin/Emby, only Movies and Shows are supported; other media kinds require local libraries

ErsatzTV is a community-driven, open-source project designed for self-hosted personal media streaming and channel scheduling. It focuses on flexible channel creation, broad client compatibility, and configurable transcoding pipelines to suit a range of home media setups.

Kyoo is a self-hosted media server focused on video content such as movies, TV series, and anime. It aims to minimize ongoing maintenance by avoiding strict folder structures and manual metadata editing, while still providing a modern browsing and playback experience.

Key Features

• Automatic library scanning and matching, including robust parsing for unusual filenames (notably for anime)
• Dynamic transcoding with quality switching, auto quality, and responsive seeking
• Preview thumbnails when scrubbing the playback timeline
• Advanced search backed by a dedicated search engine
• OIDC login support for integrating with external identity providers
• Offline downloads with progress sync when devices reconnect
• Enhanced subtitle support including SSA/ASS and embedded fonts

Use Cases

• Host a personal or family video library as an alternative to Plex or Jellyfin
• Stream content to web and Android clients with transcoding for different devices
• Maintain an anime collection without strict naming and folder conventions

Limitations and Considerations

• Focused on video only (no music, e-books, or games)
• No plugin system; features are intended to be built-in
• Client ecosystem is currently centered on web and Android

Kyoo is designed for users who want a streamlined, low-maintenance media library with strong playback features and search. Its architecture embraces dedicated components where useful, aiming to stay portable and scalable as libraries grow.

Tunarr is a self-hosted application for creating a classic live TV experience using your existing media libraries from Plex, Jellyfin, or Emby. It builds scheduled channels and exposes them as IPTV streams and a tuner device that media apps and IPTV players can consume.

Key Features

• Create and schedule multiple live TV channels from Plex/Jellyfin/Emby libraries
• HDHomeRun (HDHR) tuner emulation for integration with supported media servers
• M3U playlist output for use with IPTV clients
• Web UI for managing channels, programming, fillers, and settings
• TV guide-style lineup browsing
• Filler and branding support (e.g., commercials, prerolls, interstitial content)
• Per-channel transcoding settings and hardware-accelerated transcoding support
• Subtitle and audio language preference configuration
• Scheduled, configurable backups of configuration

Use Cases

• Build a “cable-like” channel lineup from a personal media library
• Provide curated, always-on streams to TVs, set-top boxes, or IPTV apps
• Add fillers and branding to create themed channels (genres, franchises, eras)

Limitations and Considerations

• Media library changes are not always automatically tracked; channel programming may need manual updates depending on server/content changes

Tunarr is a near-complete rewrite and rebrand inspired by earlier pseudo-TV projects, focusing on a modern stack, improved stability, and a cleaner web interface. It is a strong fit for homelabs that want scheduled, channel-based playback rather than on-demand browsing.

Fladder is a cross-platform frontend client for Jellyfin that lets you browse and play your media library across mobile, desktop, web, and TV devices. It focuses on a clean UI, multi-profile support, and reliable playback including offline syncing.

Key Features

• Stream media with direct play or server transcoding
• Download and sync media for offline playback while keeping progress in sync
• Manage your library, including refresh actions and basic metadata edits
• Multiple profiles for quickly switching users or servers
• Skip media segments such as intros and credits
• Trickplay support for improved timeline scrubbing
• Adaptive layout for mobile, tablet, desktop, web, and TV
• Dark/light mode with multiple color style options
• Simple comic book reading support for CBZ/CBR
• Integrations with Seerr/Jellyseerr

Use Cases

• Daily Jellyfin viewing on phones, desktops, and Android TV with a consistent UI
• Offline playback for travel while keeping watch progress synchronized
• Households with multiple users or multiple Jellyfin servers

Limitations and Considerations

• Some features may depend on Jellyfin server capabilities (for example, transcoding and segment markers)
• The hosted web build may be restricted to secure connections depending on where it is served

Fladder is a practical option for users who want a modern Jellyfin experience across many platforms with both streaming and offline workflows. It is especially well-suited for mixed-device setups and multi-user environments.

Gerbera is a UPnP/DLNA media server that lets you stream your local digital media library across your home network to a wide range of compatible players, TVs, consoles, and mobile devices. It maintains an indexed media database, extracts metadata, and provides a web interface to manage and browse your collection.

Key Features

• UPnP AV media server for browsing and playback on compatible renderers
• Web UI with tree views for both the media database and filesystem management
• Metadata extraction for many audio/image formats and thumbnail support
• Configurable server layout based on extracted metadata
• Optional on-the-fly transcoding via external plugins/scripts to improve device compatibility
• Automatic directory rescans, including efficient filesystem monitoring (inotify)
• Support for linking external URLs into the library

Use Cases

• Stream a personal music, photo, and video library to smart TVs and consoles over DLNA
• Provide a lightweight media server for NAS or homelab environments
• Customize how media is presented across clients using scripting and metadata-based views

Gerbera is well-suited for users who want a standards-based home media server with a manageable web interface and flexible library organization. Its optional transcoding and scripting capabilities help adapt media delivery to diverse device ecosystems.

Riven is an open-source media management and streaming platform that exposes media via a virtual filesystem (RivenVFS). It automates discovery, scraping, downloading, and organization of media and integrates with popular media servers for immediate streaming.

Key Features

• Virtual filesystem (FUSE-based RivenVFS) that presents downloaded media to media servers without moving files
• Automated discovery and scraping pipeline: content services, multiple scrapers, debrid downloader integration and ranking
• Integrations with Plex, Jellyfin, Emby and content/watchlist services for seamless library updates
• Configurable caching, fetch-ahead/prefetching, chunked streaming and eviction policies for smooth playback
• Web-based dashboard (SvelteKit frontend) for configuration, analytics, monitoring and role-based controls
• Service-oriented backend architecture with REST API, scheduling, and database-backed state management
• Docker-ready deployment with docker-compose examples, multi-stage builds, and healthchecks

Use Cases

• Run an automated media acquisition pipeline that finds and prepares media for Plex/Jellyfin/Emby
• Present on-demand streaming of debrid-hosted content through a virtual filesystem to existing media servers
• Centralize and monitor media library state, downloads, and notifications (Discord, Apprise, webhooks)

Limitations and Considerations

• Linux-only runtime: Windows requires WSL and careful Docker/WSL setup; the VFS relies on FUSE and host mount propagation
• Requires privileged container capabilities (e.g., /dev/fuse, SYS_ADMIN) and proper mount propagation flags for correct containerized VFS behavior
• Active-development/beta status: some features and integrations are still evolving and documented as beta; expect breaking changes on dev tags
• Operational dependencies: needs Docker (or Python runtime), a PostgreSQL database, and configured debrid/indexer accounts to function fully

Riven is suited for self-hosting enthusiasts who want automated media acquisition and a FUSE-backed streaming experience. It pairs a Python backend and SvelteKit frontend to provide an end-to-end media management workflow with configurable caching and integrations.

Cinephage is a self-hosted media management application that centralizes discovery, downloading, library management, streaming integration, subtitles, and live TV into a single interface backed by one database. It aims to replace multi-app *arr-style stacks by offering indexers, download clients, streaming providers and monitoring from one place.

Key Features

• Unified single-database media library for movies and TV with TMDB integration and scanning/file-watching.
• Built-in indexers (7 built-in) plus Newznab support for Usenet indexers.
• Subtitle support across multiple providers (8 providers, 80+ languages) with auto-download.
• Streaming integration with multiple providers and circuit-breaker style failover (10 streaming providers listed in project).
• Download client integrations: qBittorrent, SABnzbd, NZBGet (configurable download clients).
• Live TV / IPTV Stalker portal support (discovery or bring-your-own account) and EPG handling (marked experimental).
• Smart lists and automated monitoring tasks for searches, upgrades and new-episode detection (monitoring features flagged experimental).
• Docker-first deployment with docker-compose examples, example .env and a provided Dockerfile for containerized installs.

Use Cases

• Consolidating separate media tools into a single self-hosted app to simplify management and reduce cross-app configuration.
• Automated discovery and acquisition pipeline for new episodes or movie releases using built-in indexers and download clients.
• Providing .strm-based streaming proxies to integrate discovered streams into media players and media servers.

Limitations and Considerations

• Project is in active development (alpha/early stage): features may be incomplete, APIs can change, and bugs are expected.
• Several features are explicitly marked experimental (monitoring automation, Live TV/IPTV); they may be unstable or change behavior.
• Some integrations and feature gaps (e.g., certain debrid services and provider coverage) are noted as backlog items; expect ongoing additions and changes.

Cinephage is positioned as an all-in-one, developer-focused alternative to multi-service media stacks. It is suitable for users who want a single, evolving application for media discovery, acquisition and streaming, and who are comfortable running software that is actively developed and may change between releases.

Frames is a subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD) style streaming platform for self-hosted personal media collections. It organizes movies and TV shows, fetches rich metadata and artwork, and streams MP4 files from local storage or cloud providers while offering playlists and synchronized GroupWatch sessions.

Key Features

• Stream MP4 media from local storage and cloud providers (Amazon S3, Dropbox, Google Drive and others)
• Modern React/Next.js UI with a visually focused dark theme and media discovery pages
• Backend built with NestJS and TypeScript, using PostgreSQL for storage and Redis for caching
• Automatic metadata and artwork ingestion from TMDB, Fanart and Apple artwork sources
• AI-powered recommendations using OpenAI embeddings (requires API key and vector storage)
• Advanced video player with subtitle support, AirPlay, picture-in-picture, download controls and seek thumbnails
• Playlists, public/private sharing, and admin controls for media metadata and permissions
• GroupWatch for synchronized viewing and in-session chat

Use Cases

• Host a private streaming library for personal or family use with centralized metadata and artwork
• Stream media stored across local drives and multiple cloud providers without copying files
• Run watch parties with synchronized playback and chat using GroupWatch

Limitations and Considerations

• Several integrations (TMDB, Fanart, OpenAI embeddings) require API keys for full functionality
• Transcoding is experimental (alpha) and currently only supports local media; feature is not production-stable
• Some casting functionality (Chromecast) is listed as coming soon and may be incomplete

Frames is suited for users who want a polished, self-hosted streaming UI with rich metadata and collaborative viewing features. It requires typical infrastructure components (PostgreSQL, Redis) and optionally API keys for enhanced metadata and AI recommendations.

cmyflix is a lightweight, DIY Netflix-style media server implemented in C. It scans a filesystem for movies and TV shows, retrieves metadata, generates JSON databases and static HTML pages, and provides a simple web UI and HTML5 video playback suitable for low-resource devices and NAS setups.

Key Features

• Scans media directories and builds JSON databases describing movies and TV shows
• Generates static HTML pages from metadata for serving via any web server
• Uses TMDB metadata for titles, covers and descriptions (requires an API key)
• Supports HTML5-friendly video formats (mp4, mkv, ogv, webm) for direct playback
• Generates thumbnails and works with tools like ffmpeg and ImageMagick for media processing
• Minimal dependencies and a small C codebase optimized for low-power devices; buildable with make and installable via a prebuilt package

Use Cases

• Run a lightweight media catalogue and player on a Raspberry Pi or NAS to stream files to browsers on the local network
• Generate a static, browsable movie/TV library that can be served from any web server or static hosting on constrained hardware
• Maintain a simple media index for families or small teams without deploying a heavyweight media server solution

Limitations and Considerations

• Requires a TMDB API key for rich metadata; basic operation is limited without it
• No built-in transcoding; streaming is limited to formats supported by client HTML5 players
• Assumes a strict folder structure for TV shows and movies; organization mismatches may require manual fixes

cmyflix is suited for users who want a minimal, fast media catalog and playback frontend with low resource usage. It prioritizes simplicity and performance over advanced server features and heavy integrations.

Emby is a personal media server that brings your movies, TV shows, music, photos, and home videos into a single library and streams them to many devices. It includes a web interface and companion apps, with on-the-fly conversion to improve playback compatibility.

Key Features

• Centralized library with automatic organization and rich metadata
• Streaming to web clients and dedicated apps for mobile, TV, and desktop platforms
• On-the-fly transcoding for device and bandwidth compatibility
• Live TV streaming with DVR features and recordings management
• User management with parental controls, access schedules, and session monitoring
• DLNA/UPnP discovery and playback to compatible devices
• Activity-based notifications for key server events

Use Cases

• Build a home media hub for local streaming to TVs, phones, and browsers
• Stream your personal media remotely while traveling
• Manage family access to content with profiles and parental restrictions

Emby is a solid option for users who want a polished media library experience with broad device support, including Live TV/DVR and parental controls. It is suited for personal and family media collections that need reliable streaming and compatibility features.

Plex is a media server platform for organizing and streaming your personal collection of movies, TV shows, music, and photos to a wide range of devices. It provides library management with metadata, user-friendly clients, and remote access so your media is available beyond your home network.

Key Features

• Centralized media library management with automatic metadata, posters, and descriptions
• Streaming to many client devices (smart TVs, streaming sticks, mobile devices, and web)
• User accounts with shared libraries and per-user viewing progress
• On-the-fly transcoding to match client and bandwidth capabilities
• Search and discovery features, including a unified watchlist and title lookup

Use Cases

• Run a home media server on a PC or NAS to stream your personal video and music collection
• Share selected libraries with family members with separate profiles and watch history
• Access your media remotely while traveling from supported apps and web clients

Limitations and Considerations

• Plex Media Server is proprietary software and is not open source
• Some advanced features require a Plex Pass subscription, and some functionality relies on Plex account services

Plex is widely used for turning a personal media collection into a polished, Netflix-like experience across devices. It is best suited for users who want a feature-rich media server with broad client support and strong library organization.