Netflix

Best Self Hosted Alternatives to Netflix

A curated collection of the 2 best self hosted alternatives to Netflix.

Subscription streaming platform offering on-demand video content (movies, TV series, documentaries and originals) across devices. Provides user profiles, personalized recommendations, streaming playback and offline downloads depending on subscription plan.

Alternatives List

#1
Jellyfin

Jellyfin

Jellyfin is a free, self-hosted media server to organize, manage, and stream movies, TV, music, and photos to web, mobile, and TV clients.

Jellyfin screenshot

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.

47.7kstars
4.3kforks
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#2
cmyflix

cmyflix

cmyflix is a lightweight Netflix-like media server in C that scans media folders, builds JSON databases and static HTML pages, and plays HTML5-compatible video files.

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.

184stars
11forks
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Why choose an open source alternative?

  • •Data ownership: Keep your data on your own servers
  • •No vendor lock-in: Freedom to switch or modify at any time
  • •Cost savings: Reduce or eliminate subscription fees
  • •Transparency: Audit the code and know exactly what's running