We all are fond of music and videos and everybody has its own collection of media files both on computers and smartphones. But you can’t carry every time your huge collection of movies, songs, and other media files with you. In such a situation, the home media server comes in handy. There are a bunch of best open source media server software available online that can set up on your own personal home computer. You can store all your media files at one place on the media server and can access it remotely or locally using the computer or smartphone. For example, you are out of town and want to access your movies or music, what you will do, just take out your smartphone enter your home media server address, and boom!! Using media servers you can create your own personal YouTube, Netflix, and Vimeo. Some Media servers based on lightweight Linux, which means to save electricity and other resources you can install them on Rasberry Pi.

5KPlayer is a new-style free media player for Mac OS as all-in-one HD video/music/DVD player, AirPlay/DLNA streamer and free online video/music downloader. It plays 4K/5K, 360°, MKV, MP4, AVI, WMV, MP3 music & DVD on Mac flawlessly. Nov 03, 2017 The Emby Media server is available for Windows, Linux, Nas Devices, Mac OS, Docker, and FreeBSD. Like Plex, the Emby is also has dedicated Linux installer for Debian, Ubuntu, Arch Linux, OpenSUSE, Fedora, and CentOS. If you are looking for 100% open-source Media server for your office or home then Emby is the best one.

Best Opensource Media server for Linux, Mac, or Windows

Here we have listed Free and Open source Media server software that can be work on both Linux and Windows.

• I Sedora Media Server 2.2. Advanced DLNA streaming server for Mac and Windows. Watch movies, listen to music, and share photos, all over home network to any DLNA compatible TV, DVD or Blu-ray player. Live transcoding with support for all major photo, music, video and subtitles formats. Free Trial Buy Now.
• Apr 15, 2015 I'm assuming you mean Mac OS X rather than classic Mac OS. I'm a big fan of Plex (Plex Media Server - Your Media on All Your Devices). It's dead easy to set up, there are beautiful, usable clients for all of the desktop and mobile OSes and game c.
• Universal Media Server is a DLNA-compliant UPnP Media Server Universal Media Server supports all major operating systems, with versions for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. The program streams or transcodes many different media formats with little or no configuration. UMS is powered by MEncoder, FFmpeg, tsMuxeR, AviSynth, MediaInfo and more, which combine to offer support for a wide range of.

PLEX Media Server (Freemium, not opensource)

We already have a done couple of articles on Plex and it really has some great features that allow it in our best media server list. The Plex Media Server is available for a variety of platforms such as Windows, Linux, Mac, Docker, and third-party NAS (network-attached storage device) Synology, Qnap, Netgear, Seagate, and more…

The Plex media server is not an open-source instead of a freemium software and offers some features on a subscription base only. However, still here because of easy to use and install capabilities.

Whereas the Plex player comes under both freemium and open source license GPL v2. Due to its vast range of devices support the Plex continuously gaining its popularity as a media streamer.

The Plex media server is based on a client-server model. It offers a wide range of client apps for different devices to support and stream its media server content easily. The Plex app is available for Android, Web, Windows, Kodi, Windows Phone, TiVo, SONOS, Android TV, Chrome cast, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Amazon Alexa, Roku, Nvidia Shield, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 & 4 and Smart TV.

Plex Media Server Features:

• Account management
• Support all format videos and audios
• iOS, Windows, and Android Mobile platform support
• Privacy and security
• Media Libraries Sharing
• No Storage Limit
• Online channels
• Live TV
• Plex cloud
• Mobile and Cloud Sync
• Parental control
• Audio Fingerprinting
• Remote Controls
• Media Optimizer and more…

If you are interested in PLEX, also see: How To setup Plex Media Server on Ubuntu Linux.

Kodi Open Source Home Theater Software

Kodi 100% Opensource Media center software that stores all your digital media files at one place like Plex and gives you a beautiful interface to access them. The Kodi was previously known as Xbox Media center or XMBC. Kodi provides a bit different media server software approach. It works more as a local media streamer rather functions a server-client relationship like PLEX. It was developed as an XMBC open-source media center and still distributed under open source licenses. It plays content from two sources one is locally saved content and secondly is via plugins.

Kodi Open Source Home Theater Software

It has a vast range of Addon for popular web services, applications, and script such as Pluto.TV, PS Vue, HDHomeRun, SoundCloud, Kodi Android Installer, Rooster Teeth, and more… It also provides an add-on to stream, video content from various sources like NBC, CBS, Funimation, and Crunchyroll. It is a perfect mixture of a media center PC/homer sever software. Kodi is also multi-platform support Media center/server software and supports Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, and embedded devices like the Raspberry Pi.

Kodi Features:

• TV Shows library supports
• Supporting all the main video formats
• Kodi can play all your music including mp3, flac, wav, and WMA formats
• Import pictures and view in different styles such as slideshow
• Support Live TV recording
• JSON-RPC based remote interface
• Smartphone and Tablet Apps
• Add-Ons for popular web services, applications, and scripts.
• Works popular backends such as MediaPortal, MythTV, NextPVR, Tvheadend, and much more.

Emby Media Server

Emby is a great and best open source Media server similar to Plex in features and user interface. While the Plex is a closed source or freemium, Emby is totally open-source media server software. In comparison to Plex, the Emby is much easier to install for newbies and you can see our article: How to Install Emby media server, step by step installation process. Emby offers lots of customization, media management, and database options.

Emby Media Server

The Emby Media server is available for Windows, Linux, Nas Devices, Mac OS, Docker, and FreeBSD. Like Plex, the Emby is also has a dedicated Linux installer for Debian, Ubuntu, Arch Linux, OpenSUSE, Fedora, and CentOS. If you are looking for 100% open-source Media server for your office or home then Emby is the best one.

Web-based Management System of Emby to install plugins, edit metadata and subtitles, Sync and more…

Dlna Servers For Mac Os 10.7

Emby also offers Apps for the mobile operating system: Emby Web client, Android, iOS, Windows 10, and Windows Mobile. Apart from the Emby Apps, it also has a good collection of TV Apps as follow:

• Android TV
• Amazon Fire Tv
• Shield Android TV
• Apple TV
• Chromecast
• Roku
• Emby Theatre HTML5
• Emby Theatre for Windows
• LG Smart TV
• Samsung Smart TV
• PS4
• Xbox One
• Windows Media Center
• Xbox 360
• Kodi
• PS3

Emby Media Server Features

• Emby Server automatically converts and streams the media
• Stream Live TV to any device
• Web-based tools to edit metadata and subtitles
• Easy DLNA
• Parental Controls
• Easily control content access
• Cloud Sync
• Chromecast

MediaPortal

MediaPortal is a well-featured open-source HTPC media center and similar to Kodi. It does not have features like Emby and Plex but still, it’s very good open-source media server software. Using it you can watch, schedule, and record live TV like TiVo, streaming media, radio, and TV to any HTPC connected to your network., Check the weather, news, slideshow of pictures & videos, and more. It can access easily the web or mobile device. It also based on Client/Server Architecture.

See:How to Install and Configure the MediaPortal Media server on Windows 10 PC

MediaPortal

Media Portal Features

• Watch TV, Videos, and DVD
• Watch Online Videos
• Listening Music, Radio, and Web Streams
• Schedule Recordings
• Client/Server Architecture
• Skin System
• Plug-in System
• Check Weather Forecast
• Picture and video slideshow Viewer
• Multiple Tuner Support
• Time Shifting, Pause and Record TV/Radio
• Read RSS Feeds

Open Source Dlna Server

OpenFLIXR Media Server

OpenFLIXR 2 is the easiest free all-in-one home Media server that offers all media solutions in one package. OpenFLIX Media server software download, install updates of media programs automatically. This home media server is a combination of all well-known open-source projects out there including Plex Media Server.

OpenFLIXR Media Server all-in on video streaming server

Software used in OpenFLIXR are:

• CouchPotato + Radarr for Movies
• SickRage + Sonarr for automated TV show downloading
• Headphones- Automated music downloader
• Mopidy-Music Server
• Ubooquity-Comics and Ebooks & Web-based Reader
• Subtitles- AutoSub, Sub-Zero, Sickrage
• HTPC Manager
• Plex Media Server to organizes movies, series, music, and photos
• SABnzbd, NZBge, qBittorrent
• Netdata + Monit for monitoring
• Home-Assistant
• And More…

The OpenFLIXR media server needs a virtual machine to install since it is a virtual application

OpenELEC

OpenELEC is a lightweight Linux operating system built to create a media server like Kodi. The full form of the OpenELEC is Open Embedded Linux Entertainment Center. Due to its lightweight, it can be easily installed on Raspberry, Apple TV, or low configurations systems.

Features of OpenELEC are:

• TV Show Management
• Movie Organizer and Player
• Music and Audiobook Player
• Freescale iMX6 ARM builds for Cubox-i, CuboxTV, and Hummingboard boxes
• TV and Personal Video Recorder
• Addon available to expand its feature
• Picture Browser

OSMC Media Center

OSMC Media center is last on our list. It is an open-source media center with a simple design and intuitive navigation system. The OSMC media center is based on Kodi and Debian. It also offers paid hardware kits and other accessories to enhance the OSMC user experience such as the Vero 4K. It is a hardware device with OSMC that supports 4K, HEVC, 10-bit content, and HD audio. It supports almost every type of media file. OSMC Media center is available for Linux, Windows, Mac OS, Rasberry Pi, Vero, and Apple TV.

OSMC Media Center

A verdict on Best Free & Opensource Media Server Software Options

Although Plex, Emby, and Kodi are the best and most popular media servers. But that doesn’t mean that other media servers are not good some of them like OpenFlixr are worth trying. We have put everything we know on this list, now it’s all upon you which you want to use. If you want to install a media server along with a NAS server then you can go for open-source NAS software like FreeNAS.

You might also like to see:

You are looking for the best DNLA server app for Mac super fast? These kinds of apps are some of the most sought out apps for this platform, not only because they work really well but because they are some of the most useful apps one can have in any device. The goals these have are something so incredibly important for those who use them. But if you are willing to take the time to look you might find one that gives you a 30 day free trial, and like that you can just try it out and see what you think of it and if it’s worth the amount of money.

The best DNLA server app for Mac super fast

Universal Media Server

Dlna Upnp Media Server

The Universal Media Server as one of the best DNLA server app for Mac super fast, was originally based on PS3 Media Server. It was created with the goal of focusing on stability and file compatibility. This focus makes this incredible app in one of the best open media server. If you are interested in finding an open-source option, this app is the best choice for you. It is completely free and available for Mac, Windows, and Linux.

Plex

This awesome DNLA server app is very well-known in the HTPC circles due to its cross-platform compatibility, many supported devices, and easy-of setup. In addition, it provides you with many features such as a separate client-server setup and metadata processing. Its wide range of tools makes it one of the most famous DNLA server apps to date. And if this was little, it also allows you to share media on your local network. It is completely free and available for Mac, Windows, and Linux.

Serviio

This program is a Java-based DNLA media server. It is very similar to the previous DNLA server apps in the article. Support for its version for Android, and so on. It is completely free and available for Mac, Windows, and Linux.

Emby Server

This program is one of the newest DNLA server apps for Mac super fast. This is why many people prefer this app, instead of choosing other DNLA server apps. Nevertheless, take into consideration that many of these features are included in a paid Emby Premiere license. It is available for Mac, Windows, Linux, and NAS.

PS3 Media Server

The PS3 Media Server was originally made available for PlayStation 3. Later, it also added support for a wide range of DNLA-compliant media devices like TVs and mobile phones. It is also available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. If you are a gamer, the PS3 Media Player is a good option for you and your friends.

Subsonic

Dlna Media Server Mac Os X

Even if this is not a new DLNA server program, it is a good choice for you in any case. In most cases, people use for downloading music and videos, but there are many other features provided by this amazing service you should know. This app gives the possibility to have supports streaming over HTTP, and then you can check it on your Mac without any problem. It is also possible for you to get this running on your network.

Dlna Servers For Mac Os Catalina

Apart from this, the Subsonic app ley users access to their media content, so they have the ability to view it on any device they want. If you have a Mac or an IPhone, it is the same thing for you. Recently, it also added support for a wide range of set-up boxes and gives you the ability to manage podcasts. You have to take into account that all these tools are more set-up intensive than other DLNA server apps for Mac, but it is completely free to download. Of course, if you want more features on your device, you have to pay for it in any case.

Dlna Server Mac Os X Free