Tips, updates, and guides from the JellyWatch team.
Jellyfin requires your own server and media library. Stremio uses community addons for instant streaming. Compare philosophy, features, quality, privacy, and setup complexity to choose the right approach.
Turn your Jellyfin library into a private 200-inch VR cinema. This guide covers dedicated Jellyfin VR apps like JellyVR and JellyQuest, VR players such as Skybox over DLNA or SMB, and Bigscreen for watching together, plus the network setup that makes it smooth.
The Raspberry Pi 5 with an NVMe HAT finally solves the Pi storage bottleneck. But does it make the Pi 5 a viable Jellyfin server in 2026? We benchmarked library scan speed, metadata loading, Direct Play performance, and compared it head-to-head against the Intel N100 mini PC. Includes NVMe HAT installation, Docker setup, and honest recommendations for when the Pi 5 is enough and when you should spend $50 more on an N100.
Autopulse is a lightweight file-watching service that triggers targeted Jellyfin library scans the instant a new file appears. No more waiting for scheduled scans. No more full library rescans that spike CPU. A movie finishes downloading and appears in Jellyfin within seconds. This guide covers Docker setup, filesystem monitoring, Jellyfin API integration, and how Autopulse replaces the need for Radarr/Sonarr Connect notifications.
WatchState is a self-hosted tool that synchronizes watch history and play state between multiple media servers and tracking services simultaneously. Run Jellyfin and Plex pointing at the same library? WatchState keeps watched status in sync across both. Migrating from Plex to Jellyfin? WatchState transfers your entire history. This guide covers Docker setup, multi-backend configuration, conflict resolution, and real-world sync workflows.
Serve your Jellyfin library to users worldwide with low latency using Cloudflare R2 for storage and Workers for edge logic. This advanced guide covers uploading media to R2, creating STRM files for Jellyfin, building a Worker that handles range requests and authentication, cost analysis vs traditional VPS hosting, and the honest limitations of this approach.
Is self-hosting actually cheaper than paying for streaming services? This detailed financial analysis compares the 5-year total cost of a self-hosted media stack (Jellyfin + hardware + storage + electricity) against the combined cost of Netflix, Spotify, Disney+, YouTube Premium, and Google Photos. Includes hardware amortization, electricity costs, and the break-even point for different library sizes.
Reclaimerr is a self-hosted application that helps you reclaim disk space by identifying unwatched and low-rated media in your library. It integrates with Jellyfin, Plex, and Emby (simultaneously if needed), supports Radarr and Sonarr for managed deletions, offers a protection system so users can save content from cleanup, and includes multi-user permissions with notification support via Apprise.
Poster Tools is a free browser-based design suite for creating custom posters, title cards, and showcase layouts for your Plex, Emby, or Jellyfin library. No Photoshop, no install, no design skills required. Poster Lab builds season sets with TMDB artwork and pushes directly to your server. Card Lab creates episode title cards with full typography control.
