Tips, updates, and guides from the JellyWatch team.
qBittorrent 5.2.1 patches a high-severity SSRF vulnerability and fixes startup crashes, on top of the major 5.2.0 feature update with free disk space display, tracker status filters, and reboot automation. Here is what to know before upgrading.
Plex alternatives in 2026: with Lifetime Plex Pass at $749 and remote streaming paywalled, the community is leaving fast. This guide compares Jellyfin, Emby, Immich, Navidrome, Kavita, Komga, Audiobookshelf, Stremio, and Kodi - which one fits your use case?
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.
Plex just announced its Lifetime Pass will jump from $250 to $750 on July 1, 2026, the second massive price hike in 18 months. The self-hosting community is in revolt. This guide covers what happened, what it means for your server, and how to migrate to Jellyfin or Emby this weekend, including replacing Tautulli with proper monitoring tools.
Profilarr is a free, open-source platform that lets you build, test, and deploy quality profiles and custom formats across multiple Radarr and Sonarr instances. Link curated databases like Dictionarry or TRaSH Guides, test regex patterns and custom formats with a C# parser matching Arr logic, simulate profile scoring, then sync everything to your instances in one click. Includes automated upgrades, bulk rename, and scheduled jobs.
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.
ChartHound is a self-hosted Docker application that combines music metadata tagging with real Billboard chart data, playlist creation pushed directly to Plex/Emby/Jellyfin, missing chart hit discovery via Prowlarr, album hunting through MusicBrainz, and missing movie/TV tracking via Radarr and Sonarr. Ships with 108,000+ Billboard chart entries pre-loaded.
Emby Wrapped brings the Spotify Wrapped experience to your Emby media server. See your total watch time, top shows, genre breakdowns, binge sessions, viewing personality, and shareable stat cards. Supports Tracearr, Seerr integration, and custom background music. Free, open source, Docker-ready.
Not everyone has a home server. A VPS from Hetzner (€4.50/month) or Contabo gives you a dedicated Jellyfin instance with a public IP, 1 Gbps bandwidth, and 24/7 uptime. This guide covers VPS selection, Docker deployment, storage mounting, the no-GPU reality, and when Oracle free tier is enough.
