Hetzner vs Jellyfin
Detailed comparison to help you choose the right tool for your needs
J
Jellyfin
Free open-source media streaming server
4.3
Editorial RatingQuick Comparison
Rating
4.6
vs4.3
Starting Price
$4
vsFree
Pricing Model
paid
vsfree
Feature
Hetzner
Jellyfin
Cloud VPS
Dedicated servers
Block storage
Load balancers
Firewalls
Server auction
Hardware transcoding
Smart TV apps (Samsung/LG)
Live TV & DVR
Multi-user with parental controls
Subtitle management
No cloud account required
Hetzner Pros
- Unbeatable price-to-performance ratio
- Excellent European data center locations
- Dedicated servers at cloud prices
- Server auction for incredible deals
- GDPR-compliant European hosting
- 20TB included transfer is extremely generous
Hetzner Cons
- Limited managed services
- No equivalent to Lambda or managed databases
- US region only recently added
- Less polished control panel than DigitalOcean
- No PaaS layer with bare infrastructure only
- Support is email-only on basic plans
Jellyfin Pros
- Completely free — every feature included
- No cloud account or internet required
- Hardware transcoding (Intel/NVIDIA)
- Samsung & LG smart TV apps (2026)
- Uses 35% less RAM than Plex
- Active volunteer-driven development
Jellyfin Cons
- UI less polished than Plex
- Chromecast support has issues
- Smart TV apps are newer/less mature
- SQLite limits with very large libraries
- No centralized cloud sync
- Client app quality varies by platform