Best Jellyfin client in 2026: pick by device

Version numbers, prices and platform lists come from each project's GitHub releases, README files, app store listings and jellyfin.org's own clients page, checked in September 2026. Every claim below links to where it was checked.

TL;DR

The best Jellyfin client depends on what you watch it on, so there is no single answer. For most devices there is an official Jellyfin app, and it is a safe default. Where the official app is missing, weaker, or you specifically want one app across several devices, Swiftly Player, Streamyfin, Moonfin, Fladder, Infuse and Kodi each cover several platforms with one interface — the table below and the sections after it say which. If never transcoding matters most to you, jump to the Direct Play section.

Which Jellyfin client for your device

iPhone and iPad

Swiftfin is the Jellyfin project's own app, free, and now runs on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac and Vision Pro. Infuse plays the widest range of containers and subtitle formats and adds its own Skip Intro database, TheIntroDB.org, but Pro costs $1.99 a month, $16.99 a year or $99.99 once. Swiftly Player is free, plays through VLC, and adds downloads, Picture in Picture and several accounts side by side. For downloads and Picture in Picture specifically on iPad, see the iPad comparison, and for the iPhone specifically, the iPhone comparison. If Infuse or Swiftfin don't fit, alternatives to each are compared here and here.

Apple TV

The same three lead here: Swiftfin (free, official), Infuse (paid tiers, best format support) and Swiftly Player (free, libVLC, and the only one of the three where each Apple TV profile keeps its own Jellyfin login). See the full Apple TV comparison and, if several people share the television, how Jellyfin handles multiple Apple TV users.

Mac

Infuse and Swiftfin both run natively on Apple Silicon Macs now (Swiftfin needs macOS 15.6 and an M1 or later, per its App Store listing). Jellyfin Desktop is the project's own client for Mac, Windows and Linux, built on Qt WebEngine and libmpv, with development builds for Apple Silicon and Intel. Swiftly Player rounds this out for free, with the same libVLC playback as its Windows and Linux builds. Full comparison: best Jellyfin client for Mac.

Windows

There is no single official Windows app. Jellyfin Desktop puts the web client in its own window with libmpv playback; Fladder adds downloads and Seerr; Swiftly Player plays through libVLC and keeps several servers and accounts side by side. The full Windows comparison covers Kodi and the browser too.

Linux

The same three cover Linux: Jellyfin Desktop and Fladder both publish to Flathub, and Swiftly Player ships native .deb, .rpm and Arch packages because Flatpak's GNOME runtime carries no libVLC library to build against. Full comparison: best Jellyfin client for Linux.

Android phone and tablet

The official Jellyfin app is free, open source and has an F-Droid build without Google Cast libraries. Findroid is a from-scratch native alternative with a choice of ExoPlayer or mpv. Streamyfin adds downloads and a still-developing Chromecast feature. Swiftly Player is in a closed Google Play test on phones. The full Android comparison covers these plus Moonfin, Fladder, JellyWatch Player and Kodi, compared by engine, downloads, Picture in Picture and Chromecast.

Android TV and Google TV

The official Jellyfin for Android TV supports Media Segments (Skip Intro) and saved servers, and is on Google Play, Amazon Appstore and F-Droid. Wholphin offers a Plex-style interface with a choice of ExoPlayer or MPV. Moonfin is worth it if you also run Emby. The full comparison and the Android TV and Google TV landing page go through all of them, including Kodi and Findroid's TV status.

Fire TV

Jellyfin for Fire TV is the official Android TV client, packaged separately for Fire OS, free, with a 4.4-star average across more than 3,000 ratings on the Amazon Appstore. Moonfin also publishes a Fire TV build to the Amazon Appstore, and Wholphin lists Fire TV OS 6 or newer as a supported minimum. Kodi runs on Fire TV too, sideloaded, with the same Jellyfin add-ons as elsewhere. See the dedicated Fire TV comparison.

Roku

Roku only runs channels built for its own platform, so general clients like Kodi, Infuse or Swiftly Player cannot reach it at all. That leaves the official Jellyfin for Roku channel, installed from the Roku Channel Store, as close to the only option — it supports Media Segments, Trickplay images and subtitle downloads. Details: Jellyfin on Roku.

Samsung and LG smart TVs

LG has had an official Jellyfin for WebOS app for years, installable from the LG Content Store. Samsung did not have an official client at all until Jellyfin's Tizen app reached the Samsung Tizen Store on 24 May 2026, rolling out to newer TV models first. Moonfin's Smart TV client shares one codebase across both Tizen and WebOS, if you want the same interface on Samsung and LG sets or already use Moonfin elsewhere. More detail: Jellyfin on Samsung and LG TVs.

Web browser

Open your server's address and you get Jellyfin Web with no install at all, always on the current server version. Since Jellyfin 12.0 the Modern layout is the default, with per-user Media Segment Actions for Skip Intro, SyncPlay, and casting to Google Cast devices through Jellyfin's own Cast receiver. What plays without transcoding depends entirely on the browser's own decoders, so it is the least predictable option on this page for a whole library — read more in how to set up Jellyfin.

One app on every device: cross-platform clients

A handful of projects deliberately cover many platforms with one codebase, so switching devices does not mean switching apps.

• Streamyfin — iOS and Android phones through their app stores, plus Apple TV and Android TV/Fire TV builds distributed as GitHub APKs. Built with Expo, MPL-2.0.
• Moonfin — Android, Android TV/Google TV, Fire TV, iOS, Apple TV, macOS, Windows, Linux and the web, all from one Flutter codebase. Markets itself as "premium" but is GPL-2.0 and free.
• Fladder — Android (including Android TV), iOS, macOS, Windows, Linux, web and Docker. GPL-3.0, built with Flutter and media_kit (libmpv).
• Infuse — iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac and Vision Pro. Apple platforms only; no Windows, Linux or Android build.
• Kodi with the Jellyfin for Kodi or JellyCon add-on — Windows, Mac, Linux, Android phones and tablets, Android TV and Fire TV (sideloaded). Kodi has no official iOS App Store release, so Apple devices are not realistically covered.
• Swiftly Player — one App Store download for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV, plus Windows and Linux from GitHub, plus Android phone and Android TV in a closed Google Play test. Free, MPL-2.0, no account.

Separately, the Jellyfin project's own desktop client, Jellyfin Desktop, covers Mac, Windows and Linux with one app built on libmpv — a narrower spread than the six above, but it comes straight from the people who build the server.

Direct Play: which clients avoid transcoding

Direct Play means the server sends your file exactly as it is stored, with no conversion. Transcoding means the server converts the file in real time before sending it — usually because the app cannot decode the video codec, audio codec, container or subtitle format on its own — which costs CPU time on the server and can add a delay before playback starts. Whether a specific file plays as Direct Play depends on the file itself, the device's hardware decoders and the server's transcoding settings, so no client can promise it for every library. What a client can do is tell the server, honestly and in detail, what it can already play — the more it declares, the less the server has to guess or convert.

Grouped by playback engine, checked against each project's own documentation:

• libVLC / VLCKit (Swiftly Player, on every platform) declares wide container, codec and subtitle support directly, including formats like MKV, HEVC, AV1, DTS, TrueHD and PGS subtitles that often trigger transcoding elsewhere.
• mpv / libmpv (Jellyfin Desktop, Fladder's media_kit, Findroid's mpv mode, Wholphin's MPV mode, Streamyfin) covers a similarly wide range, including SSA/ASS subtitles, and is the choice several projects switch to specifically to avoid transcoding.
• Media3/ExoPlayer (the official Jellyfin apps, Moonfin, JellyWatch Player) plays a solid native set and, on the official Android TV app, adds an FFmpeg decoder module and libass for wider codec and subtitle coverage — still narrower out of the box than an mpv or libVLC build for less common audio and subtitle formats.
• The browser (Jellyfin Web, and any TV that only offers a browser) is the least predictable: it plays whatever its own built-in decoders support and nothing more, so HEVC, DTS or uncommon subtitle formats commonly force a transcode.

For the mechanics of what your server does in each mode, and how to fix it when Direct Play should be happening but isn't, see why is Jellyfin transcoding, hardware acceleration on a NAS, Dolby Vision and HDR and Atmos and TrueHD passthrough.

FAQ

Summary

• Apple devices: Swiftfin (free, official), Infuse (paid, widest format support) or Swiftly Player (free, libVLC).
• Windows and Linux: Jellyfin Desktop, Fladder or Swiftly Player — no single official app exists for either.
• Android phone and tablet: the official Jellyfin app by default; Findroid, Streamyfin or Swiftly Player for specific features.
• Android TV, Google TV and Fire TV: the official Jellyfin for Android TV or Jellyfin for Fire TV; Wholphin or Moonfin for a different interface.
• Roku: effectively only the official app, because of Roku's closed platform.
• Samsung and LG TVs: both now have official apps, Samsung's only since May 2026.
• One app everywhere: Streamyfin, Moonfin, Fladder and Swiftly Player each cover several ecosystems from a single project; Infuse and Kodi cover several platforms but not all of them.
• Avoiding transcoding comes down to the playback engine: libVLC and mpv-based clients declare the widest support, ExoPlayer-based official apps are solid but narrower, and the browser is the least predictable.