The 5 Jellyfin Plugins Every Plex Refugee Needs

In the Jellyfin ecosystem, adding functions requires installing plugins. We touched on a few great plugins in the previous article. There is also a library of Jellyfin plugins that comes along with the base server itself. However, there’s a large and active community of developers who maintain third-party plugins that you can choose from, too. It is those plugins we’re going to focus on today. With that in mind, here are the five Jellyfin plugins that every Plex refugee needs.

1. Merge Versions Plugin

We mentioned in our last article that users coming from Plex often bemoan the lack of transcoded download capabilities. In other words, users can’t ask Jellyfin to download a lower-quality version of a movie or TV show unless it’s already pre-transcoded. The workaround, of course, is to add some extra storage space and to configure a Tdarr instance to handle the pre-transcoding.

The problem is that Jellyfin can get a little confused when it encounters multiple media versions that don’t meet a precise file-naming architecture. That’s where the Merge Versions plugin comes in. It smartly scans for different media versions and automatically groups them for easy selection in the Jellyfin web interface. It’s great for making pre-transcoding more convenient or for grouping movie versions, like director’s cuts and other variants, together.

2. File Transformation Plugin

The next plugin to add to your Jellyfin installation is the File Transformation plugin. We mentioned it briefly in our last article, but we can’t emphasise its importance enough. It doesn’t add any specific functionality you can see. However, it allows you to inject code changes into your Jellyfin web frontend on demand. Basically, it lets other plugins alter the look and feel of your Jellyfin interface without permanently altering server files. It’s a prerequisite to a whole range of other useful plugins, including standout features like Media Bar and the following great plugin.

3. InPlayerEpisodePreview Plugin

If you love to binge-watch TV shows on your media server, the InPlayerEpisodePreview plugin is for you. It alters Jellyfin’s web player to add a full listing of the episodes in all of the seasons of the show you’re currently watching. That can make it a breeze to skip through a show you’ve already seen, without the hassle of stopping playback to search for the next episode you want to watch. The pop-up contains each episode’s thumbnail and description, and you can jump to a new episode with a single click.

4. Jellyfin Enhanced Plugin

Next on our list is a plugin that’s so feature-packed that it could have its own standalone article. It’s called the Jellyfin Enhanced plugin. As its name suggests, it extends your stock Jellyfin instance with a massive list of quality-of-life improvements. Some of the most notable features include:

• Visual media tags for quality, genre, language, rating, and more
• Streaming provider lookups
• Custom branding options to personalise your Jellyfin interface
• User avatars
• Custom pause screens
• Per-user content hiding capabilities
• User and TMDB reviews
• Seerr integration

And that list only scratches the surface. The Jellyfin Enhanced plugin offers so many options that it’s practically in a class by itself—except for the next plugin on our list.

5. The KefinTweaks Plugin

Our final entry is another Swiss Army Knife-type plugin for Jellyfin. It’s called the KefinTweaks plugin, and it has quite a bit to offer. One of its most-loved features is a watchlist. It lets you keep track of movies and shows you plan to watch, so you don’t have to waste time finding your next obsession. It also has a series progress feature that provides a visual representation of where you are in each series you’ve started. That makes it easier to revisit shows you may have drifted away from without losing your place. It also helps you choose shows you’ll actually have the time to finish.

KefinTweaks also gives you some handy new home screen options, which can be great for multi-user servers. They include the ability to add sections like:

• Playlist or collection-based sections
• New and trending sections
• Infinite discovery sections
• Seasonal content

KefinTweaks also lets you search for subtitles from configured providers straight from the Jellyfin web player. It also enables infinite scroll for your libraries, which is great for people with massive media collections. It even lets each user customise their Jellyfin frontend colours and themes.

There’s a Plugin for That

With the five plugins detailed here installed, you’ll likely find that Jellyfin is far more than just a Plex replacement. It’s a hyper-customisable system whose features keep evolving. Already, it has a list of community plugins that add almost any functionality you can imagine. And if you can’t find something you’re looking for, it’s a safe bet that some developer will release the kind of plugin you want any day now. Or, you can study up on building your own custom plugins. There’s even an example plugin available to help you get started.

We hope you find this list useful as you get started in the Jellyfin ecosystem. And if there are any Jellyfin plugins you think are worthy of inclusion in a future list, drop us a comment below to share your configuration. We’ll be happy to include worthy suggestions in future plugin roundups!