Last week Netflix made good on its threat. The entertainment giant began to block access to its platform to all those who used shared accounts. For this reason, the number of users who have unsubscribed has skyrocketed, looking for alternatives to which to migrate. Surely we have already heard about Kodi and Plex as two options to watch all kinds of movies and series. But today we don’t want to present another alternative that has nothing to envy to the two previous ones: Emby.
Emby is a media server totally free designed to help us organize all our multimedia content in a simple way, from the personal photos that we keep on the computer to the songs in MP3, and all the personal videos, series and movies that we have on the PC. Initially this software was (mostly) open source, but in 2017 its developers changed their license and now it is proprietary software, although we can use it for free (with limitations).
This program uses a client-server model. That is, the first thing we must do is install the server on a computer, NAS, or device (such as Raspberry Pi) so that it can start working. This server will be in charge of saving all the content, cataloging and processing it. To see it, we will need to use a customer, which connects to the server to download the information and reproduces the content that it sends. Clients can be for PC, or for Android or iOS.
The main features of this software are:
- Thanks to EmbyConnectthe process of connecting the client and the server is very simple, since we only need to log in.
- Synchronize our personal files with smartphones so that we can access our content even when we are offline.
- Thanks to its simple web interface, it is very easy to edit metadata and manage all our multimedia content.
- It has a large number of customization options, both in the way we want our content to be displayed and when managing
- The DLNA protocol allows us to easily transmit, through the local network, to any compatible device. In addition, it has native support for Chromecast, so we can send content from the mobile to the TV.
- Live TV. It has a wide variety of live channels, with DVR and a multitude of options.
In addition, you can also connect Emby with Kodi, so you can use only the server to centralize the content, and access it from the popular OpenSource program.
Download Emby
We can download this program completely free of charge from its website. There we will find the Emby server for all compatible systems and devices (Windows, macOS, Linux, NAS systems, specific devices, etc.), and the corresponding apps for PCs and devices with which to connect to the server.
In addition, Emby has a paid model, called Emby Premiere, which brings us some extra features, such as the ability to access content offline, Emby DVR for streaming TV channels, hardware acceleration, movie-like trailers when watching series and movies, support for covers, integration with Alexa and much more. Its price: $4.99 per month, $54 per year, or $119 as a one-time payment.
