Plex vs Kodi

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HavocXphere

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Busy toying with the thought of setting up a HTPC type thing...

Which is the preferred option for a setup consisting of:
  • Netflix
  • Amazon Prime
  • Sonarr / SABnzb

Not interested in sports / those shady kodi streams
 
Coach potato, Sonarr, SABnzb and plex is my setup. Tried Kodi a few years ago but I found it more complicated to setup. Plex is very easy to configure.
 
Streaming or downloading

I got a chromecast, works great for streaming. Netflix. Dstv app. Showmax. YouTube etc

Also have a kodi htpc with sabnzbd and sickrage
 
crawler said:
Streaming or downloading

I got a chromecast, works great for streaming. Netflix. Dstv app. Showmax. YouTube etc

Also have a kodi htpc with sabnzbd and sickrage
Click to expand...
Will be using an old laptop. Can't they both do both streaming and downloading/local library?

signates said:
Coach potato, Sonarr, SABnzb and plex is my setup. Tried Kodi a few years ago but I found it more complicated to setup. Plex is very easy to configure.
Click to expand...
Makes sense. Never tried Coach.
 
Do you want to use the laptop to do everything, download stuff, stream from Netflix etc and have the laptop attached to a TV?
 
Do you plan to use the laptop to also access the content on Netflix / Amazon Prime?

Or do you simply mean to have those running on other devices and also have a Plex/Kodi server?

What devices do you have in the house and plan to consume from?

Kodi can do pretty much everything Plex can do but requires a bit more leg work and ongoing maintenance. Plex is largely on auto-pilot once you've set it up BUT also costs a little bit of money once off for Mobile/Tablet clients or can also cost a lot of money once of for a Lifetime license and pretty much infinite devices and some extra features you may or may not use.

Kodi is more high seas friendly streaming wise if you are that way inclined whereas Plex can sail the high seas just as easily if you are happy to do with the leg work of downloading through other apps like Radarr, Sonarr etc. (But I see now you said you don't care for shady Kodi streams, I'm the same)

Plex is much easier to use outside of the home if you have fibre and a need for that. Especially if you want to share with other folks. It's also very easy to carry things with you with local syncing to a given device but this is a paid for feature. With Kodi you can of course do the same but it means manually copying stuff and setting up another instance.

My kid wants to go stay at grand parents for the weekend I quickly grab the iPad and tell it to sync a few episodes of Paw Patrol and a short while later off she goes with shows in hand. Kodi...not so straight forward.

Which is another point. If you are iOS based in any way stick to Plex. If you using other platforms then Kodi is an option.
 
Last edited:
To illustrate my setup...

HP Microserver in Kitchen Cupboard running Unraid as OS with Dockers for (Plex Media Server, Sonarr, Radarr, Transmission (previously Deluge) and SABNzbd.

Lifetime Plex Pass.

Apple TV in lounge with Netflix, Plex, Amazon Prime connected to a Smart but slow Samsung LED.
LG WebOS in other lounge running Plex, Amazong Prime, Netflix.

Between the two there is an Xbox One X and PS4 that can also run all the apps but since the new TV see no need for that. On my old setup the Xbox did most of the Media Player work.

2 x iPads in the house for Netflix/Plex/Amazon Prime

When I travel I take one iPad with me where I usually sync Plex/Netflix stuff offline but if I really need to and have decent internet access I sync stuff from my Plex server at home OTA. Streaming is a pain mostly due to lacking upload speed of my VDSL but also cause the Microserver is a bit weak to transcode multiple streams.
 
Thanks for the detailed responses guys!

Mortymoose said:
Built me a Rasplex streaming from a PLEX server..... awesome result....
Click to expand...
hehe. Yeah toying with a rasp too, but it's a tiny bit thin looking on punch for a media server for my needs. I'll likely need CPU 265 decoding

SauRoNZA said:
Do you plan to use the laptop to also access the content on Netflix / Amazon Prime?
Click to expand...
Yeah I need it to output netflix over hdmi to the TV. Which it already does via browser in a way.

I'm just very fuzzy on how Plex/Kodi pulls things together so to speak. Ideally I'd like all the media in one place & integrated

SauRoNZA said:
Or do you simply mean to have those running on other devices and also have a Plex/Kodi server?

What devices do you have in the house and plan to consume from?
Click to expand...
Just on one device is sufficient.

Would be a bonus if I can access the library from a 2nd rog laptop but that's a nice to have. (Both are on n standard wifi which might bottleneck it?).

No tablets planned. For that I'll likely use netflex downloads or manually throw a series onto a SDHC

hmm sounds like Plex free edition is the way to go.

Soul Assassin said:
Do you want to use the laptop to do everything, download stuff, stream from Netflix etc and have the laptop attached to a TV?
Click to expand...
Yeah. Replacing my gaming laptop, so old one is going to be permanently connect to TV via HDMI. Think I've got a 1TB drive lying around and another 3TB via docking tray.

Want to keep the lid closed and control it via this. Or is an iphone better suited?

s-l300.jpg

Do you guys think I can run BOINC on it while it's in use as HTPC?

Intel Haswell Core i7-4710HQ CPU / 860M GPU

So might hit issues with HEVC/265 decoding if it's already under load...
 
HavocXphere said:
Thanks for the detailed responses guys!


hehe. Yeah toying with a rasp too, but it's a tiny bit thin looking on punch for a media server for my needs. I'll likely need CPU 265 decoding


Yeah I need it to output netflix over hdmi to the TV. Which it already does via browser in a way.

I'm just very fuzzy on how Plex/Kodi pulls things together so to speak. Ideally I'd like all the media in one place & integrated


Just on one device is sufficient.

Would be a bonus if I can access the library from a 2nd rog laptop but that's a nice to have. (Both are on n standard wifi which might bottleneck it?).

No tablets planned. For that I'll likely use netflex downloads or manually throw a series onto a SDHC

hmm sounds like Plex free edition is the way to go.


Yeah. Replacing my gaming laptop, so old one is going to be permanently connect to TV via HDMI. Think I've got a 1TB drive lying around and another 3TB via docking tray.

Want to keep the lid closed and control it via this. Or is an iphone better suited?

View attachment 524819

Do you guys think I can run BOINC on it while it's in use as HTPC?

Intel Haswell Core i7-4710HQ CPU / 860M GPU

So might hit issues with HEVC/265 decoding if it's already under load...
Click to expand...

To me the prime difference between Plex and Kodi is that by default Plex is a Server + Clients configuration where you manage it all in one place.

Kodi is by default stand alone and multiple stand alone unless you do the work of making it a server + clients setup.

Which doesn’t mean you can’t make Plex a single stand alone thing it’s just got more options to expand.

Personally I’d not even bother using Netflix and Amazon via a laptop. Just pick up a media player like a Firestick or Chromecast.
 
DrJohnZoidberg said:
The Nvidia Shield is great for direct playing most things too and has all the other popular streaming apps too, best to get it off Amazon though: https://www.amazon.com/NVIDIA-SHIELD-Streaming-Player-Remote/dp/B075RXV2VR
Click to expand...

Agree with this. Use your Pi as a download server for SABnzb and Sonaar etc onto some drives. Use the Shield as a Plex server/Client and you can watch Netflix etc on it as well.

Moving to this after using beefy i7 box to do all the above. Savings in power were my reason tbh though.
 
Pho3nix said:
Agree with this. Use your Pi as a download server for SABnzb and Sonaar etc onto some drives. Use the Shield as a Plex server/Client and you can watch Netflix etc on it as well.

Moving to this after using beefy i7 box to do all the above. Savings in power were my reason tbh though.
Click to expand...

Enter Microserver.

Pretty cheap and takes four drives. (five with some effort). Cheaper than the Shield if I recall correctly.

Unraid runs off flash so doesn’t consume a slot.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Enter Microserver.

Pretty cheap and takes four drives. (five with some effort). Cheaper than the Shield if I recall correctly.

Unraid runs off flash so doesn’t consume a slot.
Click to expand...

You’d still need something to watch Plex etc off in the lounge.

Multiple streams and Microserver don’t work too well albeit I’ve only tried that on Win10 so that could have been the issue.

Will try see if Unraid gives any performance improvements.
 
Right...tried Plex.

Clean design but overall not 100% convinced.

  • Very subtle micro-stutter on the web player. The exe application seems fine though
  • Plex windows metro app has crashed twice in 15min so that's not happening
  • Not a fan of the plex pass story
  • Sound is too low...I'll need to crank the TV up to 2-3x normal volume (vs same movie in VLC)
  • Series autodetect seems good.

Will give it a think & a bit more time...but overall somewhat underwhelmed
 
HavocXphere said:
Right...tried Plex.

Clean design but overall not 100% convinced.

  • Very subtle micro-stutter on the web player. The exe application seems fine though
  • Plex windows metro app has crashed twice in 15min so that's not happening
  • Not a fan of the plex pass story
  • Sound is too low...I'll need to crank the TV up to 2-3x normal volume (vs same movie in VLC)
  • Series autodetect seems good.

Will give it a think & a bit more time...but overall somewhat underwhelmed
Click to expand...

Never bothered with the Web player as I wouldn’t watch stuff on my laptop anyway.

Metro App is utter rubbish I agree.

You don’t need the Plex Pass for what you want to do.

Sound is probably 5.1 being converted to Stereo. There is a Boost option in the App for this. VLC probably plays it as is which can make it hard to hear channel division.

Auto Detection and self sorting is one of it’s lekker features. No intervention required generally.
 
SauRoNZA said:
I’d rather just buy an Apple TV 4K and skip on Android.

Most things seem to Direct Play just fine though.
Click to expand...

Noooo this is terrible advice, unless you have a mac and are paying for development mac OS at 99 Dollars a year already the Apple TV is pretty dead (pretty much becomes an expensive Netflix player).

I upgrade from a Old PC to a Apple TV 4k to Mi box (bought one for my Mom then had to buy one for myself) its a better experience then anything else I have tried. Have heard good things about the Nvidia shield.

@OP on your pc download nox player (best Android emulator in my opinion) https://www.bignox.com/ then get Terrarium Tv https://ln.sync.com/dl/05aff7010/ymz4r88d-2rb8nvau-agyn324e-7qppbrsv add free version. Drag terrarium into nox to install, install Mx player/vlc and see if you like that setup. Also try Mobdro.


If you like the way it works then consider a Mi box for R1200 from takealot doesn't break the bank and can do anything kodi, terrarium, Dstv Now, Netflix, plex, has a 4k output and your wireless keyboard just plugs and plays.
 
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