Alternative to Jellyfin

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I just want to add, OP, that Jellyfin can actually be configured to be used only on your local network right out the gate. Which is what I did. Setting it up to be exposed to the internet is much more work. Some people want to remote access into their server while away from home, but like I said, you can have it be completely local. I currently use it that way, but devices on the home network can easily access Jellyfin from anywhere in the house. They also have various plugins so you can customize how it looks and feels. Highly recommend it

I have Plex and Jellyfin on the same server for the sole purpose of being able to watch something when Spectrum shits the bed.

He'll need an Internet connection to pull that data initially, but dies not need Internet enabled to view the movies or see the metadata after the initial setup. TinyMediaManager makes it very easy to set up IMDB etc data basically automatically.

So I did a quick Google and the ai overview suggested turning off webscrapers and using nfo files for them. You could use tinymediamanager wherever you have access to Internet and bring your .nfo files back to your server. https://www.tinymediamanager.org/

Remember there is a different between the Internet and your local network Jellyfin is for offline use. It doesn't rely on an Internet connection. It does rely on a local router (for most cases) so your clients can stream from the windows machine. For example, your windows machine is the server and your mobile phone is the client and another computer in your household is the client. If you want a fully local (aka not connected to your router, only on the one machine) then look at Kodi or you can even use jellyfin server and client on the same machine (but you rather use kodi in this case) Hope that helps

You don’t necessarily need it but it sure makes it easier to update the artwork and metadata of movies and tv shows.

The typical use case for Jellyfin is “offline”.

Doesn't it pull metadata from IMDB and other websites? I guess OP could input that manually, but sounds like a pain. But then, I also don't see a better solution.

Ok but why not just use Jellyfin at this point?

kodi is perfect for this, i been using it for years with my external drives and it pull all the metadata and poster art while you got internet then works 100% offline after

This might work: https://kodi.tv/download/

Jellyfin is fine for your use. Jellyfin does not require Internet to function. It does need it to download the metadata/photos for your media library which you can trigger to do when you have Internet and then it will be good. Kodi is a solid option too. You can actually run both of them and see which one you like more. Jellyfin has plug-in options to change the UI. If I recall Kodi has skins that easily change the UI as well.

Jellyfin is made for offline streaming. That's the whole point of Jellyfin basically! This is short summary on how Jellyfin is supposed to work: You put a bunch of movies in a folder somewhere. I.e. on a shared disk on your network (could be a NAS, a server on your home network or whatever) You install Jellyfin on your phone and computers around in the house You open Jellyfin and write the shared folder address that has your movies Now Jellyfin can play those movies. No internet involved!

kodi

I dunno, sounds like the OP is saying they want kodi

If you want offline enjoyment then jellyfin is your jam.

I would highly suggest Emby. It is the middle child between Plex and Jellyfin. It’s not money hungry like plex is and it’s much more polished than jellyfin

Jellyfin doesn't require bring on the Internet. It's a client/server thing though, and best suited for use over a local network. If that's what you're looking for, there's no reason not to use it. Despite the recent news, there's no indication that the project is changing directions or going away. If you just wanted to play media locally from USB, you might want to check out KODI.

Personally I'd say Jellyfin or Emby are your best bets. A few things to keep in mind. There is a difference between internet and a local network or "wifi". Most people conflate "wifi" with internet, but it is possible to have a router that is not connected to the internet and still broadcasts a local wifi for your devices to use. You'd have your PC running jellyfin/Emby and connected to said router either via Ethernet or wifi, then any client devices could simply connect to the same router and use the media server. The caveat here that could be a bit of a deal breaker for you. Jellyfin and Emby both use internet based media identification services such as IMDB. So whenever you add media to said server you'd need temporary Internet connection in order for it to identify it and add all the photos/metadata. Otherwise you can still manage your metadata offline, but that beautiful polished experience you're looking for will be somewhat affected without Internet to get the photos and all the extraneous data such as actors, genres, ratings, etc. I'd have to imagine though there could be workarounds for that. Simple one if it's an option would be, connecting the server to a hotspot temporarily every now and then to collect metadata. Or who knows, maybe there is a full offline metadata identifier plugin for jellyfin. I'd imagine it would be massive because you're basically talking about downloading the entire IMDB website for offline, but that could be a great option.

I think the confusion is between offline and no internet. Jellyfin doesn't need the internet to play your library. It only benefits from the internet when it's fetching artwork and metadata. Once that's done, it'll happily keep working on a local network, or even on the same PC if you're using the server and client together.

If your looking for a media manager for local 'on device' files you want Kodi. it also does network shares btw.