That’s actually how I went, through Plex, then Emby and now Jellyfin since last reinstall, with a brief detour through Servio.

I don’t begrudge Emby for trying to make money but it leaves a bad taste when a project starts at open source, builds up features on volunteer work, then takes those features behind paywall. And at the end of the day the Emby experience is not that much more polished than Jellyfin, which is ridiculous. At least Plex offers a smooth experience for the money.

Servio is very basic compared to these three but some people like that about it. If you don’t want to bother with any niceties and just want something where you dump files and play them it might be for you.