Fastwater
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Fastwater vs Jellyfin

A Jellyfin alternative with nothing to maintain.

Jellyfin is free, but you pay for it in upkeep: a computer left on, disks that fill up, updates, and remote access to set up for everyone who watches. Fastwater keeps your videos in a private cloud, so they play on any TV or phone, at home or away, with nothing to look after.

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3 days free. Cancel any time.

Choose Fastwater if

  • You're tired of keeping a server, disks, and updates running
  • You want family to watch away from home without a VPN, Tailscale, or open ports
  • You want polished apps on every TV, including Apple TV and Samsung
  • Your videos come from magnet links or .torrent files, without a downloader stack to run

Choose Jellyfin if

  • You want to pay nothing beyond your own hardware
  • You have a large library on your own disks, such as ripped discs
  • You keep music, audiobooks, or comics in the same server
  • You want your files on hardware you own

Side by side

FeatureFastwaterJellyfin
Price$6.99 (200 GB) to $19.99 (2 TB) a monthFree and open source. You pay for the hardware and power
HardwareNone. Files live in our cloudA computer or NAS you keep running
Watch away from homeWorks anywhere, nothing to set upYou set up a reverse proxy, VPN, or Tailscale
Updates and backupsDone for youYours to do
Storage200 GB to 2 TBWhatever disks you buy
Adds files from magnet links and .torrent filesThrough a separate downloader, such as qBittorrent or the *arr apps
Ready at once when the file is already stored
Upload your own filesCopy them to the server's disks
Converts videos for older devicesYes, with the server's CPU or GPU
Resume where you stopped, on any device
TV appsApps for Google TV, Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, LG, and SamsungApps for Android TV, Fire TV, Roku, and LG. Apple TV through Swiftfin or Infuse
Use Jellyfin with your Fastwater filesStandard and Pro, through an rclone mount—

Jellyfin details as listed on its website in October 2026. Check Jellyfin's site for current prices.

Keep Jellyfin if you like it

On Standard and Pro, your Fastwater files are available over WebDAV, so a Jellyfin server can read them through an rclone mount, and Infuse can read them directly. Use Fastwater for storage and downloading, and keep Jellyfin as your player while you decide.

Questions

Jellyfin is free. Why pay for Fastwater?
Jellyfin costs nothing, but you supply and look after everything around it: the computer, the disks, power, updates, backups, and remote access for everyone who watches. Fastwater does all of that, and adds files from magnet links without a downloader to run.
Can my family watch away from home?
Yes. Fastwater works on any connection with nothing to set up. With Jellyfin, watching away from home means exposing the server through a reverse proxy, a VPN, or Tailscale.
Can I use Fastwater with Jellyfin?
Yes. On Standard and Pro, mount your Fastwater files with rclone on the Jellyfin server and add the folder as a library. Nothing is copied to your disks.
Do I need room for my whole library?
Only for what you keep. Files count toward your storage, but you don't have to hoard: when a file is already stored, adding it is instant, so you can delete what you've watched and add it back later, often at once.
Does Fastwater convert videos like Jellyfin?
No. Fastwater repackages each video as an MP4 that browsers and most TVs play, without changing its quality. It doesn't convert videos for devices that can't play them.

Try Fastwater free for 3 days.

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