Project Suggestion: Open-Source Plex Media Server Clone

[sic79]

I'd like to suggest Plex Media Server as a potential target for a future open-source reverse engineering project.

Plex is one of the most popular self-hosted media platforms, but despite running on your own hardware, it still relies heavily on Plex's centralized services for authentication, account management, and server discovery.

It would be amazing to see a fully open-source, Plex-compatible server that removes these dependencies entirely.

What would make this project interesting?

• 100% self-hosted: No dependency on plex.tv or external cloud services.
• Plex client compatibility: Ideally, existing Plex apps on Apple TV, Android, iOS, smart TVs, and other devices could continue working.
• Local authentication: User accounts, profiles, permissions, and authentication handled entirely by the server.
• Full media server functionality: Libraries, metadata, watch history, transcoding, hardware acceleration, and multi-user support.
• Completely open source: A community-maintained alternative that anyone can contribute to.
• Docker support: Easy deployment on Unraid, NAS devices, and Linux servers.

Why not just use Jellyfin?

Jellyfin is already a great open-source alternative, but the goal here would be different.

Rather than creating another media server with its own ecosystem, the idea would be to reimplement the Plex server and its APIs, with compatibility for existing Plex clients wherever technically possible.

The biggest achievement would be eliminating the dependency on Plex's infrastructure while preserving the familiar Plex experience.

Why this would be a great project

Plex has a massive user base, particularly among self-hosting enthusiasts. Many users would love to eliminate the cloud dependency without having to abandon the Plex ecosystem.

A fully open-source, independently developed Plex-compatible server could become an incredibly valuable project for the self-hosting community.

Just a suggestion for a future project — I'd love to see what the REA community could accomplish with Plex!

[bpawnzZ]

I second this!! I hope someone does this and knocks it out of the park

[Paradox32]

I’d settle for the Plex Client cloned and fixed. Their current releases are garbage. So many bugs and non implemented features they have been promising for years now.

[bpawnzZ]

You arent kidding. The new releases of the server don't even have nvidia encode and decode working properly.. Pretty sure it broke on everything after 1.43.0

[Paradox32]

Yup. It’s abysmal. Ridiculous how many people are using Plex server and Infuse as the player. It shouldn’t need to be this way.