Here is a quick rundown of some (but not all) of the apps I use for home entertainment. Our go-to is Plex, which I highly recommend for streaming your own video collection. It also has a ton of free content, and if you have a Plex Pass, the DVR feature is a total game-changer.

• MakeMKV: A free, open-source tool that converts Blu-ray and DVD discs into MKV (Matroska) format, allowing for digital copying and playback on various devices.
• Handbrake: An open-source video transcoder that can convert video files between different formats, including HD and 4K resolutions, making it easier to share or play back content across multiple platforms.
• Avidemux: A free, open-source video editor that allows users to edit and re-encode video files, making it a popular choice for creating custom DVD or Blu-ray discs, or for converting video files for sharing online.
• Gluetun: is a lightweight, open-source VPN client designed to run inside a Docker container. It acts as a secure network gateway, allowing you to route the internet traffic of other containers through a VPN connection.
• Sonarr: An open-source automated TV series and episode downloader that integrates with popular torrent clients (like Sonarr is specifically designed to work with Plex), allowing users to easily download new episodes of their favorite shows as they become available.
• Radarr: is an open-source movie collection manager designed to automate the process of finding, downloading, and organizing movies. It acts as a “personal assistant” for your digital media library, handling everything from tracking upcoming releases to ensuring you have the highest quality version of a film.
• Seerr: is a free, open-source media discovery and request management platform for self-hosted media servers. It acts as a sleek “front-end” portal where you or your friends can find movies and TV shows to add to your collection.
• Plex: is an open-source-derived media platform that functions like your own personal Netflix. It allows you to organize, manage, and stream your personal collection of movies, TV shows, music, and photos to virtually any device.
• Emby: is a self-hosted personal media server designed to organize and stream your own collection of movies, TV shows, music, and photos. It functions as a private “Netflix-style” hub, allowing you to access your media across multiple devices at home or while travelling.
• Threadfin: is an open-source M3U proxy server designed to bridge the gap between IPTV providers and media servers like Plex, Jellyfin, and Emby. It is the modern, actively maintained “spiritual successor” to xTeVe, which is no longer developed.