Emby
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy it if you're a hobbyist self-hosting a personal library and will keep it patched . users say setup is easy and it just works.
Comparison
Emby vs Channels Community
Emby and Channels Community both land on Depends.
Channels Community
Depends
Confidence: Medium
This is the free support forum for Channels DVR, not a product you can buy.
| Compare | Emby | Channels Community |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Self-hosters streaming personal libraries | Channels DVR owners troubleshooting |
| Who it's not for | People who won't patch promptly . exposed servers got hacked | Anyone shopping for community software . this is a forum |
| Privacy | Weak recent record: critical 2025 admin-takeover CVE, hacked servers force-shut down, and a disclosed May 2023 incident.⁶ | No security page found on the community site.16 |
| Support quality | Very active community forums; official support unverified | Guess: active threads, official announcements |
| Public sentiment | Users widely call Emby easy to set up, reliable, and better than Plex for their needs, while some self-hosters avoid it over closed source and security incidents.³ | Users actively debate whether Channels DVR justifies its price, while the forum stays busy and technical.14 |
| Biggest gotcha | Exposed servers were hacked and force-shut by Emby . use VPN or strict firewalling⁴ | You may be looking at a forum when you meant to evaluate Channels DVR itself11 |
Pick Emby when
- Self-hosters streaming personal libraries
- Households wanting Live TV and DVR
- Plex users seeking a featured alternative
- Large local libraries
When Emby is not a fit
- People who won't patch promptly . exposed servers got hacked
- Open-source purists . core is closed, use Jellyfin
- Casual viewers with a few files . plain playback is simpler
- Anyone unwilling to run and secure their own server
Pick Channels Community when
- Channels DVR owners troubleshooting
- Buyers researching Channels DVR
- Self-hosters running Docker
When Channels Community is not a fit
- Anyone shopping for community software . this is a forum
- Teams wanting a managed community platform
- Enterprises needing security pages or SLAs
Sources
- Emby Media Server on openSUSE Linux | Reviewcubiclenate.comreview
- I switched to Emby, and it's way better than Plexxda-developers.comreview
review
- Emby shuts down user media servers hacked in recent attackbleepingcomputer.comnews
security
- CVE-2025-64113 Detailnvd.nist.govsecurity
official
- Emby Premiereemby.mediaofficial
- Emby Premiere Pricing 2026: $119 Lifetime vs Monthlyjellywatch.appreview
- About Jellyfinjellyfin.orgofficial
- Channels Community forumcommunity.getchannels.comofficial
- Channels Reviews . G2g2.comreview
- Is Channels still worth it? . Redditreddit.comreview
- Why is Channels so expensive? . Redditreddit.comreview
- Security pagecommunity.getchannels.comsecurity