Comparison · Updated 4 September 2026
This page is written by the developer of NaviFin, so read it with that in mind. Every claim about another app is taken from that app’s own App Store listing, website or README, is linked at the bottom, and was checked on . Where an app’s own listing does not mention a feature, the table says so instead of guessing. Three of these six shipped in the last three months, so this page will go stale: if you are reading it much later, check the listings yourself.
Side by side
Six apps a Jellyfin user on Apple actually shortlists in September 2026. Every cell comes from that app’s own App Store listing, website or README, checked on and linked at the bottom. Where a listing does not mention something, the cell says so rather than guessing: it may still be in the app. Scroll the table sideways on a narrow screen.
| Client | NaviFin | Swiftfin | Infuse | Neptune | Zuno | JellyTV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reach: the same app on every device you own | ||||||
| Apple platforms with an app of their own | 4 / 4 | 3 / 4 | 4 / 4 | 1 / 4 | 4 / 4 | 4 / 4 |
| iPhone | iOS 26+ | iOS 18.6+ | iOS 18+ | No | iOS 18+ | iOS 26+ |
| iPad | iPadOS 26+ | iPadOS 18.6+ | iPadOS 18+ | No | iPadOS 18+ | iPadOS 26+ |
| Apple TV | tvOS 26+ | tvOS 26.1+ | tvOS 18.5+ | tvOS 18.5+ | tvOS 18+ | tvOS 26+ |
| Mac | Native SwiftUI app, universal binary, macOS 26+ | The iPad app on Apple Silicon: “Requires macOS 15.6 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later” | Native, macOS 15+ | No | macOS 15+, its listing does not say whether it is a native Mac app | macOS 26+, its listing does not say whether it is a native Mac app |
| Apple Vision | Runs as the iPad app, visionOS 26+. No Vision layout of its own | visionOS 2.6+ | visionOS 26+ | No | visionOS 2+ | visionOS 26+ |
| What it costs to own it forever | ||||||
| Price | $6.99 once. No subscription and no in-app purchase of any kind | Free | Free download, Infuse Pro is an in-app purchase | Free download, Neptune Pro is an in-app purchase | Free download, Zuno Pro is an in-app purchase | Free download, JellyTV+ is an in-app purchase |
| Lifetime access costs | $6.99 | $0 | $99.99 | $129.99 | $99.99 ($49.99 founder) | $49.99 |
| Subscription on offer | None. There is no tier above the purchase | None | $1.99 a month, $16.99 a year | $1.99 a month, $16.99 a year | $1.99 a month, $14.99 a year | $2.49 a month, $17.99 a year |
| Source | Closed | Open source, MPL-2.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| On the Jellyfin project’s client list | No. Their rules require an FSF approved licence | Official beta | Third party | No. Its pull request was closed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Track record, which is the row where we lose | ||||||
| On the App Store since | 2 September 2026 | December 2022 | November 2016 | July 2026 | July 2026 | March 2026 |
| US App Store ratings | 0 | 269, averaging 3.8 | 28,091, averaging 4.7 | 0 | 18, averaging 4.2 | 32, averaging 4.3 |
| What it plays from | ||||||
| Servers | Jellyfin only, by design | Jellyfin only | Plex, Emby, Jellyfin, Kodi, plus SMB, NFS, FTP, WebDAV and cloud drives | Jellyfin. Its listing says “your media server” | Plex, Jellyfin and Emby | Jellyfin only |
| Playback engine | Hybrid, chosen per file: AVPlayer for native containers, VLC for the rest. Neither asks the server to transcode | VLC, per its README | Its own player | Trident, its own engine | Its own engine | Not on its listing |
| Features, as each app states them on its own listing | ||||||
| Offline downloads | Yes, with watch state synced back | Not on its listing | Yes | Not on its listing | Yes | Yes |
| Live TV | Channels, guide, one-off and series recordings | Yes | Yes | Not on its listing | Yes | Not on its listing |
| SyncPlay (watch together) | Yes | Not on its listing | Not on its listing | Not on its listing | Not on its listing | Not on its listing |
| Music player from the same library | Full player, Now Playing, background audio | Not on its listing | Not on its listing | Not on its listing | Not on its listing | Not on its listing |
| CarPlay | Audio menus. See the note below, playback from the car is not confirmed | Not on its listing | Not on its listing | Not on its listing | Not on its listing | Not on its listing |
| Widgets and tvOS Top Shelf | Yes | Not on its listing | Not on its listing | Not on its listing | Not on its listing | Not on its listing |
| Kids Mode (rating ceiling behind a PIN) | Yes | Not on its listing | Not on its listing | Not on its listing | Not on its listing | Not on its listing |
| More than one server | Yes, one tap between them | Not on its listing | Yes, multiple sources | Not on its listing | Not on its listing | Not on its listing |
| Styled ASS and SSA subtitles | Yes | Not on its listing | Yes | Yes | Not on its listing | Not on its listing |
| Trakt | Yes | Not on its listing | Yes | Not on its listing | Yes | In JellyTV+ |
| Jellyseerr or Seerr requests | Yes | Not on its listing | Not on its listing | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| mTLS client certificate, custom access headers | Both, in the pairing screen | Not on its listing | Not on its listing | Not on its listing | Not on its listing | Not on its listing |
| Analytics | None. No backend, no SDKs | Open source, read its privacy label | Read its privacy label | Read its privacy label | Read its privacy label | Read its privacy label |
Two honest notes on our own column. CarPlay: the menus have been photographed drawing on a real head unit, and starting playback from the car has not been confirmed since the fix for it was written, so treat it as unproven rather than shipped-and-working. Video on CarPlay is not advertised at all. Ratings: zero is not modesty, it is the truth of an app that went on sale on 2 September 2026, and it is the one row where Infuse is out of reach.
Being straight with you
A comparison written by a developer that concludes “I win everything” is worthless. These are good apps, and here is who each one is for.
You want it free and open source, from the Jellyfin project itself. Swiftfin is MPL-2.0 with a public repository, is listed by Jellyfin as its official beta client, and runs on iOS 18.6, so it reaches phones and Macs that NaviFin’s OS 26 requirement leaves out. If you have one Apple device, install it first and see whether you want anything more.
Your library is not only on Jellyfin. Infuse plays from Plex, Emby, Jellyfin, SMB and NFS shares, FTP, WebDAV and cloud drives, casts to Google Cast, shows trailers, and has ten years and 28,091 ratings behind it. Nothing on this page competes with that record. Pro is $1.99 a month, $16.99 a year or $99.99 once.
You watch on an Apple TV and nothing else, and you care most about the picture. Its Trident engine advertises native HEVC, AV1, VP9 and H.264 decoding, E-AC-3 Atmos passthrough, lossless FLAC surround, and Dolby Vision profiles 5, 7 and 8 with tone mapping, plus styled ASS and SSA subtitles and an Anime Mode that pairs audio and subtitle languages. It is tvOS only, and Pro is $129.99 for life.
You want one app for Plex, Jellyfin and Emby across all four Apple screens, and you can run iOS 18 rather than 26. Its listing names a custom hardware-accelerated engine, offline downloads, Live TV and Trakt. Pro is $1.99 a month, $14.99 a year, or $99.99 for life, with a $49.99 founder tier while it lasts.
You want a Jellyfin admin interface in your pocket. JellyTV+ adds administration for Jellyfin and Seerr, Trakt and AniList, iCloud settings sync and alternative icons, and the app covers iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Vision Pro on OS 26. Free to download, with a subscription at $2.49 a month or $17.99 a year, or $49.99 for life.
If you are new to self-hosting, put Swiftfin or the official Jellyfin app in front of your server before you spend anything. NaviFin earns its $6.99 when you have several Apple devices, want one app and one behaviour on all of them, and would rather pay once than be sold a Pro tier later.
The rest of the field
These did not get a column because they are either one platform, one purpose, or a general player that happens to speak Jellyfin. All of them are worth knowing about, and several are free.
The number that actually differs
Read off each app’s own App Store page on 4 September 2026. What it costs to own the full app forever:
That is the whole pricing argument, and it cuts both ways: the free clients cost nothing, and a $99.99 app with 28,091 ratings has earned trust NaviFin has not. What $6.99 buys is one purchase covering four Apple platforms, with nothing sold to you afterwards.
Receipts
Every competitor claim above comes from one of these, checked on . Prices, requirements and rating counts are read off each app’s own App Store page, which Apple generates from the shipped binaries and the developer’s own price sheet.
Questions
It depends on what you own. If you also watch on a Mac, an iPad or an iPhone and want the same app everywhere for one payment, NaviFin: one $6.99 purchase covers all four, with Live TV and DVR, SyncPlay, a full music player and Skip Intro on the television. If you only have an Apple TV and want it free, Swiftfin is the official Jellyfin project beta and costs nothing. Infuse is the choice if your library is not only on Jellyfin.
NaviFin, if you want a real Mac app: native SwiftUI, a glass sidebar, keyboard shortcuts for every section, in-window playback and Picture in Picture, and a universal binary for Apple Silicon and Intel. Swiftfin's Mac entry on the App Store is the iPad app running on Apple Silicon (its compatibility box reads: requires a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later). Infuse has a native Mac app too and reaches more sources.
Yes. The official Jellyfin app and Swiftfin are both free and open source, from the Jellyfin project itself, and Moonfin and Streamyfin are free and open source too. Infuse, Neptune, Zuno and JellyTV are free to download with a paid Pro tier. NaviFin is the only one that is a single $6.99 purchase with no tier above it, and it has no free version, only a public TestFlight beta of the next release.
No. NaviFin is a Jellyfin client only, by design, which is how it can carry Jellyfin-specific features such as SyncPlay, Media Segments for Skip Intro, Quick Connect and DVR. If you run Plex or Emby as well, Infuse covers all three.
Try Swiftfin first if you are new to self-hosting or only have one device. NaviFin earns its $6.99 when you have several Apple devices and want one app and one purchase across the television, the Mac, the iPad and the phone, plus the things it adds: a native Mac app, music, Live TV with DVR, SyncPlay, offline downloads on iPhone, iPad and Mac, mTLS and custom access headers for a server behind a proxy, and a Kids Mode.
NaviFin at $6.99 once, covering Apple TV, Mac, iPad and iPhone, with no subscription and no in-app purchase. The others are free downloads with a Pro tier: JellyTV+ $49.99 for life, Zuno Pro $99.99 (or $49.99 on its founder tier), Infuse Pro $99.99, Neptune Pro $129.99, each also sold monthly or yearly. Swiftfin and the official Jellyfin app cost nothing at all.
NaviFin and JellyTV both need the 26 releases, so neither runs on iOS 18. Swiftfin asks for iOS 18.6 and tvOS 26.1, Infuse for iOS 18 and tvOS 18.5, Zuno for iOS 18 and tvOS 18, Neptune for tvOS 18.5, and Moonfin goes back to iOS 16. If your hardware is older, NaviFin is not your answer.
Four of them cover every Apple screen. NaviFin, Infuse, Zuno and JellyTV all list iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Mac; Infuse, Zuno and JellyTV add Apple Vision, and NaviFin runs there only as the iPad app. Swiftfin is native on iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, and its Mac entry is the iPad app on Apple Silicon. Neptune is Apple TV only. Checked 4 September 2026.