Comparison

Jellyfin Mobile vs Castria

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Jellyfin Mobile

Access and stream your entire media collection from your own server. Enjoy your audio, video, and photos on your device with a user-friendly interface. This app requires a Jellyfin server to be set up and running.

Highlights
  • Stream personal media collections
  • Access audio, video, and photos
  • User-friendly interface
  • Watch Live TV and recorded shows
  • Official companion app
Features
Read full description

The Jellyfin project is an open source, free software media server. No fees, no tracking, no hidden agenda. Get our free server to collect all your audio, video, photos, and more in one place. To use the app, you must have a Jellyfin server set up and running. Find out more at https://jellyfin.org With a Jellyfin server, you can: - Watch Live TV and recorded shows from your Jellyfin server (additional hardware/services required) - Stream your media to your iOS/iPadOS device - View your collection in an easy to use interface This is the official Jellyfin companion app. Thank you for using Jellyfin!

About

Castria

This podcast app automatically removes ads, sponsor reads, and commercial breaks from episodes. It also offers AI-powered summaries, searchable transcripts, and chapter navigation for a seamless listening experience. Enjoy offline playback and cross-device syncing for free.

Highlights
  • Automatic ad skipping
  • AI episode summaries
  • Searchable transcripts
  • Tap-to-jump topics
  • Offline downloads
  • Cross-device syncing
Features
Read full description

Castria is the podcast app that skips the ads for you. Press play and the ads, sponsor reads, and commercial breaks skip themselves. No fast-forwarding, no guessing where the show comes back. Just the show. Premium subscriptions remove an app's own ads, but not the ones inside the episode. Castria skips those, and skipping ads on your phone is free. Around the skip is a full podcast player: playlists, offline downloads, AI summaries, searchable transcripts, and sync across your devices. TOP FEATURES • Ads skip themselves: on every episode, hands-free, from the moment you press play • You stay in control: see every ad Castria found and why, keep a sponsor you want to hear, or turn skipping off in one tap • AI episode summaries: see what an episode covers before you commit • Tap-to-jump topics: go straight to the part you came for • Searchable transcripts: read along, search any word, tap to jump to that moment • Offline downloads: ad-skipping still works with no signal, and each show can auto-download, keep the newest few, or delete after playing • Playlists: build your own, in any order you like • Bring your shows: import from another app with an OPML file, or preview a show before you follow it • Sleep timer, speed up to 5×, and trim silences • Resume on any device: iPhone, iPad, and the web on one account • See your time saved: the minutes and ads Castria has skipped for you, by day, week, and month For serious podcast listeners: the more you listen, the more time you get back. The core is free: ad-skipping, the full player, and the AI features. And Castria shows no ads of its own. CASTRIA PREMIUM (optional, with a free trial) • Faster ad-skip: ads are found on our servers before you download, so your phone does none of the work • CarPlay: a dedicated app with Listen Now, Up Next, Playlists, and Shows (iOS 26.4 or later) • Apple Watch: your queue and Now Playing on your wrist, with ads skipped • Smart playlists that fill themselves • 20 GB of cloud storage for your saved episodes FAIR TO CREATORS Castria plays the publisher's own episode file and skips the ad segments as you listen, the same as fast-forwarding by hand. We never modify or re-host the audio. Don't interrupt what you're doing just to fast-forward through an ad. Castria skips them for you. Castria Premium is an auto-renewing subscription, billed monthly or yearly to your Apple Account. It renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel it anytime in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://castria.app/privacy

Screenshots

Jellyfin Mobile4 screens
Castria4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Castria at 5.0 against Jellyfin Mobile's 4.0. Castria also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 4 months) and review sentiment (67% vs 49%). Jellyfin Mobile's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ratings volume (502 vs 2). On price, ads, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Castria sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Jellyfin Mobile asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Castria holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Jellyfin Mobile has 502 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 49% of Jellyfin Mobile's written reviews are positive against 67% of Castria's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Jellyfin Mobile ships an update every 4 months, Castria weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Jellyfin Mobile versus Castria: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJellyfin MobileCastria
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (502 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews49.5% of reviews66.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings502 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS12.4 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB49 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAnthony LavadoExtroverted Developer, LLC

Customer experience

Jellyfin Mobile

All ratings467 ratings
Positive74.3%
Neutral6.6%
Negative19.1%
Written reviews287 reviews
Positive49.5%
Neutral18.8%
Negative31.7%

Castria

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral16.7%
Negative16.7%

Bugs and requests

Jellyfin Mobile

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Audio problems with background playback
  • Download on iPad not working
  • Background play does not work
  • Slow on RasPi
  • Won't connect
Show 7 more
  • Couldn't connect to server
  • Subtitle scaling issues
  • Buggy client state
  • Transcoding issues
  • Chromecast connection failure
  • Stops playing after 30 seconds
  • Buggy and feature limited

Requested features

8 requests
  • Add background playback
  • Add Chromecast support
  • Add offline downloads
  • Add shuffle functionality
  • Add Apple TV support
Show 3 more
  • Add external subtitle support
  • Add lockscreen controls for music
  • Add download offline functionality

Castria

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Jellyfin Mobile

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Castria

Subscriptions2
  • Castria Premium Monthly1 Month trial$4.991 Month
  • Castria Premium Yearly1 Month trial$44.991 Year

Questions

Is Jellyfin Mobile free?
Jellyfin Mobile is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Castria free?
Castria is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Jellyfin Mobile or Castria?
Castria is rated higher. Jellyfin Mobile averages 4.0 out of 5 from 502 ratings, while Castria averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Jellyfin Mobile or Castria have ads?
Neither Jellyfin Mobile nor Castria shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Jellyfin Mobile or Castria?
Jellyfin Mobile ships an update every 4 months, and Castria weekly. Most recently, Jellyfin Mobile was updated on November 3, 2026 and Castria on October 31, 2026.

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