JellyPlayer vs Crate for Plex
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
JellyPlayer
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A Jellyfin music player that has proper download, streaming and CarPlay without the fluff.
Crate for Plex
A native, unofficial music player for your Plex Media Server, designed for iPhone and Apple Watch. Enjoy your owned music library with features like offline listening, crossfade, and queue management without subscriptions or ads.
- Plex music library browsing
- Offline listening
- Apple Watch app
- Crossfade playback
- Queue management
- Smart caching
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Your Plex music library, finally given the iOS music player it deserves. Crate is a native, unofficial music player for your Plex Media Server, built for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and CarPlay. Pay once. No subscription. No ads. No tracking. Just your music, played beautifully. ON IPHONE - Browse your entire library — albums, artists, playlists - Now Playing reimagined with crossfade, queue, and hearts - Discover view to rediscover albums you'd forgotten you loved - Download albums for offline listening - Smart caching keeps recently-played tracks ready offline - Light and dark modes that actually look like iOS ON APPLE WATCH - A real watchOS app — browse, download, and play from your wrist - Doubles as a remote when your iPhone is the one playing - Download albums directly to your watch - Phone-optional playback with AirPods THE FUNDAMENTALS, DONE RIGHT - Crossfade between tracks - Shuffle with no repeats - Hearts to track what you love - Queue management you can actually use - Lossless playback on iPhone (Apple Watch auto-transcodes for compatibility) WHAT'S NOT INSIDE - No subscription - No ads - No tracking - No login wall to a service that isn't yours Crate connects directly to your own Plex Media Server. Your music. Your server. Your player. REQUIREMENTS Crate requires a Plex Media Server with a music library and a free Plex account. Plex Pass is not required. Crate is an unofficial third-party application and is not made by, endorsed by, or affiliated with Plex Inc.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: JellyPlayer at Free against Crate for Plex's $3.99. JellyPlayer also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.4). Crate for Plex's advantage is device support (3 vs 1). On ads and in-app purchases 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
JellyPlayer is free to download; Crate for Plex costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
JellyPlayer ships an update every 2 weeks, Crate for Plex every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 15, 2026 and September 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | JellyPlayer | Crate for Plex |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | — | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 26.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 25 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Anuj Goyal | Darren Ebbing |
In-app purchases
JellyPlayer
No in-app purchases
Crate for Plex
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is JellyPlayer free?
Is Crate for Plex free?
Do JellyPlayer or Crate for Plex have ads?
Which is updated more often, JellyPlayer or Crate for Plex?
Other comparisons
