Comparison

Aether Player vs Pruxnel

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

Head to head
About

Aether Player

Features
Read full description

Aether is a personal media player for Plex, Jellyfin, Emby and your own files β€” built natively for every Apple screen. Connect your server and your whole library appears: movies, shows, music, Continue Watching, Recently Added. Add a second server and both merge into one deduplicated view, with a picker that tells you which copy is the better file. Your media, not theirs. PLAY ANYTHING β€’ Direct play or server-transcoded β€” Aether follows the best path automatically, per title. β€’ MKV, HEVC, Dolby Vision, DTS: formats other players choke on play through a modern engine, GPU-accelerated for smooth 4K. β€’ Picture in Picture, AirPlay, Dolby Atmos, lock-screen controls. β€’ Switch audio and subtitle tracks mid-playback on every platform. β€’ Offline downloads, including whole seasons β€” and Smart Downloads that keep the next unwatched episodes ready. EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE β€’ Profiles: separate Continue Watching, watchlist, ratings, Home rails and trackers, with a PIN on the way in and per-profile library visibility. β€’ A child's profile can be held to an age rating. β€’ Pair a profile to your Plex Home profile, or to its own Jellyfin or Emby user, so watched state stays separate on the server too. β€’ Two profiles are included; up to five with Supporter. SUBTITLES, DONE PROPERLY β€’ Aether reads subtitle files itself and times them against the picture, so they sit where you put them β€” in the black bars or over the video, in your own style, with sync and size adjustable in the player. β€’ Search OpenSubtitles from a title's own page in thirty-one languages, ranked against the exact file you're playing. YOUR LIBRARY, YOUR WAY β€’ One library across every connected source, filtered by genre, year, rating, country, audio language, server or the libraries you curated on them. β€’ Continue Watching, Up Next and a Discover tab with trending titles and Where to Watch availability in your region. β€’ Person pages, franchise collections, and ratings from IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDb. β€’ Music as its own tab β€” artists, albums, playlists, and a player built for it, with the catalog kept on disk so it opens offline. β€’ Live TV from a playlist you already have, with a full guide, categories you make yourself, Xtream Codes accounts and HDHomeRun tuners. Bring-your-own: Aether provides no channels. BEAUTIFUL ON EVERY SCREEN β€’ iPhone and iPad: cinematic hero art, a page that grows out of the poster you tapped. β€’ Apple TV: precision focus design, and your Continue Watching in the top shelf. β€’ Apple Vision Pro: an auditorium around the picture β€” raked seating, masking walls, house lights down. β€’ Mac: a native app with a menu-bar mode, a series browser, and Apple's own decoder for what it can play. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Aether connects only to the servers you configure. No account of ours, no cloud, no ads, no cross-app tracking. Your ratings, watchlist and resume positions live on your devices and in your own iCloud. Optional anonymous usage statistics can be turned off any time. SOURCES β€’ Plex (multi-server, multi-account) β€’ Jellyfin (multi-server) β€’ Emby (multi-server, Live TV, music) β€’ Silo β€’ SMB / network shares, with Bonjour discovery β€’ WebDAV β€’ Local files Optional, all bring-your-own: connect your own Seerr to request what you don't have, your own Trakt or Simkl account to track what you watch, and your own OpenSubtitles account for subtitle search. Aether requires a Plex, Jellyfin, Emby or Silo media server, an SMB or WebDAV share, or local video files. It is not a streaming service and does not provide any content. Plex, Jellyfin, Emby, Silo, Trakt, Simkl and OpenSubtitles are trademarks of their respective owners. Aether is an independent, third-party client and is not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by them. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://aetherplayer.com/privacy

About

Pruxnel

Features
Read full description

Pruxnel is your personal tracker for movies and TV shows. Discover what to watch, save titles to your library, follow your progress, and rate what you have seenβ€”all in one organized place. DISCOVER MOVIES AND TV SHOWS Explore weekly trends, top-rated titles, recent releases, genres, cast information, filmographies, and detailed summaries. TRACK WHAT YOU WATCH Save movies and shows as Watchlist, Watching, or Watched. Follow seasons and episodes so you always know what comes next. STREAMING TOP 10S Browse daily Top 10 rankings by country, date, content type, and streaming service. Explore movies, TV shows, kids’ titles, and historical rankings. RATE TITLES AND PERFORMANCES Rate movies and TV shows, and share your opinion about actors’ performances in specific roles. FIND WHERE TO WATCH Check streaming availability for your selected country, including subscription, rental, and purchase options when available. BUILD YOUR PERSONAL LIBRARY Create custom lists, organize your viewing history, personalize the app’s appearance, and export or import your library. OPTIONAL PREMIUM Premium expands your tracking capacity and unlocks advanced Top 10 insights, statistics, history, backup, and synchronization between your devices. Pruxnel does not stream or play video. Catalog information is provided by TMDB, and availability data is provided by JustWatch through TMDB. This app uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB. Terms of Use (EULA) This application uses the standard Apple End User License Agreement (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Aether Player4 screens
Pruxnel4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Aether Player at weekly against Pruxnel's fortnightly. Aether Player also leads on device support (5 vs 2). On price, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Aether Player sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Pruxnel sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Aether Player ships an update weekly, Pruxnel fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Β· 4 level
Aether Player versus Pruxnel: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAether PlayerPruxnel
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyWeekly β€” betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro β€” betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size107 MB25 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperVaclav ZmrhalAlejandro Fuenzalida

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Aether Player

Subscriptions2
  • Supporter$0.991 Month
  • Supporter$9.991 Year
One-time3
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Medium Tip$4.99
  • Large Tip$9.99
3 purchases

Pruxnel

Subscriptions2
  • Premium$3.991 Month
  • Premium$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • Premium Lifetime$59.99

Questions

Is Aether Player free?
Aether Player is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pruxnel free?
Pruxnel is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Aether Player or Pruxnel have ads?
Neither Aether Player nor Pruxnel shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Aether Player or Pruxnel?
Aether Player ships an update weekly, and Pruxnel fortnightly. Most recently, Aether Player was updated on October 10, 2026 and Pruxnel on October 12, 2026.

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