Comparison

Emby vs zFuse

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

Head to head
About

Emby

Unite your personal videos, music, and photos into a single, accessible library. Stream your media to any device with automatic on-the-fly conversion and elegant organization. Share with friends and family, and manage access with robust parental controls.

Highlights
  • Personal media aggregation
  • On-the-fly media conversion
  • Elegant media organization
  • Media sharing with friends/family
  • Parental controls
  • Cloud-synced media streaming
Features
Read full description

Bringing all of your personal media together into one place has never been easier! Emby unites your personal videos, music, and photos and streams them to your devices. Get the free Emby Media Server from the Emby website (required as part of your Emby install). • Emby automatically converts your media on-the-fly to play on any device. • Emby organizes your media into an elegant display with artwork, rich metadata and related content. • Easily share your media with friends and family. • Rich parental control and management features allow the Emby Server administrator to easily control access for your entire family. • Stream your cloud-synced media (with installed cloud sync providers) The app is free to browse your media collection, and free to cast media to other devices. Playback requires a small one-time in-app purchase, or an active Emby Premiere subscription, also available in-app. Emby Premiere is available in-app as a monthly subscription for $6.99 USD per month. Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account upon confirmation of purchase. The subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and the renewal cost is $6.99 USD. Subscriptions may be managed and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to your Account Settings after purchase. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during the active subscription period. Our privacy policy can be found at https://emby.media/privacy. Please also see our terms of use at https://emby.media/terms. All content displayed here is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. The videos displayed are available on the Open Movie Project, found at http://www.blender.org/

About

zFuse

Play any video format and encoding directly from your device or network storage without conversion. Enjoy advanced subtitle effects, gesture controls, and file management features. Supports media servers, TV casting, and privacy protection.

Highlights
  • Plays all video formats and encodings
  • Supports ASS/SSA/SUP effect subtitles
  • Network playback from PC/NAS
  • Gesture controls for playback and settings
  • Folder encryption for privacy
  • File download and decompression
  • TV casting and media server support
Features
Read full description

- zFuse can play all video formats and encodings, allowing you to play video files on your mobile device without the need to convert to MP4. - zFuse supports ASS/SSA/SUP effect subtitles, enabling you to experience full subtitle effects just like on your PC/Mac. - zFuse features powerful networking technologies that allow you to play media from your PC or NAS directly, without occupying any space on your limited device storage and without needing to download anything. - zFuse also allows you to easily download files or directories directly from your PC or NAS, making it the perfect companion for your trips. - zFuse supports a variety of gestures - simply move your fingers to adjust playback position, font size, volume, and brightness. - zFuse carefully protects your privacy with folder encryption, so you no longer need to worry about privacy issues. - zFuse's detailed features include: * SMB/CIFS playback and discovery (easily play media files from your PC). * Download media files or directories from SAMBA/DLNA/WebDAV/FTP directly. * UPnP/DLNA playback and discovery. * Emby and Jellyfin media server support. * AirPlay playback. * Picture-in-Picture mode support. * iPad split-screen multitasking support. * Hardware acceleration. * HDR Tone Mapping support on non-HDR displays. * Subtitle effects support. * 0.5x-3.0x playback speed control. * 0.5x-5.0x screen zoom. * Media preview while seeking. * Built-in audio enhancement. * Multi-soundtrack selection. * Embedded/external subtitle track selection. * Subtitle synchronization. * Audio synchronization. * External subtitle font selection support. * Playlist file preview before playback. * Blu-ray directory playback. * Real-time playlist management and editing. * Screen mirroring. * File Management: - Delete, move, rename, create folders. - Wi-Fi file transfer support without USB cable connection. - Streaming media playlist creation support. - File decompression support: 7z, zip, rar, tar, bz, bz2, etc. * Gesture Controls: - Horizontal drag: adjust playback position. - Vertical drag on left side: adjust volume. - Vertical drag on right side: adjust brightness. - Pinch to zoom: adjust screen size. - Double-tap: play/pause. - Two-finger double-tap: change video aspect ratio. * External Keyboard Support: - Space: pause/play. - Left Arrow: backward seek. - Right Arrow: forward seek. - Esc: exit playback. - S: change playback speed. - B: play previous. - N: play next. - Z: change screen scale. * Supported Video Formats: MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI, WMV, FLV, RMVB, ASF, OGV, Blu-ray ISO and more. * Supported Audio Formats: MP3, WAV, WMA, FLAC, APE and more. * Supported Subtitle Formats: SRT, SSA, ASS, SUP, VTT. * Supported Image Formats: JPG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, GIF, HEIC and more. * Supported eBook Formats: EPUB, TXT, PDF. * Code Editor Supported Languages: JSON, HTML, XML, C/C++, Lua, Java, Objective-C, Swift, Python, JavaScript. * Supported Document Formats: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Numbers, Keynote, Pages, RTF, CSV.

Screenshots

Emby1 screens
zFuse4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: zFuse at 80% against Emby's 30%. zFuse also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.1). Emby's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and device support (5 vs 2). On price, ratings volume, update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Emby sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month and zFuse sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

zFuse holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 661 and 1.2K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 30% of Emby's written reviews are positive against 80% of zFuse's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Emby ships an update every 3 weeks, zFuse every 4 weeks. Both last shipped on November 11, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Emby versus zFuse: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEmbyzFuse
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.1 (661 ratings)4.7 (1.2K ratings) — better
Positive reviews30.5% of reviews80.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings6611.2K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 4 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.1
Further details — not scored
Size126 MB156 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEmby Medias-joys Co., Ltd.

Customer experience

Emby

All ratings654 ratings
Positive48.0%
Neutral7.5%
Negative44.5%
Written reviews456 reviews
Positive30.5%
Neutral12.3%
Negative57.2%

zFuse

All ratings1,194 ratings
Positive92.4%
Neutral2.1%
Negative5.5%
Written reviews482 reviews
Positive80.1%
Neutral5.2%
Negative14.7%

User reviews

Emby

From 661 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great app
  • 👍 Awesome interface
  • 🚀 Flawless performance
  • 🚀 Smooth playback
  • 👍 Customizable home screen

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes frequently
  • 🐛 Buggy app
  • 🐛 Unreliable Chromecast support
  • 🔒 Paywall for basic functionality
  • 🐛 Playback issues

zFuse

From 1.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast and smooth playback
  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
  • 🔒 No ads or in-app purchases
  • 💡 Supports a wide range of video formats
  • 🚀 Excellent video decoding and hardware acceleration

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or freezes
  • 🔍 Lacking advanced video settings (color, contrast, etc.)
  • 🔍 Limited subtitle support
  • 🔍 Inconsistent network file sharing performance
  • 🔍 Cluttered UI with too many ads in some versions

Bugs and requests

Emby

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • Playback errors
  • Inability to play certain file formats
  • Disconnection issues
  • Syncing problems
  • Crashes on launch
Show 2 more
  • Orientation issues
  • Transcoding problems

Requested features

7 requests
  • Picture-in-picture mode
  • Swipe gestures for navigation
  • Improved music management
  • Offline playback enhancements
  • Chromecast improvements
Show 2 more
  • Faster server scanning/indexing
  • Better codec/format support

zFuse

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Playback issues with certain video codecs
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between files
  • Inability to remember last playback position
  • Compatibility problems on older devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add picture-in-picture mode
  • Implement a more robust subtitle management system
  • Provide more video customization options
  • Improve network file sharing stability and speed
  • Optimize UI for better user experience

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Emby

Subscriptions1
  • Emby Premiere$6.991 Month
One-time1
  • Unlock Playback2 variants$4.99
1 purchases

zFuse

One-time1
  • Remove ads$9.99

Questions

Is Emby free?
Emby is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is zFuse free?
zFuse is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Emby or zFuse?
zFuse is rated higher. Emby averages 3.1 out of 5 from 661 ratings, while zFuse averages 4.7 from 1.2K ratings.
Do Emby or zFuse have ads?
zFuse shows ads; Emby does not.
Which is updated more often, Emby or zFuse?
Emby ships an update every 3 weeks, and zFuse every 4 weeks. Most recently, Emby was updated on November 11, 2026 and zFuse on November 11, 2026.

Other comparisons