Comparison

Emby vs SenPlayer

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

SenPlayer

This app is a powerful multimedia player supporting 4K/8K video, high frame rates, and HDR. It streams from various cloud services and media servers, offering a seamless playback experience with custom controls and advanced subtitle support.

Highlights
  • 4K/8K Ultra-HD playback
  • Supports Plex, Emby, Jellyfin media servers
  • Stream from cloud services (WebDAV, SMB, FTP)
  • Custom gesture controls
  • Blu-ray ISO disc playback
  • Enhanced subtitle support
  • Cross-device sync
Features
Read full description

SenPlayer — Your personal media player, wherever you are. Enjoy videos from local storage, cloud drives, NAS, and your favorite media servers on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. From catching up on a series while traveling to movie night at home, make every title in your collection a pleasure to watch. • Your Media, Connected 
Connect to Emby, Jellyfin, Plex, and fnOS, or access your computer and NAS via SMB, WebDAV, and FTP. Stream from 115, 123 Cloud Drive, Aliyun Drive, and Baidu Netdisk, bringing your media sources together in one place. • Stunning Picture, Immersive Sound 
Enjoy popular formats including MKV, MP4, and MOV, with support for 4K, 8K, 120fps, hdr high resolution and high-frame-rate video.While Atmos and spatial audio deliver immersive sound with compatible media and devices. • Explore Your Blu-ray Collection 
Play Blu-ray ISO files, browse disc playlists, and navigate chapters. Switch between the main feature, bonus material, and other included content without extracting or converting files beforehand. • Enhance Your Viewing Experience 
On supported devices, use AI upscaling to improve clarity, frame interpolation for smoother motion, or SDR-to-HDR conversion to expand brightness range. Choose the ßenhancements that suit your videos and viewing preferences. • Your Collection, Beautifully Organized 
Browse posters, synopses, ratings, and cast details in your media libraries. Search across servers to find what you want, and bookmark favorite videos and folders for easy access. Keep everyday favorites close at hand as your collection grows. • Subtitles and Danmaku, Your Way 
Use embedded subtitles, load external files, or search for subtitles online. Display two subtitle tracks at once for movies or language learning. Adjust fonts, size, color, position, and timing during playback, with support for Simplified and Traditional Chinese subtitle conversion. Import danmaku files or connect custom sources, then personalize the style, speed, and display area of on-screen comments. • Flexible Playback, Everyday Convenience 
Adjust playback speed, switch audio tracks, navigate chapters, and skip intros and credits. Preview the timeline to find a scene, use Picture in Picture while multitasking, or casting and external display support bring your viewing experience to a bigger screen. • Pick Up Across Devices 
Sync server configurations, favorites, and playback history through iCloud. Add a media source on your iPhone and browse it on your iPad, Mac, or Apple TV. Continue Watching takes you back to where you left off, so it’s easy to move from one screen to another.

Screenshots

Emby1 screens
SenPlayer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: SenPlayer at 84% against Emby's 31%. SenPlayer also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.1) and update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, ratings volume, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Emby sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month and SenPlayer sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SenPlayer holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 660 and 1.3K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 31% of Emby's written reviews are positive against 84% of SenPlayer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Emby ships an update every 3 weeks, SenPlayer every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Emby versus SenPlayer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEmbySenPlayer
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.1 (660 ratings)4.7 (1.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews30.6% of reviews83.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings6601.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size126 MB137 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEmby Media军 王

Customer experience

Emby

All ratings654 ratings
Positive48.0%
Neutral7.5%
Negative44.5%
Written reviews454 reviews
Positive30.6%
Neutral12.1%
Negative57.3%

SenPlayer

All ratings1,231 ratings
Positive92.5%
Neutral2.1%
Negative5.4%
Written reviews668 reviews
Positive83.8%
Neutral5.2%
Negative10.9%

User reviews

Emby

From 660 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

SenPlayer

From 1.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great app with many features
  • 🚀 Smooth and fast playback
  • 💡 Highly customizable interface
  • 🔒 No ads or data collection
  • 🔥 Excellent Jellyfin/Emby support

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or playback issues
  • 🔋 High battery consumption on some devices
  • 💤 Lack of AirPlay support
  • 📚 Limited subtitle customization options

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

SenPlayer

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Playback issues with certain video formats (e.g., TS, ISO)
  • SMB connection problems on some networks
  • Subtitle display bugs in landscape mode
  • Inconsistent behavior when using Bluetooth headphones

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for Plex, Google Drive, and other cloud storage
  • Implement a playlist feature
  • Allow dual subtitle display
  • Provide an Apple TV version of the app
  • Add a download option for media files

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Emby

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

SenPlayer

One-time5
  • Lifetime Pro(Upgrade to Suite)$6.99
  • Lifetime Pro(iPhone+iPad)$9.99
  • Lifetime Pro(AppleTV)$9.99
Show 2 more
  • Lifetime Pro(Mac)$9.99
  • Lifetime Pro(Suite)$12.99

Questions

Is Emby free?
Emby is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SenPlayer free?
SenPlayer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Emby or SenPlayer?
SenPlayer is rated higher. Emby averages 3.1 out of 5 from 660 ratings, while SenPlayer averages 4.7 from 1.3K ratings.
Do Emby or SenPlayer have ads?
Neither Emby nor SenPlayer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Emby or SenPlayer?
Emby ships an update every 3 weeks, and SenPlayer every 9 days. Most recently, Emby was updated on November 6, 2026 and SenPlayer on November 3, 2026.

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