Comparison

Emby vs 1x

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

1x

Discover and curate exceptional photography from around the globe. This online art gallery showcases top-tier images and supports emerging talent. Become a curator and help artists gain recognition.

Highlights
  • Curate world-class photography
  • Discover emerging photographers
  • Online art gallery
  • Support artist recognition
  • Browse top photography
Features
Read full description

1x is an online art gallery that gathers the best photography in the world in one place. Become a curator and help us in our quest to help emerging photographers to be discovered

Screenshots

Emby4 screens
1x4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Emby at 3.1 against 1x's 1.0. Emby also leads on review sentiment (31% vs 0%) and ratings volume (647 vs 1). 1x's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3). On price and ads 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. 1x asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Emby holds the better App Store score, 3.1 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Emby has 647 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 31% of Emby's written reviews are positive against 0% of 1x's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Emby ships an update every 3 weeks, 1x every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Emby versus 1x: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEmby1x
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.1 (647 ratings) — better1.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews30.5% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings647 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size131 MB51 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperEmby Media1x Innovations AB

Customer experience

Emby

All ratings647 ratings
Positive48.1%
Neutral7.4%
Negative44.5%
Written reviews449 reviews
Positive30.5%
Neutral12.2%
Negative57.2%

1x

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

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

1x

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Emby

Subscriptions1
  • Emby Premiere$6.991 Month
One-time1
  • Unlock Playback2 variants$4.99
None

1x

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Emby free?
Emby is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is 1x free?
1x is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Emby or 1x?
Emby is rated higher. Emby averages 3.1 out of 5 from 647 ratings, while 1x averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Emby or 1x have ads?
Neither Emby nor 1x shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Emby or 1x?
Emby ships an update every 3 weeks, and 1x every 3 months. Most recently, Emby was updated on September 26, 2026 and 1x on June 1, 2026.

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