Synology Video Station alternative: Silux Media
Video Station is gone
Synology dropped Video Station from DSM 7.2.2 (August 2024) and points owners to third-party media servers. Silux Media is a free one built for slow connections.
Your NAS folders, untouched
Point Silux Media at your existing video folders. Nothing is moved, renamed or copied.
Remote streaming free
Watch away from home without a subscription — with automatic quality that fits the connection you're on.
Apps for every screen
iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Android, Android TV, Fire TV, Windows, Mac, Linux, Samsung and LG — plus any browser.
In fairness to Synology Video Station
Video Station was built into DSM and needed no setup. Silux Media takes a few minutes to install in Docker the first time.
Price
Synology Video Station: Was free with DSM; removed in DSM 7.2.2 (August 2024).
Silux Media: Free forever when self-hosted — including remote streaming and the full low-bandwidth engine. Optional Plus £2.99/mo for the whole household, Pro £4.99/mo, Cloud from £14.99/mo.
Silux Media against Plex, Jellyfin, Emby and Kodi
| Feature | Silux Media | Plex | Jellyfin | Emby | Kodi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-hosted media server | Free | Free | Free | Free | Player only |
| Stream your own media remotely | Free | Paid (Plex Pass or Remote Watch Pass) | Free (you set up networking) | Free | |
| Managed remote access — no router setup | Plus £2.99/mo for the whole household | ||||
| Hardware transcoding | Free | Paid | Free | Paid | n/a |
| Data per hour at 1080p (same quality)Measured live — see /bandwidth | ≈ 1.0 GB | ≈ 2.7 GB | ≈ 2.5 GB | ≈ 2.5 GB | n/a |
| Built for 1–2 Mbps connections | |||||
| Quality adapts every few seconds as your line changesJellyfin/Emby keep one bitrate per transcode session (measured) | n/a | ||||
| Never exceeds the bandwidth you pickOthers overshot their own caps in our tests | n/a | ||||
| AV1 + Opus streaming | n/a | ||||
| Skip Intro and Skip Credits | Free | Plex Pass | Plugin | Premiere | Add-on |
| Watch together (synced playback)Plex removed Watch Together from its new apps in 2025 | Free, every app | Web app only | SyncPlay | ||
| Offline downloads, incl. smaller copies | Free | Plex Pass | Premiere | n/a | |
| Live TV and recording from a TV aerial tuner or your TV provider | Free | Plex Pass | Premiere for recording | Add-on | |
| DLNA server for TVs and consoles | Free | Plugin | |||
| PIN-protected folders, enforced by the server | Free | Master lock | |||
| Ads in the app | Never | Ad-supported free channels | Never | Never | Never |
| Optional fully managed cloud server | From £14.99/mo | ||||
| Open source |
Switching from Synology Video Station
Install Silux Media in Container Manager (Docker) on your Synology and add the folders Video Station used. It finds your films, shows and subtitles on its own.