Plex

You could choose Plex. It is on nearly every TV and console, it has a huge community, and for movies and shows it is hard to argue with. Here is what comes with it.

The account. You sign up before you do anything. The server. Plex runs on a computer or a NAS that you install it on and keep alive. The pass. Streaming your own library away from home takes a Plex Pass, or a Remote Watch Pass for whoever is watching. The split. Your photos live in one app, your music in another: a separate Plex Photos app and Plexamp.

Here is what we did instead. One Mac app is the whole system. Nobody creates an account. There is no server to run and no pass to buy, because we weren't willing to charge a subscription to see media you already own. Your photos get one complete app and your music gets another, and both read the folders you already have, where they are, and write your edits into the files themselves.

Need a TV app or an Android app? Use Plex. Everyone else: set up Plex, then set up Raza, and keep a clock.

Emby

You could choose Emby. It does live TV, recording and almost every device you can name, and it covers more ground than we ever will. Here is the price of that.

The server. A program you install on a computer or a NAS and maintain. The accounts. Users for everyone in the house. The subscription. Offline downloads, DVR, hardware transcoding and even CarPlay sit behind Premiere. The focus. It is a video catalog first, with photos and music added to the list of things it can also hold.

We started from the other end. Your photos and music already sit in folders on your Mac, so we built two apps that show those folders on your iPhone and iPad and nothing more. No server to run. No accounts. No plan to unlock any of it. Your edits are written into your files, so the work you put into organizing them isn't locked in anyone's database, ours included.

Want video, a TV app or a separate profile for every person in the house? Use Emby. Want your photos and music on your phone this afternoon? Try ours.

Jellyfin

You could choose Jellyfin. It is free, it is open source, and it has a loyal community that will help you with almost anything. Here is what you will be living with.

The server. You install it, you update it, you fix it when it breaks. The apps. On Apple devices you get an iOS app that is a web interface in a wrapper, or Swiftfin, a native app built for video. The settings. Both are buried in them. Paths, options, toggles, a screen for everything, as if the point of owning a library were to administer it.

We think a library of photos and music should feel like part of the device it runs on. Raza Photos and Raza Songs are native Swift apps. HDR, Live Photos, AirPlay and Home Screen widgets work because they're built with Apple's own frameworks, not around them. There is nothing to maintain and almost nothing to configure: you pick your folders and that's the setup.

Want to read the source code of your media software? Use Jellyfin. Want your photos and music on every iPhone in the house without making it a hobby? Try ours.

Infuse

You could choose Infuse. It is a fine video player: it plays almost any format on Apple devices without converting it, and it doesn't need a server of its own. Here is where it stops.

The scope. Its site is about video. Photos aren't mentioned, and there is nothing for your photo library or your music library. The tier. Its premium features sit behind a Pro subscription.

That's the gap Raza Photos and Raza Songs fill, with no account and no plan, and we're not stopping there. Raza Videos is coming soon, built the same way: native, nothing to run, no account to create. Until then, use Infuse for films and Raza for everything else. When Raza Videos arrives, put them side by side.

Immich

You could choose Immich. Its feature list is longer than ours: semantic search, public sharing links, multiple users, an Android app and a web interface, all open source. If you want a Google Photos replacement you host yourself, it is a serious one. Here is what it takes.

Docker and a database. You set up containers and a database before you see your first photo. Your own storage. Backed-up photos are uploaded into Immich's storage, so you are running a second home for your library. The edits. A read-only external library can't save edits such as dates and locations.

Raza Photos reads the photo folders already on your Mac, where they are. Nothing to upload, no containers, no database, and when you fix a date or a location from your phone, it is written into the photo itself.

Need to share with people outside the house, or run Android? Use Immich. Have photos in folders on a Mac and want them on your phone? Install ours, and see how long it takes.

Try it. Time it.

Every app above answers a bigger question than ours. We answer a smaller one, and we answer it better than any of them: your photos and music are on a Mac, and you want them on every iPhone and iPad in the house, with no server to run, no account and no monthly fee. If that is your question, don't read another comparison. Install the Mac app, pick a folder, open the app on your iPhone, and keep a clock.

Free today. Think we got something wrong? Email razaphotos@outlook.com or razamusic@outlook.com. You'll hear back from the developer.