I don't run Jellyfin, but I've considered it. From what I understand, you have to set up a reverse proxy or something like Tailscale in order to access it remotely. Doing that safely can take a bit of learning, but the only part that could cost money is getting a domain name.

You absolutely can access it from outside your network if you configure it that way.

Can Jellyfin be accessed outside the network?

Yes. Jellyfin is just a Docker container. It can be accessed the same as any other Docker container. Plex simplifies this because they can basically configure all the DNS stuff for you, because it goes through their DNS. But either can be accessed.

Or it requires a lot more work (and maybe some paid service) to do.

More specialized knowledge to configure Tailscale or a reverse proxy, yes. I use Yunohost which makes all of this a whole lot simpler.

Yes it can be accessed outside the network. We use Tailscale. Our Jellyfin setup cost us the energy to run it, lol.

I also bought Plex years ago for 87€ but i gifted that account to a friend once i got jellyfin up and running.

You're right - Jellfyin doesn't have a native built-in way to access it from outside. That's the reason Plex intercepts with their own servers when you do remote streaming, that's one of the aspects you pay for.

Using tailscale (free and setup in like 5 min) you can access jellfin from everywhere. Easy peasy.

Rumor says that Plex also denies you remote access when you use a VPN or mesh like tailscale.... so ymmv

Yes you can.

For me, the value add of Plex is their maintenance and support of the apps on various platforms and the authentication and connection management. I do have my server port forwarded, so there's no reason for them to handle my media streams. Being able to tell a new user that all they need to do is download an app from a trusted app repository and create a free account so I can invite them to my libraries is a super simple experience for most skill levels and well worth the $60 or so I spent on a lifetime Plex pass over a decade ago.

I get that there are use cases where it makes more sense to go with a completely free solution like JellyFin, but many critics of Plex act like ALL they are doing is serving user-supplied media on a web server, and that's a gross misrepresentation of their offering.

I don't love the IPTV stuff that they do, but it's not that difficult to tweak the current app so that only my libraries are shown. Compared to an experience like my smart TV which is shoving ads down my throat and adding steps to get to the apps I want, it's an experience I can live with if it keeps Plex in the black.